So what does a load really pay?

Figure what operating cost is. How much you are spending driving the truck with maint,bills, truck Payment, everything all together. Figure what that is.

 

Hard to get a straight answer when it comes to money/operating costs around here... They figure you'd be their competition so you're on your own lol.

I myself would like to know what the operating costs would be and what a fair rate to charge should be so I wouldn't work for cheap. (Still a company driver) don't have a clear outlook yet but I keep reading lol

 

It’s super hard to give a clear cut answer because of many factors. Lately, freight rates have been pretty high industry wide ao for example a 300 mile like you described could go for $600 - $1500. There truly are ao many variants to be considered, are brokers involved for example. As far as operating costs are concerned, that too varies greatly from truck to truck based on age of truck, mpg etc

 

There is no easy answer, and since you're a company guy paid by the mile you'll never know for sure. Most O/O's could make anywhere from $2 to $6 per mile for that run. It just depends on so many factors, too many to list here. Just don't forget that, including your pay, the company you work for is probably paying as much or even more than $1.50 for every mile you move. So take that into consideration.

 

Unfortunately, there is no simple one size fits all answer here. Seriously. We're all have different operating expenses which means we'll each have a different rate that we'd be willing to do that run for. Some guys quote based on hours the truck is tied up, some base on mileage and some just take whatever is offered no matter what. We're not even talking about accessorial charges yet either. That's another part of the quote that needs to be considered as well. As you see, too many variables my friend.

 

It isn't rocket science.
You're right: clearly there's no difference in any of the needs of customers or on any of the lanes, and every company charges the same rate, irregardless of what their company's focus is, the time of year, origin market, destination market, who the person is that's paying trucking, what season it is, how badly the consignee needs the load, if it's the end of the quarter/fiscal year and product needs to move; it's all the exact same rate.
-_-

Walk in Monday and demand your fair share of the profits: after all, you do all the work, right?

You want to know what it pays? Switch to percentage pay. There's no hard line on that either: is 25% of $4.00 less than 30% of $3.00?

 

Yes there can be.

2 weeks ago I hauled a load that ships every week. They usually pay $2500 to move it. I won't do it for that because it doesn't meet my number for the lane.

But this time they were running short on time and needed it loaded and out the door asap. I moved it for them for $3800.

I've loaded next to guys that were getting more or less than me many times. Sometimes the variance is very high. Like the other day when the guy next to me got $2000 compared to my $600. Same product, same weight, same consignee. Only difference was he played the market and I booked early.

The only way you're going to find out is to ask the people you work for what they are hauling the loads for. If they don't want to tell you then you will never know.