Drop and Hook quote

I wouldn't wait, I would pass on the deal if it isn't consistent or having a contingency built in where they foot the bill for any delay involved on their end. build it into a contract, with detent time and so on. Charge them a fee for the trailer and so on. There is absolutely no way I would charge anything less than $50 a day for that trailer sitting there, figure out how much you would make with it running per week and divide it by 7.

As said, you are tying up equipment, one reason why we charge for that trailer being in their dock every day no matter what, and it wasn't a business day but calender day. See we base everything on what our trucks do moving, if they sit, they make no money, if they are detained, it costs us more because we have tied and driver up instead of moving to another load and it costs the customer no matter what.

We just had an issue with one of the auto companies and some idiot broker in Michigan, the truck was sitting on their lot waiting for a dock assignment and they kept assigning a dock around the driver - he was running out of hours sitting there. He called the broker and the broker said too bad, so he called my manager, who called the broker and said detent time started 2 hours after he arrived, but the broker said no detent time at all, too bad. Manager called the carrier and told them the crap he was trying to pull, so the carrier and manager both called the broker and pretty much told him $100 an hour, when he runs out of hours, the load is cancelled - broker's problem. The broker lost it so my manager said too bad, load cancelled, the company guy said the contract provides for full payment of the load no matter what, and the driver went to go reset his hours. The broker is now on the no haul list, the carrier is making a claim against his bond if they have to, the customer was informed about it and they agreed the broker screwed it up. By the way, the driver was there the next day to pick up the same load, the rate was increased by another broker. No problems this time.

One reason why people don't make money is these little things have a cost, so if the customer don't like it, we go somewhere else - let them deal with idiot drivers or getting their stuff there, I and the manager don't care there is too much freight out there to capture to produce revenue.

 

I do have a similar contract, and I am charging 350$ a month for the trailer to sit there.

We have a signed contract, and if anything goes wrong with set pick-up time, delay or messes my drivers next day schedule, charges will apply.

They screwed up one time... Sent them an invoice and it never happened again. They made sure everything was right on time for the next loads.

 

I have had several deals like this. Small shippers.Seventy five bucks a week to keep a trailer there,charge a slightly higher freight rate for the lane they run after that. You cannot get too high , or you will be undercut.

 

I can't think like those guys since I don't have that fortune built yet. I'm not another guy trying to run a carrier as a low cheap pulling my hair out guy basing off load boards. I try to everyday expand but the right way. If I had older vans I wouldn't care at all with the lane I lost. But being a small carrier to be able to compete only thing we can really offer is service and taken care off equipment. When a big guy just adds a trailer to his credit, and a lane falls through he just throws in a 4-8 week guy to haul it for 30 cpm. It pays off. Small carriers don't have that option.

 

I just don't see it that anyone wants anything other than best price from vans. I've been given a lot of praise over the years for first class top notch service but I'm still always the last guy to get a call. And any regular runs I see are insulting. The only money I have ever seen was when the need was critical and their back was to a wall. That's just how it is. Maybe I have just straight jacketed myself to thinking that way and become addicted to that kind of operating.