Think it's time to go after more of my own customers

Frustrated this week. Have been doing a few regular, steady pay loads home (delivers about 40 miles from the house) rate was steady last year, everything was smooth. This week another broker has the same load (I know it's the same buyer) offering flat rate about $400 less than the average rate last year. First broker I started with last year doing these loads was my first call, he says "these are moving at (1200 less than last year) and I'm having no problem covering them." Translation? I am going to rape. I prefer steady rate all my regulars know that. When I turn the tables and rape? I am public enemy #1. The end result? I don't even want to play the game. Just book me at a steady rate ahead of time and I am happy. Most of the time I just tell them to forget it. These loads the pickup and delivery works very well into my big triangle run I do. Rather than deliver to Toronto then come home empty I can deliver just short of the house and shoot home empty saving ~400 miles. I also had another line today, "best quote so far is x, can you beat that?" No. Give it to the chump then.

I am considering going to the buyer near home and asking if they will deal directly with me, at the same rate, every single time. Only change if fuel moves up or down and will change rate just slightly. The issue making me have cold feet: first broker said to me he moves between 15-20 loads per week for this buyer. The most I can cover as a 1 truck operation would be about 2 per month; from approximately mid November to mid June. On one hand, I want the steady, plan ahead rate. On the other hand, I don't want to be the guy with limited capacity and give them more no's than yes's. If I go down this path I don't feel like I'm burning any bridges that are worth much anyway. This buyer I'm sure also has lots of outbound lanes as well. Should I feed one of my steady brokers the customer information and mame the deal with them? They would have the capacity to cover more than I can. If you screw me then I will screw you back and I will go direct. I have a handful I'm sure I could do exactly this with and it would be steady as she goes. Just thinking out loud.

Something else to note. I am nearing the point to decide whether or not I want to have more than 1 truck. I have reached the top, as good as it can get, for what I enjoy hauling, for my area. I pull reefer, and have no desire to do anything else. I have identified suitable land and have a plan drawn up in my head of how to go about it. My summer time direct customer wants me to add more units. My steady brokers would load more units. It's really a question of do I really want to go down this road. I can tic tac toe good paying loads together like nobody's business. With more units I could have less empty miles and a higher average revenue per mile. The drivers can have all the miles they want; just be fine with running in cold weather. Western Canada trips + on to va/nj/pa and return for shorter runs. NYC if you want it. Summer time probably keep 3-4 units busy home daily 5-6 days a week for about 10 weeks. I work hard all summer on that short run then take a week or 2 off when the frost ends the growing season. I enjoy the variety. My steady revenue streams don't even ask about rate, it goes, "when would you like to pick it up and drop it off?" It is so easy.

Anyway.... technically I guess this would be back soliciting. I haven't pulled these loads yet this winter. Are there any legal ramifications or is there some sort of etiquette to go about this? Should I say no thank you not pulling those loads this winter, and follow through with approaching the customer this time next year? If there is some 2 year clause, does that even mean much? As in; will I still face being possibly black balled by this broker even if I wait the 2 years? I will admit I don't read every word of the broker carrier contracts.

For the brokers or independents with direct work: Are most customers happy to pay steady over the long term direct to the carrier? Even as the market shifts up or down; do most customers want to lower the boom on the rate every time someone else calls and offers to do it for less? Or is it pay me steady and only talk about significant fuel price shifts and be done with it. ? I am not asking for crazy high rates. I want somewhere between what I was being steadily paid and a bit less than what I figure the broker is charging and lock it in. Loyalty is what I want. Did I mention I hate this poker game where even when I win I am made to feel like a thief or rapist?

That's enough. I realize it's scattered and all over the place. I never excelled in English class. Giving x1 a run for his money on post length here.

 

I have never back solicited either, more as a matter of principle than anything. My direct customer called me out of the blue one day, and I had not hauled for him at all previously.

I guess what I mean is.... why is it so difficult to simply get a steady rate for the same job over time? When the game is in our favor, and I tell them a price say $2500 higher than where I will really settle and stick to my guns, I am the villain. When the opposite happens, I think the same of them. Rarely are they on the average I am accustomed to right from the start. Why all this trying to screw each other? When it gets hostile like that honestly I rather just find a different commodity to haul altogether. Hire cheapo filippo and play the game. Does he inspect the produce before loading and notify you of substandard quality or out of range temperature? Does he give an accurate eta and communicate effectively? Does he follow through with the deal keeping his word, even if a juicy offer comes in? Maybe none of that matters.

For what it's worth these are onion loads. I prefer to be paid by the bag rather than flat rate because I feel it is fair for whoever pays the bill. I have a max payload of ~43500 and they always want to load ~45000. Rather be up front than have them think they got rooked out of 1500 pounds of payload. I generally load 815-825 bags of 850 ordered. Normally I hate leaving part of the order behind, but it's a little different with onions.

 

Original broker is lower this year from his old rate by 1200. New broker lower by 400. I have a hard time believing old broker has the same loads for less than new broker. Could it be a tale of old broker is actually the double broker this time around? How can I determine if it is the customer who has demanded a lower cost rather than first broker taking a much larger slice?

Gotta find me something else. Getting tired of this.

Another thought popped into my head. There is a romaine lettuce problem right now. A bunch of people got very sick, might be e-coli? In Canada the big grocers have thrown it all in the garbage. There should be a bit of a run to replace all that. Maybe it just hasn't worked it's way through the system yet. It seems the entire left coast ground to a standstill this week. Call on a load that pops up and "oh it's covered." It just hit the board. I was thinking demand would be high in Arizona where they ship a lot of it from to replace it. Therefore driving demand up all the way up. I done screwed this trip up. Live and learn, I guess.