Stepping Out With My Own Numbers

My fuel mileage doesn’t vary much regardless of terrain. The only factor that really sucks fuel is wind. I don’t take into account the terrain or weight on a load. Only what it pays, how it fits with my month, and is it something I can use. A load may be a great rate but if it goes to a.bkack hole are, I don’t take it.

 

Running my own authority has its perks but being leased on with a carrier was a whole lot easier. Especially right now, with rates and volumes dropping. I’m still moving, it takes a lot more phone calls to find the right load though.

 

The money is better but you’re putting in a lot more time and effort. Running your own authority is great if you want multiple trucks. For just one truck, I’m not so sure it’s worth it. Your profitability isn’t reduced by much to pull for someone using their trailer and their freight. I’m satisfied with it so far. Now that I have the new equipment on the road it is less stressful. If I were to lease on with a carrier again, I’d probably move into something more specialized than reefer. If I stick with reefer for the long term, I’d rather continue with my own authority. Running your own numbers is risky, especially given the current trends. You have to have a hefty cash reserve to weather the lean periods so you can earn the big profits when the market is hot. You have to plan ahead.

 

I use a software called TailWind for my invoicing and keeping track of payments. That has saved me tons of time. In a few minutes I can do an invoice, Paperwork, and send it off from the portal. I have a broker I work with a lot, but as things have slowed down, his options have fallen off. Sometimes it may take a few phone calls to get something that works, and sometimes it might take me an hour of searching and calling. It’s not horrible. I’m still doing fine and I’m satisfied and even if things fall off a little, I can still make money.
You can have independence to a degree. You are still constrained by market conditions. There are times I really don’t want to go to NJ or MA, but I do it because that’s what pays and I know I can make something out of it once I get there. I really wanted a load from MD back towards the Midwest but the rates were terrible. Instead, I was forced to do a couple short runs to CT and now to NY where I’ll pick up heading back to the Midwest. Or, you may have to turn down loads that pay well but the appointments are spread out too far, it delivers at a late time that costs you an extra day, or delivers in a slow area on a bad day where you’re stuck for the weekend. I’m very careful of what day I deliver, the time, and the daily revenue I’m generating. It’s very easy to get a couple bad deals and you’ll have to fight to make it up and hit your targets. It’s a lot of planning instead of using a carrier’s trailer and dropping and hooking, always rolling. I’m still doing 2500 miles a week, 60 mph, and live loading everywhere. It just takes a lot of planning.

 

I average 680-700 miles per load. I do 3-5 loads a week, depending on how many short runs I do. My deadhead is 17% so far this year. I try to avoid high deadhead miles.