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Originally Posted by GMAN
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Originally Posted by merrick4
One final thought GMAN, I did sign up for the CH Robinson board and am just waiting for my password to get finalized. Are they known to be purveyors of cheap freight? I plan on reading their SEC financials to see what I can glean from that. I'd like to know their profit margins.
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Merrick, CH Robinson does have a reputation for only having cheap freight. However, I have hauled freight for $3/mile for them. I have also been offered freight as low as about $1.50/mile. They can pay well, depending on how badly they need to move the load and where it is located. I have met those who only haul CH Robinson freight and seem to be happy. They have a section for "hot loads" you can access when you get your password. You can post or check loads in a particular area. I don't rely totally on any broker. I don't haul a lot of loads for them. They seem to have more van and reefer loads than flat bed or step deck freight. You need to understand how CR Robinson and some other large brokers work. They commit to a certain number of loads per day or week for a specified amount of money. The less they can pay a carrier to move a load, the more money they make. If they don't move it for the lower rate, they will raise it until it moves. That is why you need good negotiating skills. I have turned loads down only to have the broker call later to pay what I asked. They are not going to pay me $3/mile to take a load someone else will take for $1.30/mile. Some brokers operate on a flat percentage off the top for all of their loads.
I am not suggesting you only rely on a single broker. Some have been able to make that work, but most find it next to impossible. I think you can make something like that work more for a van or reefer than a flat or step deck.
You need to consider subscribing to one or more load boards. Getloaded.com and internettruckstop.com are two that I subscribe and have done well with them. I pay $25/month for one and $35/month for the other. There are some private boards, such as Landstar, Jones, Schneider, etc., which don't cost anything if you are set up with them. Schneider has a lot of van freight that they broker.
It doesn't take much time to post your truck on several load boards. Once you get a load booked and know when you will be in a certain area, you simply post your truck where you will be with the date you expect to be unloaded. I would caution you about booking too far out in advance. Things happen which can delay you and there is always a possibility someone will want to use your truck more than you want to haul their load. In other words, you don't want to book a load only to find out later that you could have gotten a much better paying load had you not committed on the cheaper load.
I am not sure how much you can really learn from reading CHR's financials. They could have shippers whom they work on a flat percentage. Besides, there are a number of ways in which to hide the numbers. Some brokers who commit to move a certain number of loads for a shipper also have a penalty clause in their contracts should they fail to move a minimum number of loads within a certain time frame. That is another reason a broker may be willing to pay more to move a load. It is cheaper to pay the truck more than the penalty with the shipper.
When all is said and done, it doesn't really matter what the broker makes as long as you get what you want or need. You should know your cost of doing business. You should have a target and minimum haul rate. Sometimes it is better to deadhead out of an area rather than hauling a cheap load. It can sometimes be better to sit for a day or two for a good paying load. I will usually not sit for more than a day unless I have some assurances that I will get a good paying load the next day or if I am putting a load together. |
This one post is what it's all about. This is exactly what I'm looking for. I would have never thought about that it might be cheaper to pay the truck then pay the penalty. I want to learn the system. Anyone can buy a truck and set up one's authority. I want to learn the system. Great advice GMAN, I really appreciate it.
Well I went to get the watermelons this morning and the load was cancelled. I got to talking with them in there (I'm always talking with people, my wife says I should have been a radio dj, as a matter of fact right after this I went to McDonalds to get my daily iced coffee and got to talking with the woman cleaning the counters and in the end I ended up translating the other girl who worked there her request to the manager to go home cause she felt sick [as mentioned before I speak spanish, though I'm not spanish]) and he tells me I should be getting truck ordered not used pay.
I did sign up for getloaded already to start watching things. Internet truck stop must be the one that someone mentioned above but they put ITS. I was googling ITS and couldn't find it so that's why I guess.
I called my friend this morning to let him know about the load. I feel like there is some slack between the kingpin and the 5th wheel and I wasn't sure how to handle that. He said the 5th wheel might need to be adjusted or replaced, but that I should call the salesman I bought the truck from.
GMAN, what do you do when you post your truck? I mean how much of a concern for you is it not being paid? I know I read from Steve that I can check their MC# and of course go over to OOIDA and check the Check's in the mail thing they have. Are you very select in the brokers you accept work from?
I really don't want to haul cheap freight either. It's like you said, a broker isn't going to pay $2.00 if someone will do it for $1.30. And to be honest I know that there is always going to be someone to haul if for cheap, but I do have my principals and I never lived by "well someone else is going to do it, why not me".
It's like working for a company, I was making good money driving local. A lot of hours but I had it real good. Well they started hiring temps so they could cut back on our overtime. I refused to train the temp, they want to take money out of my pocket I wasn't about to help. Well they came back with "Everyone else is doing it" and it was true everyone else was doing it. But I wasn't going to and I don't care what everyone else did. Everyman has to do what they feel comfortable with so I didin't judge my co-workers I just wasn't going to do it myself.
The point of all this is I put myself in a position that my bills will always be paid, I won't be hauling cheap frieght so I don't lose my truck. Sometimes I think this is a reason I will never be a goodbusiness man. I think most business men, successful ones at least need to be a bit unscrupulous; cutthroat even.
Sorry the iced coffee is kicking in again. Besides that I like to type.
