Loads at $4.00 per mile

You aren't going to find $4 pm freight on a load board, that's where you are going wrong. You need to get the right direct customers to do that. Usually, rates like that will be for less than 500 miles as well.

 

This time of the year, I think one is lucky to see 3 per mile unless your oversize. Load boards are the left over freight that companies can't get moved with their own trucks. Not that I haven't gotten some good loads off the boards but it's getting rare.
Also my experience stepdecks rates seem to go down in the winter months, right now about the same as regular flat. So I pull oversize mostly but then hurt by the daylight hours.

 

I don't think I have ever found one pay $4 on a load board. We did have some really good paying military loads that were close to that. But I kind of lucked out on those.

 

One load board is the same as the next. 90% of the freight you'll find there is on ALL the other load boards as well.

Load boards are what they are. Public subscription load boards are for truckers to make a last ditch effort to find a load. They are where the scraps and overflow stuff goes. In other words they were some other trucking companies 2nd choice and didn't get moved. Load boards are the low priced stuff other guys didn't want to pull. Load boards are brokered by the middle man, and by the time they get to you the fat has been sucked out of the rate.

Load boards are a good place to start out, and use as a back up. However, they aren't THE solution you are seeking.

 

Most brokers or shippers are not going to post their high dollar loads on public loadboards. Most will start calling carriers with whom they are familiar and then may go on to call carriers with trucks posted on their inhouse loadboard or some of the public loadboards. I have known some who are agents or brokers for larger companies who also won't post their high dollar loads due to being bombarded with calls. Some loads on public loadboards are double brokered and that will keep rates down on some of them. Unless you get very lucky, you won't find loads in the $3-4/mile range starting out. Most brokers and shippers won't offer those rates to new carriers. They will want to see some sort of track record. I have some who regularly check my safety record, too. If you have some dings on your CSA or safety record then you may not be able to get some of the higher paying freight. Some brokers will load anyone as long as they have active authority and valid insurance. Some won't load you until you have been active for at least 6-12 months. Brokers can have problems with carriers just as carriers have problems with brokers.

I have a few who will call me with their better paying loads. These same people won't usually call with something that they know is under my minimum haul rate. If you continue to turn down the cheaper loads then they will begin to offer higher rates. It is the carrier that determines rates, not the broker or shipper. Unfortunately, there are too many who don't understand this concept. Brokers or shippers may initially offer a cheap rate, but the rate will rise until a carrier takes the load. Whomever takes the load establishes the rate. Remember, it is your equipment and your authority. If you haul for cheap rates then it is your fault. No broker or shipper can force you to haul a cheap load. There may be times when you may take a cheaper load, but if you demand higher rates then you will get them. I would not expect to start out getting $3 or $4/mile, but those loads are out here. I have not been running very hard for the last couple of years due to my wife's health. But, when I run I usually manage to do as well as many others, even with the down time. I run fewer miles with the same revenue.

 

You gotta be doing HOTSHOT for consistent $3.00 $4.00 a mile loads!!

 

Not necessarily.