What tools do you use to get a good rate?

As the owner of the equipment and the individual taking all the risk, I am not concerned about the broker making a dime, ever.

As far as figuring rates, there are far too many factors involved to write the book that is required.

As a rule of thumb, if I don't average $1k/day gross revenue, it is not worth the time.

 

From which end of the equation are you trying to figure this out? As a broker, or as a carrier? The answers are different.

 

My tool for good rates? A dispatcher who may possibly be a cross between a rabid, roid-raging badger on speed and Godzilla the day he found out ToHo Pictures went out of business!

But I'm a spoiled company driver these days. Being a solo owner operator is a whole different world from what I do.

 

The surest answer is also the biggest copout. Experience.

From a broker's perspective, I look at lane averages, run against what I've paid previously, and what the market itself is doing, and can ballpark based on that.

The driver on the other hand has a minimum dollar threshold they need to meet daily/weekly/monthly to cover operating expenses, and then what they want to make after that.

Both of us glance into our figurative crystal ball, and pull out a number, and try to move a load for that. There's so many variables involved that it's not a precise science. I'm not going to necessarily explain my methodology for pricing to my customers. Nothing personal, but I don't know you, and this industry is cutthroat enough as it is.