A conversation on the side of the road ...

[tracer]

I had a chat with a driver today in Cambridge, ONT. He had a very old GMC WHITE truck hooked up to a steel stepdeck trailer. I said I was a driver too and we talked for a few minutes while the guy was putting some home-made ramps on the trailer. He said he was picking up steel products and the stuff was 45 feet long ... The interesting thing he said was he was taking this load to Texas, and it paid $2.80 per mile to the truck!!! He said he was leased to a company and worked on percentage. I checked on the Yahoo!Maps - it's around 1,500 miles. Not a bad run

[solo379]

Would he be able to get something from TX?

[jiptwoo]

If he does and the laws have not changed; his next load is supposed to take him back to canada. But how many do that, I'm sure they run all around the US before making it to canada. OH, then again you never said he was a canadian driver.

[Orangetxguy]

I bet he would dh to Laredo, if that isn't already his destination, and pick up a load headed to Canuckville pretty quick.

[tracer]

Would he be able to get something from TX?

I think so. He's Canadian but he said he had married an American girl and now lives in Michigan. There should be some flatbed/stepdeck loads from Texas to Michigan, shouldn't there?

[allan5oh]

I remember talking to someone I trust that got a regular dry van load paying $2.50 going east.

Good thing he has a regular customer coming out of there, at a decent rate too.

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I remember talking to someone I trust that got a regular dry van load paying $2.50 going east.

Wow... I'm beginning to suspect that the type of trailer you're pulling has almost no effect on the rate you can get. Maybe what matters more is the driver's business and negotiation skills and how well he/she serves customers.

[hamboner]

My dad hauls for that rate or better consistently pulling his flat. He hauled 4 loads in the last couple weeks that all paid $4.00 per mile or better - the best paying better than $5.00. The highest paying load was overheight and width. He hauls mainly for one customer who has several different divisions of steel structural manufacturing. They do run a lot of brokered loads on backhauls though.

[rank]

Would he be able to get something from TX?

I think so. He's Canadian but he said he had married an American girl and now lives in Michigan. There should be some flatbed/stepdeck loads from Texas to Michigan, shouldn't there?

If he is able to work in both countries and cross in the border, should be able to do well as a driver.

I remember talking to someone I trust that got a regular dry van load paying $2.50 going east.

Wow... I'm beginning to suspect that the type of trailer you're pulling has almost no effect on the rate you can get. Maybe what matters more is the driver's business and negotiation skills and how well he/she serves customers.

B-A-N-G !!!!

You hit the nail on the head BIG TIME !!!! But also the more versitile you are to be able to handle different kinds of loads the busy'r you will be and more in demand you will be !!!

[GMAN]

I remember talking to someone I trust that got a regular dry van load paying $2.50 going east.

Wow... I'm beginning to suspect that the type of trailer you're pulling has almost no effect on the rate you can get. Maybe what matters more is the driver's business and negotiation skills and how well he/she serves customers.

The type of trailer and availability will impact the rate, but your negotiating skills will have a lot to do with the rate you will command. We hear about how cheap van freight is, but as you noted, there are good paying van loads. It is up to the owner to decide whether he has value or not. If he places no value on his service, then no one else will either. I have been offered van loads at or above the $2 mark. Yet, there are still those who will haul loads for $1/mile. It makes no sense that these people will haul these cheap loads and continue to complain about the rates. Stop hauling the cheap loads. Demand higher rates and you will get them. It isn't rocket science. I can usually find a good rate most places where I have trucks. You can either take something cheap to get the truck moving or work a little harder and get a good rate. If you take whatever is offered, then you are probably running for cheap rates. Sometimes it is better to say NO than take a load that has no profit. If there is nothing that pays decent in an area, don't be afraid to deadhead to an area where you can get a good rate. If you haul for cheap rates, you probably can't afford to deadhead. In fact, you should probably just park the truck and do something else. There is no point in working for FREE.

[tracer]

My dad ... hauled 4 loads in the last couple weeks that all paid $4.00 per mile or better - the best paying better than $5.00. The highest paying load was overheight and width.

Gr-gr ... and here I am pulling a company trailer for 1.12/mi. Just brought a load of paper from Toronto, ON to Crawfordsville, IN (575 mi) and tomorrow they are sending me 120 miles empty (same 1.12/mi) to elkhardt, in to get another load going back to Ontario. I can't wait to get my own authority and trailer! I feel like I'm throwing money away at the carrier who's laughing all the way to the bank.

[tracer]

The type of trailer and availability will impact the rate

Well, I think in my case when I want to be able to haul specialized loads, haul lighter loads, and do less tarping - I"m going to go with a 53 foot stepdeck (11' upper deck, adjustable tandem spread, built-in ramps at the end of the trailer). I'd go with a 35 tandem detach (RGN) but I'm amfraid I won't have enough work. Just saw an ad in Canadian "Truck and Trailer" mag - someone was selling a practically brand new 2007 RGN trailer, probably going broke? On the other hand, I did a demo search for loads on Internet Truck Stop yesterday (Destination: Ontario) and found a dozen RGN loads from ... Florida! What's that all about? Who would ship bulldozers from Florida to Ontario

[Joymax_Trans2]

For whatever my 2 cents is worth, listen to GMAN - just say no to cheap freight and be willing to DH to a better area for better rates. We run dry van and since the cost of fuel has risen, I've been getter higher rates because I'm refusing all loads that can not cover my fuel plus a profit per load. We are also venturing into other areas that we were staying away from in the past. For example, Texas, I'm finding you can run TX to TX and get rates from $1.85 to $2.50 for dry van. So we are spending more time running these type of loads, then heading back out to GA. We did the same thing a few weeks ago running OH - WV or OH - IN.

