What's Preventing You From Making More Money?

lazy really if i run 2 trips ill clear somewhere between 3900-4400 one trip is 2200-2400.one trip i leave on Wednesday home sat two im gone sun to sat

 

I think he is selling something elsewhere on the internet.
To answer the question, just like many others, myself is the reason for not making more money. It all boils down to my lack of intelligence, I can only go as far, and make as much money as my intelligence will allow. The limit is preset by my mental capacity.

 

Looking at ttr when I should be driving! Lol

 

So I've heard a few themes so far:

1. Cheap loads/people accepting those ridiculously low prices.
2. Government - taxes and IRS audits
3. Not planning out your trips - rest stops, where to re-fuel, miles per day, etc.
4. Finding good employees - truck drivers that will treat your customers the way you do with respect as well as having the same respect for your equipment
5. Truck parts/repairs

A few questions about those - I'd like to get to the root cause of each issue and also see if there is anything anyone has done to "solve" some of these problems.

1. Cheap rates - do we know why these rates are so low?
a. Is the root cause the shippers wanting to pay less for shipping costs?
b. Is the root cause that brokers are taking a far bigger percent of the payment (like 10-50%) which is resulting in far less for the carrier?
c. Is the issue that there are too many truckers looking for loads so that we have economics working against us - a bigger demand for loads than the supply so we in fact are driving the costs down? (I'm thinking this isn't the case ).

2. Government - has anyone come up with ways to limit the amount that they pay for equipment, wages, etc. Any tax loopholes essentially. I know Uncle Sam wants his hand in every transaction but sometimes the amount we pay is just crazy.

3. Do you know if there is any good software/app out there that we can use to plan your trips better? Like a load board that you could use to plan your week - find a load from Chicago to LA and then another one from LA to San Fran and then San Fran back to Chicago, ensuring you always have something in your truck.
a. Also what apps do you all use for planning where to get your fuel?

 

For me it's home time.
Companies that have local driving available where you are home daily don't pay well for the most part because there is an endless supply of guys like me that want those jobs to get off the road and sleeping in truckstops.
I finally got a day cab gig working 5 days a week with a 7:00 am start time and an average 10-12 hrs a day.
I like working days and going home nights with a couple days off every week, makes it hard to consider another job that pays more but doesn't have those features.
I know I could be making more and I keep me ear to the ground for something better but it'll have to be pretty good to pry me out of this job.
I make enough to pay the bills but like anyone I could use more lol.

 

The last thing i need is another mousetrap from the meriade of things already on the market.

There's enough people in my pocket already.

 

Sounds like some kind of spy.

 

My general waning desire to still consider expanding from a one truck operation to hiring drivers or owner operators. The regulation seems to be throwing everything they can to get rid of the independents and it really is tiresome. Not all days but its a growing percentage ... Couple that with the unreliable new equipment the truck manufacturers are putting out, company drivers that mostly don't care about me or my equipment and only their paycheck, owner operators that may suddenly decide, "I only run these lanes," (and still expect to make good money when seasonal produce slows) ... it is enough to just run one with me doing everything.

 

He's been here for months using sock puppet accounts to data mine the drivers and extrapolate enough information to devise a model for commercial software solutions that will fill a need. In the beginning he was met with not-so-welcoming demeanor as people didn't want to contribute to a commercial project being spun as "helping the industry".

No offense, just calling em how I see em.

 

Going home
expanding: don't want to