Stepping Out With My Own Numbers

I am confused, dont you use a dispatch service and they book everything for you?

 

I still use Merge. I might book a load here and there myself. I make sure they know what I’m wanting. I don’t want to fall into the trap of just chasing rates. That’s a great way to not make money. I have certain criteria I’m looking for. And I keep the rep updated on my plans.

 

deleted...wrong thread

 

deleted - wrong thread.
I completely mistook this thread for a different one. The deleted posts were out of context....Sorry!

@REO6205 please clean these two error posts because they pollute this rather personal thread, thank you.

 

This month is nuts. Freight has really fallen off a cliff. I prepared for it last month. I had a really big March and I was able to get my equipment payments deferred until June. I’m going to keep an eye on things and might consider deferring them until July. I got an increase on my credit line from the bank as well, just in case. I’m also doing something I swore I’d never do, factoring. I figure I’d do it for the next 6-12 months and go back to my usual method. I see this COVID19 shutdown as having wide ranging impacts and I’m taking nothing for granted. Even when it’s over, probably end of May or early June, it’s going to take time to get back to normal, and things will remain depressed until next Spring. These government stimulus plans for businesses affected by COVID19 are only going to make this process take longer by propping up businesses with poor management.
My revised goal for this month and next, is to still bring in 20k plus revenue and average 1.75+ to hit it. I’m just being real. There’s a lot of grand standing on social media in a lot of the trucking groups. Just parking it is a guaranteed zero revenue, or you can take steps to reduce costs for the short term and still make profit in this mess. My rep at Merge is completely stressed out. I’ve explained to her my plan and I think she gets what I’m trying to do now.

 

Hope a lot of them sit at home not hauling cheap freight so I can haul it. Have learned many years ago the ones that fail are the ones who don't work. You have to keep rolling cause the rates are not going to get any better just face it and get to work quit being a cry baby. In tough times the tough survive the weak sit around and cry about how bad it is.

 

I see this hurting the small fleet more than the one truck o/o. From what I’m seeing the short loads are still paying a decent rate. A lot of drivers don’t want to load,then drive 3-400 miles deliver, then reload and rinse and repeat all week long.

 

Quite honestly, assuming that this is supposed to be cut throat business and all, I hope that the likes of Merge will drown too. I suspect that these dispatch services are 24/7 load-board onlookers and they grab anything decent that pops up and they worry about assigning it to a carrier in need later, while my own resources to find a desired load are limited. Someone can say that I can use them too but I can't shake off the thought of them as another parasites.

Also, I see these governmental hand outs being a disruption in a Darwinian process where the fittest stay alive and weakest die out. If someone is balancing his finances right ways so that his cash reserves, allowing survival of poor market times, are always available and while someone else, including larger fleets and mega carriers, is not but gets a hand out at the time he is supposed to go under water then this level playing field is laughable at best.
That's why I am inclining towards getting those loans/hand outs too...for the purpose of leveling the playing field. If they can get it, why should not I?

 

I also signed up for Truckstop.com factoring. I am not going to factor all of the invoices due to some cash flow problems, at least not yet, but rather because I am planning to expend the pool of brokers I'll use in near future. So far, I have been sticking to large brokers where their payment was certain, omitting those with less recognizable names.
I chose this factoring because:
1. 2.99% on non-recourse basis.
2. No monthly minimum, no monthly fee
3. No reserve account/escrow.
4. I can factor only those brokers that I choose ( no need to surrender all costumers).
5. $1 per transaction ACH fee
Also:
6. They are one of the two biggest load boards, also a platform for brokers who ranks them and evaluate their payment performance. So I think that potential delinquent brokers would have a smaller inclination to mess with them vs messing with me.
7. Contract is on month to month basis and the termination fee is $250 regardless of circumstances. But since it does not cost you when you don't use them, it is not a big deal.
I am against factoring in general sense of its meaning. It is not good when it is used for factoring all of the invoices. I see them as an additional servicing tool, which can be used sparingly...I just place it on the back burner so it is there when I might need it

 

You do what you gotta do sometimes. I hope you're staying busy enough, at a profitable rate, to utilize that factoring service.

The OP said he's still going to shoot for 20k a month revenue on $1.75 a mile average with his reefer. Which is whole lot better than my cursory checks on the board lately.