My only complaint with FleetOne is that even with a personal credit score over 800, they refused to allow me more than $2,500 a week limit, which doesn't get me through the week and then the few extra days til the money is debitted from.my account. Their excuse is that with one truck I shouldn't need more. The problem is that we often run 6,000 miles a week. They claim after I establish a good history with them they'll reevaluate. TCH had no problem with giving me $10k, but I was paying retail there.

We are set up on a weekly auto draft with FleetOne and then pay an invoice manually midway through to week. If necessary you could set up an auto draft daily if they set your limit too low. I just refuse to do it because I think they should increase my limit. I'm not sure what other payment options would be available to you.

Those card fees you don't mind paying can add up, by the way. We were averaging close to $400 a year with just the one truck paying $1.80 per transaction. Also, you didn't say if Apex tells you what tomorrow's price will be and if that price is guaranteed static for the entire 24 hour period.

 

I hear a lot of OO's that talk about getting their own authority, or have their own authority. I'm not sure what exactly the benefit of that really is. I currently haul for a broker and am paid approx. $1.15 a mile and that is including the fuel surcharge. What are the benefits of having your authority then? It doesn't sound like those guys who do are getting loads that pay much better than that. Please enlighten me. Thanks - Bob

 

If you are only getting $1.15/mile with the fsc included then you are going broke with every load. There are a couple of reasons to run your authority. One of the most important to me is the flexibility to haul for anyone that I want. When you lease to someone you can usually only haul their loads, or those you get from them. On top of that you will usually receive around 65-75% of the rate because you will need to give them about 25-35% for running under their authority, getting your loads and doing all the paperwork. You get to keep all the money when you run under your own authority. There is a certain amount of freedom when you run your own authority. There is never the pressure to take a load that may not be profitable. Some carriers try to push owner operators to take loads that may not be profitable for them.

Not everyone is cut out to run their authority. There is a little more paperwork involved. You are also the one who must pay the bills when you run your authority. You will be responsible for finding your own loads along with billing and collecting the money. Some people prefer leasing on to someone because they either don't want the added responsibility or the task of doing the extra paperwork.

In any case, rates have been falling, but most should be higher than you are getting from that broker, at least on average. It sounds to me as though he may be double or triple brokering loads to you. There are some rates in that range, but not all loads are being moved that cheap. If you continue running loads that cheap you will not survive in this business. After fuel and operating expenses are taken out you would make more driving a company truck at the rate for which you are currently running.

 

If you are only getting $1.15/mile with the fsc included then you are going broke with every load. There are a couple of reasons to run your authority. One of the most important to me is the flexibility to haul for anyone that I want.

If you pull loads from a load board aren't you basically making about the same? You're getting the less desirable freight and still making peanuts in the end, right? Or are you talking about loads right from the manufacturer? - Thank you, Bob

 

You can find rates all over the place whether it is on a load board or from a broker. I have brokers and some shippers who will send me their loads each day. Some shippers will attempt to move a load for a certain rate and others will ask for a bid. Just today I have brokers who have sent offers from about $1.29 to $3.13/mile. These are mostly flat or step deck loads. These rates are what they want to move the load for and are not necessarily the rate they will accept. I always try to negotiate a better rate than is offered. Most of the time I am successful, some times what they quote is all they will offer or pay to move the load.

I see no need to haul a load for less than it costs to operate my equipment. It has been many years since I have hauled a load for $1.15/mile and that was before the fuel surcharge started. And fuel was well below $1/mile. I am not going to tell you how to run your business, but you really should sit down and find out your operating expenses. Since you run by the mile I would suggest breaking down expenses by the mile. To give you an idea, when fuel costs $3/gallon and you get 5 mpg then your fuel costs alone run $0.60/mile. If you average 6 mpg then your actual fuel costs will run $0.50.mile. Out of the rest you must pay your truck payment, insurance, tires, maintenance and all the other costs associated with truck ownership. And then you must pay yourself. I think that once you add up all the other costs that there will be little or nothing left to pay yourself. When I figure operating costs I like to include the cost of having a driver in the truck, whether I have a driver or it is me. If I cannot pay a driver, all expenses and have a decent profit then I won't take the load. To be honest, you should be able to make more than $1.15/mile leasing to a carrier. I have a friend who is leased to a major carrier and he is averaging over $1.50/mile for ALL miles. That includes deadhead miles.

When you run your own authority you should be able to make more than if you lease to a carrier. You will have additional expenses running your authority, such as insurance and some compliance costs. There is additional paperwork and added responsibility running your authority, but you have the opportunity to earn much more than when you lease to someone. I have known people who prefer leasing to a carrier to running their authority. They just don't want to deal with the extra costs and paperwork. For most of them it is mainly the paperwork. Personally, I prefer running on my own to leasing to a carrier.

 

Thank you very very much for all of the information. I really appreciate it!!:bow:

 

You are welcome. If you are interested you might do a search on this forum concerning operating costs. We have broken down costs by the mile on several occasions.Another resource is OOIDA. They have a spreadsheet with some basic costs where you can plug in your own expenses and see how the numbers look. I don't remember if you can access the spreadsheet unless you are a member, but it is worth a try. Of course, you may already be a member for all I know. If you can't find what you need and have more questions, let us know. Several of us have leased to carriers and run our own authority. Some of us have owned trucks for a number of years. Most are willing to share some of the costs of running their trucks with others. Remember, everyone has different operating expenses. Good luck.

 

Will do. Thanks again - Bob

 

Where would a new o/o look for fuel discounts and tire discounts? We have used Verizon for years for our phone service, so I don't know if they offer a discount. Are there others available that I am missing?

Thanks for the help! - Bob

 

Bob, OOIDA has a national tire program that they offer through Fleetone. Since I don't care for Fleetone I would not recommend them. Flying J did have a national tire discount program they offered through their PDCA card. With the recent merger with Pilot I don't know the current status of that program.

If you do business with some brokers, they can give you a Comdata card which could offer some tire discounts. The catch is that if you use a particular brokers card you cannot load it yourself. They must do it for you as you haul their loads.

I could give you the name of a tire distributor that I buy tires from if you wish. Just pm me and I will get it to you if you are interested.

You can get your own fuel card if you run your own authority. As a small operator you won't likely be able to get many discounts unless you go through one of the large brokers who have their own card. Landstar has a card that they offer to approved carriers as well as BCO's who are leased to them. You are supposed to be able to get discounts on tires, parts and fuel. Other major brokers offer similar programs.

I find that I can do better on my own than with some of these organizations. With so many members OOIDA should be able to negotiate better discounts.

I like TCH for a fuel card. Although the discounts are few, I like the way fuel data can be printed and tracked. Of course, most of the fuel cards have similar features. EFS, TCH, Comdata, TCheck are all major fuel cards. I would check with all of them to see who has the best deal for you. In fact, if you plan on going to the Dallas Truck Show at the end of this month, some of them should have booths and people with whom you can talk. Most have a set up fee, but often those are reduced or waived at these shows.

As I stated, I have a tire distributor whom I do business with locally, but I always keep a spare. Truck stops will rape you on tire replacement charges. I checked with a TA this morning for a price on caps for my truck. They quoted me $270. I can buy new tires for a little less than that figure. I can also buy caps locally for $170 or less at home. I suggest that you check around close to you.

One unfortunate aspect of running your authority when you only have a truck or two is that you can't often get deep discounts on fuel or tires. I have a friend who is leased to a carrier and is getting fuel discounts as high as $0.50/gallon using his company assigned Comdata card.