Stepdeck rates

Okay friend, i am going to try to help you. Find a guy about 6'4 300lbs. Ask him to kick you when you bend over.

Are you serious, dude? If youre not making money, it is because you have no idea what you're doing. WA, FL, CA...and complaining about the rates? Unbelievable. If you're not local, the odds of getting good rates aren't good. Understand? It has been that way in those areas since God was talking to Moses.

Why can they afford to be cheap? Because they can a always count a sucker driven truck to be in the area.

Listen up: If the load going to deadzoones and cheap freight zones doesn't pay for the load and the bounce back to the freight lane, AND your profit margin, DONT TAKE IT. Make them dig deep in their pockets to go to Wa, ca, and Fla.

Got that? I haven't been to cali since2007. Haven't been to WA since2009. Will go anywhere. No finance, no romance.

Not meaning to be a buster, okay. I need you to sharpen your pencil. You hurt every one of us when you pull cheap.

 

The Sharp Pencil hustle.

There's 168 hours in a week. You have 168 hours to make things happen. They offer $1.56/mile to go in the freight lane vs $2/mile to go into a dead zone. Which do you take?

It takes a lot more time to run in and out the dead zone. It's a lot longer time until you can get to the next load. Understand what that means...you will make 2x the money in that 168 hours staying in the freight lane if you want to move cheap freight.

The Gamble.

They call you with a load that pays well. But it goes to a dead zone. The travel agent tells you about some decent paying freight coming out of the dead zone. Enticing right?

Wrong.

If they have a decent load coming out, why did they not offer it to you instead of telling you about it. That's because it's hit or miss. Want to sink the battleship? Go out to a dead zone and miss. You're sunk. Ate up a week. Did the load going out there pay enough for a week and a half? You gambled, went all in and lost. If they have freight, they will send the load offer to you. If they don't, it's hit or miss. I can't bet 2 weeks wages on a hit or miss. Can you?

Luck in battle.

 

That's good food for thought right there. If you don't have this kind of "Business" mindset you won't make it out here and you can't blame the availability of loads or rates for that. I been making good money out here.

"Huh??? Did you say good money, in the winter time, with open deck freight??"

Yessir!! I been busy all winter and profitable all winter, despite the opinions I heard from certain critics advising me not to switch from dry van to open deck.

I stay in lanes that I know and are comfortable with and I don't stray from them. Period. It works for me. The only way I would venture out into strange territory is if it paid enough for me to deadhead all the way back home...PROFITABLY. Is the broker that desperate? There's a small chance...but probably not.

Get to know your lanes!! Shouldn't take long...maybe 4 or 5 months of consistency and you should be making some money and feeling good about yourself and your career.

Cheers!

 

I hauled a load of sawmills from Greensburg Indian to chesterville Maine last summer that paid me 2200 bucks! Why so much? Because it is going to Maine! If I didn't live there that 2200 wouldn't have looked so appealing for I may not have gotten a load back! A lot of times I will deadhead to mass for a load out! Take the small money and do a lot of short hauls like TripleSix said !

 

I own both tractor and trailer. 48x102 SD. Knowing your lanes and limitations can help bring what you seek. If SD freight isn't your thing, there are plenty of van, tank loads out there. Eventually you should be able to find what works for you. Best of luck.

 

Only way to get to know lane rates is to go owner op or lease huh?

 

No

 

How can I learn rates then being a company driver?

 

If your company does not share them you're working for the wrong company. That's my opinion.

How can you figure your pay if they do not share the rates?