Actually, you make a good point, solo. It depends on the type of freight you are hauling as to whether it is too cheap or not. What is cheap for a double drop or step may not be too cheap for a flat or perhaps van. Cheap can also apply to the commodity. I generally charge much more for hauling aluminium coils than steel. Aluminum costs more than steel, thus the higher price. If you haul ordinance, you will likely command a higher rate than if you hauled pallets of dog food. How is that, solo? :wink: Perhaps we should just ask those who pull various types of freight what they consider cheap?

 

No Pepe...it's these academic terms...'predatory pricing' requires that you have 'deep pockets', which is itself another academic term.

I think you would be what's called a 'bottom feeder'.

 

Solo, I think cheap is hauling below your cost. But I'm talking about the real cost which I'm afraid many out there (again, nobody in particular :lol: ) don't even know. My bottom line is ALL the costs associated with running the truck including driver compensation. Compensation is not only driver pay but also the self-employment tax (7.65%) and a benefits package comparable to what I could get in a company job. That's the minimum I will haul for.

Now that number can vary a bit between carriers and I don't have a problem with that. If everybody is running at at least their true cost per load and they're still lower than me, I can accept that. My only issue is the guys that don't know their true cost.

Pepe, as GMAN mentioned earlier there are several reasons why you see freight that low. Many brokers know they have until Friday to move a load so they start posting it Monday hoping they can get some sucker WHO DOESN'T KNOW HIS COSTS :lol: to take it. As the week moves along the rate slowly comes up. You'll also see this happen in the course of a day. A load will post in the morning and the rate will slowly come up throughout the day. Another reason is that some brokers have no idea what they're doing and bid freight simply trying to undercut the competition rather than using knowledge of freight rates. They can't offer any more money because they don't have any more in it.

 

Oh, forgot, :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

No I like #1,it atleast made me laugh out loud.

 

What?

 

Good sport, Mike3fan!!! And Pepe, hey man, love you, but..., you know, it was just there... :wink:

In case anyone cares: predatory pricing is when a company with a lot of cash (deep pockets) sells a product cheaply just long enough to run everyone out of business who doesn't have those deep pockets at which time the first company can raise prices high because they no longer have any competition.

None of this is difficult, you just have to know the words. 'Market economy' of course is just buyers and sellers haggling back and forth for the lowest price. This, as opposed to a union negotiating with a company and threatening to strike, or prices fixed by the government as with utilitity companies or the way it's done in Socialist and Communist countries.

No_Worries, I want to get clear on something. Low freight rates at different times and in different areas has more to do with how much freight is moving out of that area and how many trucks are there in need of a load than anything else, right? Poor businessmen O/Os would be a much lesser factor, though I guess it would be a factor too. It's not good to make things too complicated. One truck O/Os are very small, simple businesses compared to everything else out there. I have no doubt there are plenty of guys who have been doing it long enough and are sharp enough that they can keep everything just right inside their heads without out a lot of technical terms or even computers and software.

I mean, I'm all for professional business practices and tools, but businesses don't get much simpler than trucking O/Os. (please, no one get offended and compare it to a kool aid stand, ok? Think multinational conglomerate or something- trucking is a whole lot simpler). Some guys are poor businessmen and wash out. Some guys limp along on much lesser profit margins than they otherwise might make. But, what is new, right? Very simple, much more freight flows into Florida than out of Florida. You just know that freight coming out is going to be cheaper. That's just how it all works, it's normal, it's ok.

 

OK! So I'd say it's about $1.50, for O/O with own authority, pulling dry box.
Try to get this kind of rate from North East region! Your chances, are slim, to none. Cause market 5-10 trucks to one available load dictate the price.

I don't do brokers from here, only customer freight, yet very seldom at that mark, including fuel surcharge, and all extras. That's why, when I'm coming to that region, I'm considering $2.00 a "cheap" freight!

I work rounds, some people do a different mode, but i guess the same should apply. You have to consider in and out!

 

Not offended, but you've got my curiosity!
In what way it's "simpler"? :roll:

 

This is quite a post.

If I may, I believe Steve was advocating hauling cheap frieght 500 miles TO GET TO A BETTER AREA. Quite a different thing than the example of cheap frieght being hauled for 2200 miles.

Oh, and Coastie............shut up. :roll: :P