Tricks to getting more $$$ a mile ?? *Step Deck*

i've been able to get a little budge. but $2 is getting harder and harder. like you said. the load board is getting to be a joke. the cities you speak of. are a dream these days. compared to the dead areas.

i only know of one place so far. where 2+ is consistent. but the only way your getting out. is either cheap or free.

everyone says no to cheap freight. but cheap freight is getting to be the new normal. and it don't matter where your at. or what your pulling.

you can either haul cheap freight. or haul REALLY cheap freight. off the boards.

 

I like the idea of load boards. In theory I should be able to pay a broker 10-15% on loads and in exchange I get reduced deadheading and no further obligation than one load at a time.

However, there are many problems with the load boards. Now that a good amount of brokers move their loads exclusively through load boards what can they offer a shipper ? They're going to take their load and put it on a board and take calls like everybody else so all they have to offer a shipper is a cheaper price than anyone else. They certainly can't offer service, they're gonna send any truck they can get ahold of. Also, in the rare event a decent load pops up on a load board, it's not uncommon for another broker to "cover" it and repost for a cheaper rate. It's not uncommon for shippers to shop their loads out to 4 or 5 brokers. And the slimmer my profit margins become on loads the less willing I am going to be to pay a broker 10-15%. It is uncommon to call on a load and have someone who knows the customer or product and isn't just giving me details off a screen. It is uncommon to get what the load really should pay unless it's last minute or running late already.

I do okay with the boards, sometimes it takes a lot of phone calls and a lot of searching to find those diamonds in the rough, but it's still possible. However, I've recently been doing more direct work. I was actually kind of surprised at how easy it is to get good loads directly. In fact, it seems as if some shippers dislike brokers nearly as much as I do.

Basically, I think the internet load boards are just going to continue to get worse. Harder and harder to find decent loads amongst all the muck. Shippers who have any concerns for quality and service will find other means to move their loads. Carriers will find it is more profitable and actually easier to find work by other means. It's just gonna wind up being a gathering place for brokers and carriers racing to the bottom together, if it isn't that already.

 

This post should be framed and put up on a wall somewhere.

 

This load board phenomenon is one reason why I no longer pull open deck. It makes it so easy to get in the business, and many guys just don't understand what their cost of operation even is. Dannythetrucker is exactly right, no service is offered by brokers, just low price, so everyone is left to slug it out at the bottom. Some shippers are still willing to pay for service, but they're getting harder to find. If the big boss can pad his pockets a little more by using substandard operators he will, regardless of cost to society. But, that's the American way these days. I look at the cheap freight extravaganza as outsourcing right inside the country.

Cheap labor with low quality of life? Check!

Unsafe working conditions? Check!

Extra $1 million margin for CEO bonuses at the end of the year? What were those first two?

 

It's not hard to find good paying loads. You just have to be willing to haul one load every 3 months....and dead head 300 miles.

 

Don't have a list of places you won't go
Don't have a list of things you won't haul
Go where people need you to go
Don't quote yourself outta work. Be competitive
when you get loaded GO!
Be willing for things to take a little longer (tarping 10' tall machine or using 35 straps on a load)
multiple stops
Most Places Receive 8-5 Run It LIKE A Step Deck. Not a van. Run during the day sleep at night
Be willing to add a partial even if it doesn't seem logical at first

 

don't have a list of places you won't go.

some places make no sense to even go there.

what's the sense in going somewhere. if you have to bounce 1000 miles just to get the next load???? cuz that's about $700 in fuel. EMPTY mileage.

1000 mile bounces from canada, per say. are all too common. and from the looks of things. canadian freight seems to be dropping in rates too.

 

That's why you figure in your rate bounce money. You know it's a dead area and you put in enough on the bid to bounce out to a better rate area