Why does "backhaul" refer to cheap freight?

The problem here is the term "backhaul"

Most every driver feels they have to deliver a load and hea back home. Why would you not "work" your way back home instead of taking a cheap load right back??? I can usually get back to my home area in a few days with going to a few different cities all while making more than double the money if I did a "backhaul"

now of course this doesn't work if you have a dedicated customer you have to haul a load for again in the same week or you have some special circumstance that requires you back right away.

I broke the mentality of "out n back" earlier this year and am on course to have my best year ever.

I guess it's all about your prerogative

And as Rollin stated, being picky in the load you choose to take on the out trip will set the pace for the rest of your turn.

 

@ rollin, I understand that you are able to pay for your home time by getting high paying loads when you run. I just thought the statement of not costing anything when you aren't running was misleading, fair enough ?

@ SHC, I also feel that too many drivers are obsessed with getting home, out and back, etc... When I leave home I don't mind being gone a few months. However, where I live also happens to be where I get the best rates. Looking back over my loads, I can see there were times when I was in TX or on the east coast and I wound up spending too much time searching for a good rate or screwing around with oversize permits and stuff. I would have been way better off to grab something a little cheaper back to IL, IN area. I know that doesn't jive with the work less, make more philosophy so many on here are preaching, but when it comes to cold number crunching it's a plain fact. The only thing that would be better for me would be to have somebody working out of Dallas, and have somebody out of Baltimore, etc... who could find me some loads without having to play the "is it a backhaul" game with the brokers. Who knows ? maybe I can get them a better rate out of IL, IN area in return ?

 

I see where you are coming from and why you think that Danny. It is not misleading at all. It is thinking outside the box. Fact of the matter is you are never going to keep that truck rolling 365 days a year. There is always going to be off days. You have family too I'm sure you like to see them. You maximize and get everything you can while you work. It has never ceased to amaze me what sticking to my guns and demanding higher rates has done for my business I get them all the time and people think it is BS to consistently haul high dollar freight with a dry van and make more money per mile than most solo flat or reefer operations do by a longshot .. it's not, I do it load after load day after day.. I never accepted prevailing belief that there was no money with a van.. long ago I kicked the mentality of "those wheels MUST be turning or I ain't earning" to the curb a long time ago. That is a mileage mentality It does not cost me anything to sit at home. I work for top dollar when I roll and earned time at home... Work less, make more... that is the game here.. Go with the flow.. let go of thinking about those useless numbers telling you it costs to sit. That is an albatross around your neck. aSit and demand higher rates...and you will understand over time ..

 

Okay, then take the situation I'm in right now for example. I delivered friday morning, got a decent load $700 on 250 miles. Thought I was going to deliver straight through. Things changed, couldn't pick it up til Saturday and deliver today (Monday morning) I wasn't thrilled about that, but by that but I had been running hard the last couple days, and what's my chances of finding a better load on friday afternoon ? So, no big deal delivered the load this morning. Cost me "nothing" to sit friday afternoon, saturday afternoon, and sunday, right ? Now I am striking out left and right, can't find a decent paying load. So now what, I tell myself it cost's me "nothing" to sit and wait til tomorrow and hope a better paying load shows up ? Or do I take a load that I can make a few bucks off of into a better spot where I know I can get a decent load tomorrow ? I'm sorry rollin, it may not cost you much to sit at the house, especially if you're equipment is paid for. And you may be able to afford to sit at the house off of better paying loads. But to say it costs nothing, that's not thinking outside the box, that's just false. If I would have ran hard over the weekend I'd be a little more inclined to sit back and wait for someone to call on my posted truck, do some housecleaning, get my truck greased, etc... But I'm sitting by Clarksburg, WV, and if I can put a few bucks in my pocket and deliver in IL, IN, or even just get over to OH. Well, I'd be better off looking for a load there having made a few bucks than still sitting here praying for the freight gods to deliver me a decent load.

I know, I type too much. But basically, what I'm saying is I do demand higher rates. But there comes a time, like now, when it's either haul a little cheaper and be in a better spot tomorrow, or make no money and still be sitting in a bad spot tomorrow. Why would I want to still be looking for a load here tomorrow, when I can break even or make a few bucks on a cheaper load and be sitting in a better spot tomorrow ??

 

Thanks for your post. I am new to trucking and am trying to wrap my head around all the variables out there to be successful or not be successful. My question is, the mileage mentality, would this be like buying an item you do not need just because it is on sale? You don't need it and otherwise would not be buying it, if it wasn't on sale, your "saving nothing" and actually "losing money". Is my thinking on the right track, of what your post is describing?