When enough Truckers tell the Brokers that they are not going to haul these cheap loads, the Broker is going back to the Shipper telling them to up the rate or I'm not going to be able to move your freight. When the Shipper has enough rejections and their freight is sitting longer and longer they are willing to increase their rates.

[DD60]

For whatever my 2 cents is worth, listen to GMAN - just say no to cheap freight and be willing to DH to a better area for better rates. We run dry van and since the cost of fuel has risen, I've been getter higher rates because I'm refusing all loads that can not cover my fuel plus a profit per load. We are also venturing into other areas that we were staying away from in the past. For example, Texas, I'm finding you can run TX to TX and get rates from $1.85 to $2.50 for dry van. So we are spending more time running these type of loads, then heading back out to GA. We did the same thing a few weeks ago running OH - WV or OH - IN.

When enough Truckers tell the Brokers that they are not going to haul these cheap loads, the Broker is going back to the Shipper telling them to up the rate or I'm not going to be able to move your freight. When the Shipper has enough rejections and their freight is sitting longer and longer they are willing to increase their rates.

Been there,done that with TX freight. 1.85 to 2.50 is not enough since they take a day's worth of time. The only time I do those short TX runs is when Im in Austin,Houston,or San Antonio and am headed home to Dallas . As far as not hauling cheap freight,the only way that will happen is if most of these major carriers fold up and decrease the truck capacity. As high as truck capacity is now in TX and other states there will always be someone that will haul the cheap freight.

[Orangetxguy]

For whatever my 2 cents is worth, listen to GMAN - just say no to cheap freight and be willing to DH to a better area for better rates. We run dry van and since the cost of fuel has risen, I've been getter higher rates because I'm refusing all loads that can not cover my fuel plus a profit per load. We are also venturing into other areas that we were staying away from in the past. For example, Texas, I'm finding you can run TX to TX and get rates from $1.85 to $2.50 for dry van. So we are spending more time running these type of loads, then heading back out to GA. We did the same thing a few weeks ago running OH - WV or OH - IN.

When enough Truckers tell the Brokers that they are not going to haul these cheap loads, the Broker is going back to the Shipper telling them to up the rate or I'm not going to be able to move your freight. When the Shipper has enough rejections and their freight is sitting longer and longer they are willing to increase their rates.

Been there,done that with TX freight. 1.85 to 2.50 is not enough since they take a day's worth of time. The only time I do those short TX runs is when Im in Austin,Houston,or San Antonio and am headed home to Dallas . As far as not hauling cheap freight,the only way that will happen is if most of these major carriers fold up and decrease the truck capacity. As high as truck capacity is now in TX and other states there will always be someone that will haul the cheap freight.

If only ACE, VENTURE, ACME and DYNASTY would fold into oblivion...rates would get much better. As long as those four are out there doing their "alliance rate" deal whith the oil companies..flatbed & stepdeck rates will remain in the toilet. :evil:

[Kurbski]

The type of trailer and availability will impact the rate

Well, I think in my case when I want to be able to haul specialized loads, haul lighter loads, and do less tarping - I"m going to go with a 53 foot stepdeck (11' upper deck, adjustable tandem spread, built-in ramps at the end of the trailer). I'd go with a 35 tandem detach (RGN) but I'm amfraid I won't have enough work. Just saw an ad in Canadian "Truck and Trailer" mag - someone was selling a practically brand new 2007 RGN trailer, probably going broke? On the other hand, I did a demo search for loads on Internet Truck Stop yesterday (Destination: Ontario) and found a dozen RGN loads from ... Florida! What's that all about? Who would ship bulldozers from Florida to Ontario

Due to the downturn in construction, there is a huge auction on I-4 East of Lakeland around HWY 27. You might want to keep in touch in that area for a while. There are hundreds of pieces of you name it. it's huge.

[tracer]

Due to the downturn in construction, there is a huge auction on I-4 East of Lakeland around HWY 27. You might want to keep in touch in that area for a while. There are hundreds of pieces of you name it. it's huge.

Ah ... that's why they had all these RGN loads on the load board!

[Kurbski]

Due to the downturn in construction, there is a huge auction on I-4 East of Lakeland around HWY 27. You might want to keep in touch in that area for a while. There are hundreds of pieces of you name it. it's huge.

Ah ... that's why they had all these RGN loads on the load board!

Yea, the news was saying it's one of the biggest construction equipment auctions ever held in FL. Im not sure which company ran the show but Ritchie Brothers and others will probably be busy for a while selling off all of this stuff. Loaders,Dozers,Graders.High Lifts,Cranes,Pumps,Trucks,etc.

[Papa Rick]

The company I worked with for 4 1/2 years would go down to this auction every year to buy equipment. They have the auction once a year and it is huge.