what is cheap freight

Outerspacehillbilly, I agree with you. We can talk rates on this forum til hell freezes over but it all boils down to you. My truck and trailer were paid for. I could haul loads for less than someone whose equipment wasn't paid for. I still feel that to each his own, but for crying out loud don't be afraid to negotiate with a broker. Part of the problem's I see on here is the broker posts a load, you call,they tell you the rate, you say Hell no. Not a good answer! Try something like-I can't haul it for that. How much do you need to haul it- I need XXXX- Give me a minute- Ok we can do it for that-I won't say it will work every time but most brokers understand you are in business and need to make $ with a load. I might also say that most any broker is going to try to get the load moved as cheaply as they can. Accepting the rate without any questions or refusing to move the load without question is just being silly in my opinion. I said in a previous post "if you are going to own- you better learn how to operate" Getting the best rate on a load is part of that. JMO

 

Cheap is hauling coils tarped for $1.07/m...
and yes I tried to negotiate with the broker...
Broker said that was the best he could do and that it was a "Great rate......."

Hmmm....."Great Rate" for a NAFTA truck.....

 

I guess great rate has a different meaning for brokers. I hate to see what a bad rate was.

 

I just called on another steel load from the same broker...
Now the rate is $1/m...
I told him you have to bump that rate up...fuel is going up...
He said the shipper has a trucking company down the street who will do those loads for that rate or less.....

WTH...are they running mules and wagons????

 

The other outfit will be using mules & wagons if they haul cheaper than $1 a mile.,, I wouldn't think could haul for that very long. I'm at loss for hauling freight that cheap unless it takes you somewhere where freight is better. It would have to be a lot better to average out $1 a mile.

 

I've heard that excuse for years now. "It's a great rate" Yeah in your dreams. "they've got a company down the street that hauls for that". Bull Buffalo Crap. That company down the street is probably owned by the shippers brother-in-law(believe it or not I've seen that happen). I don't doubt for a minute what you were told. It happens all too often in this Industry. The sad thing is the guy that sticks to his guns and refuses to haul for those crappy rates will set, but Somebody will haul that. You can bet on it. In 1984 I was working for a flat bed company that hauled rebar and coils out of a steel mill. Hell, we were getting $1.27 a mile. I got paid % so the check showed the rate x the percent. The guy that owned the company was well satisfied with the rate but is was 1984. I feel for the O/O's out here today.

 

This is what happens:


Loads are posted for a certain rate...
Some O/O's like me will ask the broker to bump it....and if they can't, we move on...


Some others like the N**TA Trucks Ops...will take any rate because they think they''ll either
A) "get in good" with the broker...or
B) Take the cheap load to cut everyone else's throats...in hopes of taking over the biz just like the harbor trucks and dumps....

 

Just curious, what state are these loads in?

 

Cali.....
And the brokers assume this is a "back-haul"....

 

Damnmit there ain't no such thing. I know they use this to justify cheap freight but the truth is there is no such thing. Course it won't do us any good to gripe about it here because there's sales people in this Industry that use BackHaul as a justification for cheap rates. If you go from St.Louis MO to Los Angeles it costs so much per mile for the truck. If you go from Los Angeles to St. Louis it's the same. Hell the way these companies are today you will probably buy fuel at the same truck stops out and back. I've heard this BackHaul arguement used for as long as I can remember and it just don't hold water. I had a guy tell me one time that "I make so much going toXXXXXX that I can afford to come back cheap"! HUH!! This one always gets me"I make enough going out that I can haul back cheap to pick up a reload"!! I don't think so! This may be the age of technology but the thinking is prehistoric IMO.