What Is Considered Cheap Freight ?

No I don't think he would take it.

What he is saying if it's a short hop to his next load, easy on and easy off, it makes sense.

Let's say you're in Cleveland, OH today, but tomorrow at 2 PM you have a pick up in Columbus, OH. It's a 145 mile trip. There is a load that adds a total of extra 50 miles to your next day load but it's going to keep your around Columbus, OH. It's all together 195 miles now. Sure no one wants to waste their time with some cheap ### 195 mile load today. It doesn't make sense. However if that load is being moved for $400. He can load it up, deliver first thing in the morning, and go pick up his 2 PM load from Columbus, OH going to where ever the load is paying good. He just add $400 to his revenue by going the same way there. It costed him an extra 2-3 hours of his day. That's WHO takes those loads. If he does this about 4-5 times a month, that can easily be an extra of $1500-$2000 income, which if he drove 12 months can be extra $20k-$25k, and it MIGHT have costed him about $2,000 of fuel for that extra few hours, which he was going to spend either way.


I refuse to believe that he would take a fully loaded hazmat load on 633 miles without adding any deadhead to it for $750.

 

Exactly. Rather you move this load to go home, back haul, whatever the case is, this is simply CHEAP FREIGHT. I doubt that they moved it for that price. Not familiar with that broker, but maybe they are double brokering it?

 

Who knows? Wouldn't be a surprise but I just figure it's like everything else. I quote a lot of loads daily. The few that don't get covered bump out another day until they do and that keeps it cheap.

 

Have noticed a pattern?

I get phone calls for Chicago trucks everyday. Rather I have them or not, I always see what the load is all about. I've noticed a pattern.

WEEK 1:
Loads headed to East Coast for example
Brokers have number of loads posted at $2.60/mile
Phone calls (unless emergency) try to move it for $2.20 a mile/mile
Typically if you know what you're doing, you will get $3.00/mile.

WEEK 2:
Brokers have number of loads posted at $2.30/mile
Phone calls (unless emergency) try to move it for $2.10/mile
Typically if you know what you're doing, you will get $3.00/mile

WEEK 3:
Brokers have number of loads posted at $2.00/mile
Phone calls (unless emergency) try to move it for $1.80/mile
Typically $3.00 a mile is out the window. Now everyone says "We are losing money". Brokers you typically work with cut down to, since another brokerage tried to cut their rate with the shipper.

Today I had a phone call, two picks, 1 drop. From Chicago, to Memphis, and the broker has $900 and already losing money on it. Reefer load by the way. However, on the board there are brokers paying for the same 1p1d load $1200-$1300 and carriers are trying to squeeze out $1500. Meanwhile I know a direct shipper paying dry loads that way for $1900, still.

However, these loads are getting moved. I'm not sure by who. I'm expecting next week to get phone calls to go to East Coast for $1.50/mile.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This..

Considering no 2 operators have the same cost base...

One Mans rubbish is another Mans treasure...

Whatever works for your Business & to hell with the Haters.

 

Flip flops, using your example above on the Columbus load. If everything goes perfect, it works out. But for every one that goes perfect there is ten more that cost you. A delay getting unloaded can easily add up to not being able to make that 2pm deadline. so now either it's rescheduled for the next day, or worst case, your customer is no longer willing to pay premium rates over unreliable service. in that customers eyes, you are now just another unreliable carrier.

 

We will do $1 a mile loads to move the truck, it doesn't make much difference to us, me or the drivers. The truck moves just under fuel expenses -we count only that in a paid move and this is considered a paid move.

This morning I looked at the trucks dispatch logs and saw one driver took a 1200 mile load from some place near del rio Texas to Ocala Florida -$1275, which he noted that the fuel cost would be something like $500 and the load he needs to get to comes out of Gainesville to San francisco a day after his scheduled drop, the net is going to be about $700 which is paid to him for his time and a little back to me. I say it is a good thing no matter what. Now if he didn't have the out bound load to sf, he would have put together a few loads to get him back to where he wanted to be, which he has done in the past with a bunch of ltl stuff, maybe grossing $4 or $5 a mile.

 

That example was if its a for sure things. The guy did mention if it's easy on and off. I have seen guys mess up a good load because of this. But 4 pallets of some crap going to small facility? Chances are it's off within 30minutes. Now if we're talking pick 6 pm deliver 3 PM, unless you have trailers and drivers around so you can pick drop whenever you're suppose to charge that load accordingly to your costs and daily revenue expectations. Tying a truck up for two days on 5 or 30 miles or 300 miles is going to be charged a lot.

 

I've yet to have the office offer me anything coming out of Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio for less than $2.
Usually those 500 to 650ish mile runs are the best for me.
Stole somebody's 1800 pound flatbed load that went 500 for $1000.
Yep they put some long forks on, and in the van it went. LOL
I can't wait to get my own numbers.

 

That broker is worse than TQL and you should hear them on the phone, complete jerks young kids, TQL guys are angels compare to them