This is total BS!!!

Used to be i'd stay out 3 weeks and then go home a week......The last period I was out 7 weeks because freight was so slow I sat for 2 of those 7 weeks!

I cleared more when I bought my first truck in 1994 running solo then I do today running team with my wife.

 

3.97-1.51=2.46 2.46/1.51=163% That is the formula for determining the increase.



Regarding the overall tone of the message and responses. I think what is not being reflected in these statistics is the gap that has been created with technology and shippers becoming more sophisticated in where they place the freight and what they are willing to pay.

When you are talking general spot market freight in the hands of the typical 8-5 broker, the customer is not willing to pay higher rates for the level of service (or lack of service) they receive. These rates are flat and we are not likely to see much of a long-term increase without some major event that forces the issue.

But when you start looking at contract and bid rates we see significant increases. But these are not loads that you are going to get off the typical load board that you can haul the same day as completing the carrier packet. The customer is paying for a higher level of scrutiny on the carrier, tracking, monitoring and increased level of protection. These rates are up.

Also, a big factor here is fuel. As fuel goes up so does the FSC. That is priced into the gross revenue. If you are one that is focused on MPG then you will see an increase in net income. If not, then it really hurts.

I would like to see what some of the base numbers are.

 

Numbers are easily manipulated based on the agenda of the producer of the numbers. If anyone believes actual inflation numbers are 2.5% they are wrong. The under reporting of inflation is very beneficial to .gov when calculating CPI for a lot of things including SS payouts. Today the government reported that we created 236,000 new jobs in Feb. But a look under the surface shows that full time jobs actually declined by over 70K and part time increased by over 100K. Average hourly earnings dropped by 2% in one month. Race to the bottom

 

Or as Mark Twain said, "lies, d a m n e d lies, and statistics."

 

Well that doesn't include the base of 100% so 163%+100%=263%

Or easier way 3.97÷1.51=2.629 rounds up to 263%



I don't know if business courses teach y'all to not include the base but the fact is 200% of 1.51 is 3.02 which is still less than 3.97 so how could less than 200% (163% in this case) equal a number greater than 3.02 (3.97 in this case)?


My brain is unencumbered by academic theories and is free to think on it's own!

 

I like that your brain is unemcumbered with theory but I have to agree with Bill on his calculation. I get 162.9% increase. Either way it's a hell of a lot more than 2.5% annual inflation

 

An INCREASE is how much it increased over the BASE number. In this case, $1.51. Since they are comparing (or lead you to believe that is what they are doing because they don't provide other base numbers - something that makes this suspect) it provides a relevant comparison.

The problem with your theory in how to calculate the "increase" is that it will be skewed compared to the other numbers because you have to have a base number based on a fixed date.

Your formula is used for figuring out what the current number would be if all we knew where the base number and the percent increase over the base. Then you have to add the base into the calculation to get the current number.

So what is your brain encumbered by? Do we need to check for exhaust leaks?

 

I love that quote and couldn't remember where it was from. Thanks

Well, for those that are interested. If you use 2003 to 2012 inflation numbers then that $1.51 would be $1.81 in todays numbers.

 

Well I did have black beans for dinner last night!

I hope you can agree to disagree with me! I understand what you are saying but I always thought of it my way and I'm too old to change now because it works for me and my one man show.

 

Biggest issue is when someone doesn't know that they are thinking differently and assumes what they are looking at is done how they are doing it. But you seem to understand that. I have some unique ways to calculate my daily fixed that I use to motivate me to make better money. Tired explaining how and why I did it the way I did to an O/O once and you could see steam coming out his ears because my numbers "where all wrong." Yeah, I know, but it is just a little trick I learned to play on my mind years ago when I was in sales. It works for me and would have kept him at night.

Regarding the OP numbers. I hate when stuff like this is reported. It really is worthless without the base numbers to compare to. We can all sit here and say the numbers are wrong but we don't know because it is incomplete data.