Why is FREIGHT SO CHEAP??

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by samjward, May 20, 2016.

  1. samjward

    samjward Light Load Member

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    I've already done that. This post was basically to state that there is no real true reason for why freight rates are so low. I have about roughly 34 shipper accounts. And yes, each one took me less than a few hours to setup. Give or take a bit of time for paperwork and with some of the shippers I have, I have to actually build the load for them. It sounds like you're just mad that I'm exposing how easy it is and you want to argue because it hit a little too close to home. The truth is, the majority of brokers are ripping off carriers and doing little to no work out of their own house. It's not hard work by any excuse you can come up with. It's just communication, you just talk to people. That's it. I think you missed my main point. :|
     
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  3. samjward

    samjward Light Load Member

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    Also I'd like to mention that I found all my shippers by finding leads online first. I never had to leave my house and go door to door. Anyone who does that just ends up bothering the shippers and it's honestly considered desperate. I guess it works for some brokers, but I had better luck researching as much as I could first about a lead before calling. (Each lead took me about 1.5 hrs)
     
  4. samjward

    samjward Light Load Member

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    Research goes a long way. For example, see attachment.
     

    Attached Files:

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  5. spax

    spax Medium Load Member

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    I think easy financing is to blame. Everywhere you look someone is offering guaranteed financing to make someone else an owner operator over night. Watch the truck related classified pages on facebook, they'll offer up their easy financing and within minutes 30 or more dudes are commenting that hey want to be signed up. Of course freight will be cheap when you flood the industry with disparate operators who now have a huge nut to crack every month before they even turn a wheel. It's a bubble that will burst much like housing did when anybody could get a mortgage.
     
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  6. rasymacmac21

    rasymacmac21 Light Load Member

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    I was trying to setup with them a couple of weeks ago. I spoke to the guy in charge for freight out of the northeast. He was talking big game that he usually has everything covered by his usual brokers and carriers, blah blah blah. And he had the courage to pull a TQL on me by asking how much I think I needed for LTL going to GA/FL, TX. At that point I knew to step away slowly
     
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  7. samjward

    samjward Light Load Member

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    Yeah, if you talked to Joe you'll get the answer that he has everything covered which is actually not true. He DOES however only trust a few carriers specifically. He deals with brokers more than direct carriers, however, he will give you a load if you bother him enough. As a broker, I grabbed four loads last week in the morning around 9am. One was 1.33/mile and I felt horrible brokering it for a little less than that. One was 2.24/mile for 380 miles, and that was the best one I've ever seen from them. The other two were 0.78/mile and I ended up giving them back because I didn't have the heart to broker them out at a lower rate than what they were giving me them for.
     
  8. samjward

    samjward Light Load Member

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    Without giving out too much information, I've seen better luck with the smaller shippers. Some of my customers used to pay 3.80/mile on 675 loaded miles. Recently, that same lane is going for 1.68/mile max. That's a huge decrease. Something is definitely amiss, and it's not just as simple as supply and demand.
     
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  9. Chasingthesky

    Chasingthesky Heavy Load Member

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    Must be this guys brother. Saw him backed into the dock at a Wiese USA
     

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  10. BoostedTeg

    BoostedTeg Road Train Member

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    What in the world. Please tell me that's a joke.
     
  11. reefer101

    reefer101 Medium Load Member

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    I noticed that in the west we have newer trucks, but southeast/Chicago they drive those fld/centuries/Volvos held up with bungy cords and duct tape.
     
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