"The almighty $2.00 a mile theory"

I am doing last weeks payroll right now:
Driver A 1655 miles $3408.49 revenue
Driver B 2346 miles $4904.32
Driver C 1123 miles $4957.26 revenue (he works 13-14 hours a day 5 days per week)
Driver D 1591 miles $2352.73 revenue (spotted 4 trailers for a new customer for no revenue)



I could go on but they are all pretty much in the same area. I also do not move broker freight unless it is a local move or used to get a driver into position to pick up for one of my customers. In my world the key to being at or above $2.00 per mile is having myown customers.

 

You hiring...lol

 

Yes I'm discussing O/Os with their own authority I have conducted surveys through third party marketing companies from 1998 to present that bear out those numbers.

I think you'd be amazed at how many do operate at a static per mile rate.

That wasn't a cost per mile it was a Break-even Point or your minimum acceptable hauling rate. Two very different figures.

My point here is if a customer/shipper wants a per mile rate all you need to know are the miles they want the rate quoted and divide it into the total dollars you need to receive. Example: you've determined for the time and actual distance of 1500 miles you need $3,000 (2.00per mile) for the load but the shipper is using 1350 miles for their mileage and want a per mile quote which would be $2.23 per mile in your quote.

In other words I end with the mileage rate if needed by the shipper. But would never quote a mileage rate in any customer with out knowing the distance, the days and the fuel cost for the time of the load.

I read through several threads on this forum before coming to this thread and making the statements I did. I still stand behind everything I've stated here. I saw very little of actual value concerning establishing profitable hauling rates.

Now that's not to say there are other viable methods for determining a freight rate. As long as it uses basic accounting principles through the entire calculation it should work. What I like about the method I use is it is quick and simple. I can quote or evaluate a shipping rate in less then 15 seconds with a simple calculator and be correct 100% of the time.

 

Well we finally get to your problem~reading comprehension! This thread is not about establishing hauling rates. Its about do you make $2 per mile avg.

 

Truckersyou, I think the advice you're giving is good. I've only been an O/O for two years, but I got my information on how to determine my BEP and a general idea of how to price freight from here. You might try looking at the first couple hundred pages of this thread Here we go...finally an O/O. I think it's in there somewhere, and I 'm sure there are other places.

What exactly is it you're trying to accomplish here? If you're trying to educate people on the best way to price their services, coming in here and calling them a bunch of Kool-Aide drinkers isn't the way to do it. Nobody's going to listen to you when you introduce yourself by insulting their intelligence. If you want to do a write up of what you think the best way to figure costs and rates per day/month/year/mile, then start a new thread and then maybe talk to a moderator about having the thread docked so it will be there at the top of the page for future reference.

 

There are variable's with any load, you would not price a load going 1000 miles with no tolls the same as one going a toll route, atleast i do not. If i have to run a toll road i add the tolls to the rate, a load going to a bad freight area i qoute more for the extra deadhead to get out. I would think most o/o's know this and just dont qoute every load the same rate per mile regardless of the load. This thread was about average mile to the truck not how to price freight.

 

These numbers are amazing, what type of trailers do you run?

Van/reefer/flat.

One note though driver B works strictly for a dedicated account moving freight between 6 warehouses or plants the revenue figure also figures into account the cost of having up to 10 trailers in this loop because he could move up to 8 loads per day.

Originally Posted by Les2
You hiring...lol

If you live in SC

 

Nope, Ohio.