How to provide/negotiate rates with brokers?

Here is what I do. I research rates almost daily as my hobby. I look at what type of freight is paying the most and the freight that is paying the cheapest rates for the area of the country I am currently running in or where I will be.

Next, I take the average of the top 5 loads I can find for myself and the average of the bottom 10 loads.
(I average the bottom 10 loads so I have a general idea of what to expect when someone trys to give me a low-ball rate)

When quoting a rate, I take the average of the top 5 loads that I found and add
$0.42 per mile to the total and give that number as my quote. It's always higher than what most are willing to pay to ship a load but that allows for a counter offer and I can decide to accept the rate or continue to negotiate with them. Your mileage may vary as it may not work for you but it is what works for me.

When it comes to finding out if it's a full load or a partial load, that is always one of my questions that I ask before quoting a rate. It helps avoid giving a rate that is way too high and losing the load or way too low and being stuck with a crappy load.

Also, the person who told you that 24hr shippers & receivers are high paying loads, to me that's just a bunch of nonsense. I would not let that influence my decision to accept a given load at a given rate.

When someone tells me they have a good paying load I always say to myself, "I'll be the judge of that." Negotiating rates is not always easy to do. You need to know what it cost you to operate your truck. If you know what your operational costs are you can easily determine what your break-even point is and negotiate rates that work for you.

My suggestion is to develop a chart with all of your operational costs broken down per mile so you have a visual aid to assist you when examing a load to determine if that rate suits you or if you need to try to negotiate a higher rate.

Not everyone is as organized as some others are but if you spend the time to do it you can maximize your bottom line earning potential.

 

Are you still trying to work that Toronto Montreal corridor ? What lanes are you running?

 

Here's what I do

What is the absolute lowest I could take before I lose money?
Set a standard CPM to run by. IE $x.xx a mile.
Ideally I'd never expect a broker to meet that 100% of the time.
Find a happy middle ground. As long as it's above your lowest and closer to your expected you will do OK.

Always ask for more. If they say "They can only do 2100, ask if they can do 2300". Chances are you might get 2200 on it. Do your best to avoid being the first one to offer a rate. That's how they trap you.

 

The Toronto to Montreal or Ottawa corridor is way too competitive. What are you getting? About 800 Toronto to Montreal (or ottawa) and about 600 for the return?

 

That's ok if power only and drop and hook... run the heck out of that if you can ...

I gave up on that lane a long time ago...
You can likely do better running on to pa or ny or any of the close states - there's always lots on the boards... I don't call all my stuff is dedicated now anyway..