Yes, that term makes me cringe a bit. I have a customer who has been using it lately... I gotta be honest I do give him a healthy discount on the return load, but it really works out well for me as I generally get reloaded at both ends, I don't have to factor any deadhead, and I don't have to deal with brokers to get out of that spot. $/mile on all miles is still well above what I would normally see without the "backhaul". It's a win/win in my book, and by pricing the return load competitively they are even building loads for me when I deliver this location. And yes, it delivers 12 miles from my house. If it pencils out for me, they can call it whatever they want.
A discount on the return trip is acceptable in my book, but if I fail to understand how one would be willing to trade off 1/2 the value of their service. DOES THE CUSTOMER OFFER A DISCOUNT OF 1/2 OFF ON THE SERVICE OR PRODUCT THEY'RE SELLING? WHERE CAN YOU GET TRUCK PARTS OR SERVICE AT 1/2 PRICE? ON YOUR WAY BACK, DO YOU GET 1/2 OFF THE NEXT FILL UP? If giving away 1/2 my labour is what it takes to be in business, I would park my truck and not be in business!
You folks complaining about the the low back haul rates because your exspenses are the same no matter which way the truck is moving, obviously are not paying attention when you pull up to the fuel island. When you are on a backhaul you are supposed to pull up to the pumps labeled "BACKHAUL FUEL", this fuel is only half price (approx.) it actually depends on your rate. Now bear in mind that "BACKHAUL FUEL" may only be purchased by Drivers on a "backhaul" load, if you were stupid enough to just take cheap freight then you must pay full price. disclaimer: The above is satire, and anyone who starts looking for "BACKHAUL FUEL" deserves to forever only get cheap freight.
How cheap can it get on a "back haul"? Well, let me just find one of those $00.35 cents per mile company drivers. I'll call up BIG TRUCKING company that has 10000 drivers all driving brand new trucks and see if I can get one of those cheap guys over here to pick it up. It's tough out here trying to compete with companys that can move freight for penny's on the dollar.
[h=2]backhaul[/h]noun Cargo or freight that is transported on the return trip of a journey. No mention of doing it for FREE
And therein lies the problem....I didn't once see you mention the driver wages. Most are paid percentage so when you cut so does his wage. My tanker salesman are free to give away all the time, fitting and hoses they want...pumps too. But I will be paid or I wont do it. And truck mgmt. doesn't understand when I say no.....geeze
See this is where I have issues with you "back haul haulers" I work the system. I do not go out and back. So I get too certain areas and I hear the phrase well it's a back haul.. I knda lucked out today on a ld.. long trip 30 miles. But they had a really good rate and paid permit costs. After unlding and relding, I ccould not make del. today. Will just del. in the morning. But you know what? it more than covers the extra time. I called on another ld. and the broker flat out said it's not paying enough.. He was honset about it and we kinda had a good laugh about it. Not sure if some fool hauled the crane to Il. for 5k or not. Have not looked on the boards yet this evening. So you haul your back haul freight and pay the high fuel costs and I will just dead head out. Cheaper costs for me. And do not give me the well it pays your fuel preaching..
chalupa, my drivers were O/O at my other company and they set the minimum they would accept. They were free to turn down any load. If we as a company gave a customer a discount to help them out or make up for our mistake we didn't penalize the driver for it (unless it was their mistake). If the company took a loss we ate it, took care of the driver and customer. Kept the customer, kept the driver. My new company is just as good or I wouldn't have taken the job. I work for a good man who also used to be a driver. The more customers I have the more freight I have the more loads I can give to my drivers to keep them rolling. We are a hotshot company so our rates are a bit higher, my drivers don't make .35 mile or whatever those big companies pay. My company drivers make 30% of the load, they also get health/dental/vision/life insurance paid for by the company. They're happy. We have an open door policy, if they're not happy about something they come in and talk about it. Sometimes they cuss about it. The boss does what he can to make them happy, because he knows their value. What we see as cheap freight may not be cheap to others, and we set a limit as well. We try to make an industry standard minimum, don't quote me I'm not in our broker division but I believe we won't take anything on a backhaul or return rate etc for less than $1.25, even if there's nothing else coming out of there. That standard was from years ago so it may have gone up, not sure.
