Tell us what you got to go into South Florida and from where. Then lets discuss what you should have done, instead of calling on futile freight, and then complaining about "Cheap Freight" You may have put yourself in that position when you didnt need to be. I like the title "Cheap Freight" but I wonder why you would go there and expect the big one coming out.

 

I have been in trucking off and on since 1982, and S Florida was always to be avoided unless you got enough going in to make it profitible to dead head back to Atlanta. The LA basin was the same...great rates there, and desperation loads to get out.

 

There are several area's of the country where I normally expect to deadhead out. I may wait a day if I feel that there is a good possibility of getting something that pays well, but for the most part some area's just don't have decent paying freight. And the reason is that there are those willing to haul for fuel money to get out. If I go into Florida, I don't even waste my time calling on anything in Plant City. I know that the rate will be between $0.90-1.20 and it will usually be a long run. Phoenix is another area which is difficult to get out with something that pays decent, at least coming East. Most anywhere along the US/Mexican border is usually not going to pay very well, although I did get a load out near Brownsville that paid $3/mile this past year. However, THAT IS NOT THE NORM. New York and the Northeast usually has cheap freight. I received a call a few weeks ago from a broker who wanted to pay me $1.70/mile for an OD load, including permits. I have no doubt that someone took their load. There is a sucker born every minute. I told the broker that I rarely took a legal load for less than $2/mile. I also gave her my minimum rate for a OD load which did not include permits. She couldn't believe it. Either this individual was on drugs, or totally out to lunch. When you go to these cheap freight areas, you may get lucky and find something with a decent rate. However, it is usually best to be prepared to deadhead out rather than waiting for several days in hopes of finding something that pays well. Sometimes, you just need to cut your losses. I don't go into Florida much because of the cheap rates. I have been offered loads going there for less than $2/mile. I usually tell them that my minimum for going into Florida is $3/mile if it is a legal load. Some are not supprised, others can't believe that I would charge that much. If you consider your deadhead it really isn't that much. Some of these brokers are double brokering their loads. They don't seem to know how to sell. There are others who are skimming a high percentage off the top. Most of the time when a cheap rate is offered, it is the broker who is taking a high percentage of the line haul. There are some brokers whom I don't bother to call because I know that they only have cheap freight. There are some who won't call me because they know I won't haul their cheap loads, but they may call me if they have something that pays decent.

 

As O/O, we are fighting a losing battle with freight rates. We can leave the freight right there on the dock, but along somes a company like Roehl or TMC, and in order to get a truck moved into higher paying freight lanes, they will take the cheap load rather than pay for ALL the expenses of getting their truck out of there. Virtually every O/O in the country will leave it there, but SMX will load it on and the brokers are happy. Until you can get the bigger companies to leave it behind, you won't do anything about it.

 

Should move out of Florida?????
As long as there are brokers which are taking a too big cut of loads i have a right to complain!
I'm a reasonable person, but $500 to go into Texas 1300 miles is just a big joke!!!

 

Windwalker, I think some of the problem is with the larger carriers, but there is just as much of a problem with the owner operators who are willing to haul for anything rather than deadheading out of a bad area. I think the problem is that the owner operators are running too cheap and can't afford the fuel to deadhead because they are not making enough on their regular run. Owner operators are leased to carriers and they will often succumb to pressure to not run empty. We can blame the larger carriers, but most of them have a high percentage of owner operators running under them. If an owner operator refuses to haul a cheap load, then they will sometimes be threatened with going to the bottom of the dispatch list or having their dispatcher tell them that is all that is available. Rather than sit, they capitulate and take the load. I have known of owner operators who are terrified of sitting for a day or two in order to get a decent paying load. They would prefer to take anything that is offered just to keep moving. That is not the best way to survive this business. It may provide some interim cash flow, but cash flow without profit is a recipe for disaster. Unless you have a profit, you won't be able to survive in this business. Perhaps the main problem is that you have too many owner operators who know nothing about running a business or what their operating costs run. Until we can better educate those who decide to become an owner operator, I think this cycle will continue.

 

Many of the larger carriers are paying their O/O by the mile. For example, I was leased on with J & R Schugel. I would be going down to Port Manatee in FL and picking up lumber. Being paid by the mile, I didn't get into the price of the load. November of last year, they switched to percentage, and I found out that those loads were CHEAP FREIGHT. I also found that they expected me to take loads that only paid $0.60/mile to move me up into higher paying freight areas. Before that, I WAS taking those loads and being completely oblivious to what the load was paying. If you are not being paid percentage, you're just looking at the miles, not the pay per mile.

 

Tell the truth and shame the devil. They offered you $500 for a partial into Texas, but you didnt want to build a load, you wanted to ride? $500 for a full load on 1300 miles is absurd, but you still didnt say what took you to south Florida and what you went in for. I think someone else sent you in and left you on your own to get out.

 

I live there..... :idea: