Why do you keep pulling for cheap rates???!!!

@Ramo don't be afraid to deadhead out of a dead zone. As someone mentioned earlier, it's about getting target revenue per week. You can either eat up a day on some cheap freight and still be in a pickle, or you can search the load boards for high value freight in a much wider radius and GUARANTEE you will be available tomorrow on time to pick it up. If you take that cheap load you can't make that guarantee.

Many many many times I will deadhead 500 to 1000 miles rather than #### around with a cheap load. "But it pays for the fuel!"

Screw that. I want position myself as quickly as possible to get that next high dollar load.

 

Supply and demand. Also, fuel prices lag when they go down, but spike when they go up. Fuel companies are not going to willingly sell fuel for less than what they bought it for last month.

 

Is it always a guarantee to get a high dollar load? 500 -1000 miles seems like a massive deadhead to not get any compensation at all

 

I don’t think those with low overhead run for less money intentionally. But can when they have tthers May have to throw in the towel.Likewise those with more Liabilities sometimes are forced to take what they can get. Anyone who witnessed the race to the bottom saw this happen several years ago. It was Ugly.I myself went through the ringer. The time to get into this business was 6 yrs ago.Not now as these good times will also end and the rates won’t support $2400 Truck pymts and $1400 Ins pymts.

 

That's true to a cerain extent...but it doesn't always work out long term. We have some trucks that haul from the north end of the Sacramento Valley to L.A. The rates are very good and it's steady. We have to guarantee to have trucks available for ten loads a week. and we always have them. The haul is year round and the customer pays his bills. No waiting to load or unload.
If there isn't anything worthwhile available for a back haul in L.A. we'll bounce the truck home empty. We've tried all that low paying, time consuming garbage that we don't wind up making money on. A lot of northbound L.A. freight goes to the Bay Area and doesn't pay much.
We know to the penny what it costs to bring a truck back empty and if there's a good paying load waiting for it at our regular customer we'd be foolish not to .
Does bouncing 500 miles affect our income? Sure it does. But we still make a reasonable profit and we keep our steady customers happy.

 

My situation is the same as yours. Since the rates bottomed out about 6 yrs ago. I’m always looking for ainother 10 % increase.Recently have been very happy compared to the past. Looks like Companies have got the ELD figured out. Newer Carriers Jumping in right now. All add up to affect rates. A good strategy has always been to do a short trip ( harder work more of a hassle) coupled with a longer 2 day trip giving you a higher avg per mile. Short trips are great if you can get them on and off and reload. Otherwise it’s a waste of time.I recall calling a friend and saying “ Oh my God I just paid $500 to fuel!!! A couple yrs later same call “ This is great I just fueled for only $500!! After suffering through anyone still in business did well. Meanwhile others started jumping back in along with New ones. Here we are. I’m running the same lanes and making almost 2 k more per week like someone else stated. Compared to the bottom.Enjoying it while it lasts.

 

I wasnt a O/O 6 years ago, how did those rates compare to this summer's rates?

 

From my perspective 13 and 14 were good, while 15 and 16 were bad. 17 and 18 were great.

 

For me it frequently makes sense. I'm leased on with a company that hauls equipment for the oil industry, with almost all dispatching based out of OKC. Each terminal takes care of their own drivers as a priority, so it's hard to get local oil field loads out of say Williston, but it does happen.

If I deliver in Williston on a Friday morning and nothing is available through my company, I can dial for pennies and maybe score a cheap paying load of mud that delivers Monday morning 250 miles from home base, then more deadhead to get home and back in line on the board (unless a load at an oil rig is available on the way in to OKC).

The other option is to hussle back and be first on the board for Monday morning. Long hauls generally pay $3+ miles TTT, short hauls are north of $6 including the round trip.

I learned my lesson a few years ago, when the oil field was in a slump. I tried my best to reduce deadhead (normally average 35%) by calling brokers to string something together to get back. That KILLED my revenue per week. Far better to hussle back and get in line, especially since I'm one of a few at our terminal with hazmat and tanker endorsements.