 

That's why my whole business model revolves around short haul freight around where I live. I KNOW what I can get around here and can be competitive on the shorthauls and easily string together 2 or even 3 loads in a day for $1,200 or more gross "to the truck", read that "after Bill gets his cut", on about 300 miles all in whenever I want to. If I just do one of those loads and can't do anything else it's a bad day and I go home. I have contacts with freight all; around here emailing daily etc. I know what hits and when ,most times. I get longer hauls for $3 a mile. Sometimes I will even go somewhere crazy like MI for $3+ a mile and sometimes reload back via contacts for $2 a mile..... if I didn;t do that I KNOW what I can get coming back for $1 a mile if I had to. Point is I never go to an unknown like WVA, yeah that rate seems pretty good for the miles, but when I'm done with it I have no idea what on ITS is available daily from there nor how I would get back to my lanes from it.. ..in the case of doing a load like that it would have to be a reaally desperate broker paying $5 a mile or better, which does happen sometimes... My whole business relies on knowing what I can do all around me. And I stay very busy with it. And can go home after any given load if nothing is happening. I've spent a lot of time, weeks, months looking at loadboards and learning my lanes.. this is what would have some guy reading what I post thinking he could do what I am and make it work down here, I expect they would end up frustrating and not make much of a day or week out of it.. Anyways, I would really suggest any single truck operator do the same, KNOW what goes on around you. Running willy nilly to WVA without knowing what you do from there, well, that ends up being what it is. It's like calling a broker and not knowing what you need to run a load. Or trying to make a deal with a car salesman on a used car. he who has the least information, loses...

 

Don't overthink things and get hung up on the numbers... ...numbers like "must make a minimum daily gross to the truck", or "must have x amount" for every load regardless of miles. If I set limits like that on myself I would have lost $15,000 or $20,000 in business the past couple of months. I read on here about guys who must have $800 minimum on anything in a day. That means they would never consider $300 on 25 miles or $450 on a hundred. Many guys will set parameters up to where they never even see alerts on loads like that... That is foolishness and will have one running more miles than they need to. Just always try to get same day pick and drop freight for as much money as possible in as few miles as possible, that's how you work it and make money... Sounds easier than it is... Takes effort... good luck

 

well, I wound up getting 2.75 on 200 miles over to Ohio. Doesn't pick up until tomorrow and doesn't deliver til 10 am Wednesday. Sure am glad it doesn't cost me anything to sit, cuz I'm doing an awful lot of it here ! lol. I also was able to pick up a load within 10 miles of that delivery going down to Tennessee 380 miles @ 2.45. Not quite Rollin' numbers, but at least I have a plan now.

I am running a bit willy-nilly now that I'm on van, fair enough. It does take time to learn what rates you can get where, etc... I was about halfway figuring out some lanes with my stepdeck before I broke it an decided to do a complete restore on it. this van stuff is a whole nother jar of pickles. appreciate the tips.

 

I'll do numbers like that all miles in. I'm not afraid to deadhead and it really drags the numbers down. Yes $3-$4 a mile sounds ok but 35% deadhead really brings it down. I figure as long as I'm still a tad over $2 a mile to the truck all miles in I do ok and make a little money. My deadhead has trended up from around 15% Jan thru Feb up to an average of 25% until July and from July until last week it was 35%, I keep up with that on a week to week basis just so I know where it is. Last week was highly unusual in that I only had 11% deadhead, that really gives one a lot of wiggle room downwards on pricing if they can keep deadhead down like that. But it's not always an option you simply can't always bridge gaps or offload and reload at the same locations every single load/reload. I always say "put it in the wind" if there's nothing nearby any good, I should preface that with, at the very least KNOW what you can likely swing if you deadhead 200 miles out to the next reload. And when you get a rate offer on that figure it on your entire previous week or 2 weeks numbers, or even a month to see if it works. 200 miles or more deadhead seldom makes sense figured into the loaded rate on any given load unless the broker/customer are willing to pay any price.. Anyways my point being, I don't just put it in the wind to drive around empty for being empty's sake. I don't do it cause "I'm gonna show somebody something" it is part of my plan and how I roll. It'll take you as a quick study a few months maybe to figure out some things around you that are steady, semi setady, or which brokers have good hit and miss stuff and makes some different things work. I would try to focus on either dry van or flatbed and not both though. When you get to making good money with one for a couple of years or 3 then maybe test the waters with the other. Find a niche or niches that work for either and work hard at it. Bouncing back and forth from one to another will have you missing out how to hit it out of the park by just focussing exclusive on one. At least that is my opinion...

 

Here is what i usually do.... Ill take a load out of the house for say $3.50 a mile going 1,000 mules. Then I will DH 300 miles to a $4 mile load rather than P/U a $2 mile load where i delivered my first load. Revenue is the same, but 1/2 my miles are empty. Common sense to me, and yes I can do this every week w/o fail. Did it for the last 16 days straight but I lucked out an my longest DH this trip out has been 245 miles, and my shortest was 2 blocks away.