Refrigerated ltl.....true ltl modeling??s

You have a complicated business model there. It would take a lot of work to develop into a viable operation, I believe. Probabaly better to start as a regular T/L carrier, and work into your model.

 

I used to haul perishable plants out of south Florida. 8, maybe 10 pickups, 30 to 40 drops. Now that was work, but it paid excellent.The biggest thing was communications. Everyone had to be on the same page.

 

Here is the challenge I see in theplan! Most major carriers have already downsized to OTR, Regional,and picked up cheap trailers and labor from the struggling Householdgoods industry is trying to give their employees enough hours to keepthe lights on and feed their children! with secure drop yards andmore employees and equipment then they can use! After our economystarts to rebound and unemployment drop closer to 10-12% you may beable to find a niche! At the moment their are to many retirees,unemployed, empty trailers and struggling local companies that havethe labor and equipment to under bid you! The budget at FT, Hood forexample was cut 60% All the new veterans are standing behind oldveterans looking for jobs! who is paying for relocating newemployees? almost no one! United, Global, American, Estes, Brown,consolidated and the list goes on and on and on are all taking smallloads not only anywhere in the state but, dropping trailers in Truckstops and rest stops near state borders to use local drivers to movesmall loads from state to state! Great Idea Bad timing! "Use to"is becoming a common word things just do not work the way they did 2years ago! I am so Glad you are thinking it through! Wish you thebest, hope you can find a way to make money in it! THGHost

 

The LTL refridgerated segment is very alive and very niche market. You have to know someone or have a great reputation to get near any of the good stuff. It does take a lot of work to schedule and load/unload the freight...not to mention figuring how the temps and loads gets distributed in the trailer. The biggest hurddle will be a dock for you to move freight around or store it. I have been pulling LTL reefer out of Wisconsin for the past 2 years and love every load. I load on Fri night/Sat morning for the northeast. Usually I leave with 26-28 pallet positions used (the floor is full) with a total of 35-55 pallets all together. It is very challenging to get the bigger loads scaled, get my electric jack on, and load the freight so I can get the pallets out at the recievers. With 8-16 drops in 2-3 days from Jersey on up into Maine I reload whatever we find or deadhead back depending on rates, times, and my gut feelings. This past week I was irrated and needed to get home so I bounced from Portland,ME to northwest OH. Once back in WI I make pickups at 3-4 shippers and bring them back to my carriers dock to be cross docked, temp checked, and inspected. Mostly the freight I pickup isn't for my outbound and with 85 trucks things get pretty hectic.

 

Getting a customer to only give you the LTL to the areas you want is pretty tough. @pullingtrucker,are you with Bill in Germantown?

 

Yep I am leased to them. I just run for another board that he doesn't dispatch.