[rooftopview3]

Hey, my brother is an owner op and is also trying to develop a better understanding for what loads to accept. Is there anyway you could answer this short survey for him. I pasted it below. Thanks again!

Hi All. I live in Fort Wayne, IN and I am working on a project that would be helpful to companies and especially Owner Ops who have non-forced dispatch. The finished product would help make the most of your time which is really important with the ELD mandate. Feel free to send a pm if you don't want others to see your answers. I appreciate any help you can give to the effort! The questions are:
Q1. How do you determine whether to accept or decline a load?
Q2. How much time on average do you have to accept or decline a load before it is gone?
Q3. Have you ever accepted a load that was less profitable than you wanted or expected it to be?
Q4. Of those loads, how much money would you estimate you lost in the past year?
Q5. Do you currently use mobile technology in any aspects of your job?
Q6. If not, would you be willing to use mobile technology to assist in your job?
Q7. Would you see value in a mobile service that helps you quickly decide if a load is profitable, and help you negotiate better rates?
Q8. If you do see value, what would be a reasonable price?
Q9. What price would you say is too high?

[Mr. Ford95]

Not an O/O myself but:

1, you look for profitable loads and accept those that you can run. If you have a flatbed, you don't want to accept a reefer run obviously........or if you have 15 hours available on your 70, you don't accept a load that has to be picked up and delivered in the next 48 hours when drive time says it takes 20 hours. The math just doesn't work! There's a bunch of factors you have to look at. Some drivers don't like live loading, they want to roll in, grab a loaded trailer and book.

3, I have heard of folks accepting a good high paying load, but it put them in a bad area with little good paying loads coming out or no loads at all coming out. So they took a loss by deadheading to a better area and/or they took a smaller loss by running a less lucrative load that got them back to a good freight lane. In the big picture though they may not have actually lost much because the high paying load going in was so high they still were in the black taking a loss getting out. Know your freight lanes!

[Fredog]

nice way to fish for customers

[GMAN]

I have a minimum haul rate and won't take anything that pays less than my minimum. I look at the product, time to load/unload, weight, whether it needs to be tarped and where it is going. If it is going to a slow freight area, then I need a higher rate. For instance, if I have a load going to south Florida, I will need a higher rate than if I am going to Alabama. I also look at who is offering the load, their credit and how long it will take to receive my money. Some loads can go while you are on the phone with the broker or shipper. Other times, it make several days for them to book the load.

I have lost money on a few loads over the years. I could not tell you how much I have lost, since that has happened on very rare occasions. I made a mistake calculating the miles or rate. But, I try to be careful that it doesn't often happen. I have also had occasions where I had a load booked on the other end that cancelled and I had to deadhead out of the area. Things happen in this business that are out of your control.

I use a laptop and cell phone. I can usually calculate in my head whether a load will be profitable, but I can quickly run the miles and do the math on either my cellphone or computer. To tell you the truth, I don't like technology. I would say that I have a love/hate relationship with technology. As far as having access to additional technology that would tell me whether a load is profitable or not, I think that I have got that covered. I would not want to spend more on technology that I am currently. There are some who have not been around this business very long who might find greater value than me. I am more old school.

[Copperhead]

Q1: a lot of factors go into it. What is the load paying, length of haul, where it is going, the projected weather conditions along the route that could disrupt things, toll roads required, etc. A load might pay well, but it puts you in an area that has lousy rates coming out or the possibility to excessive dead head to get to another load, so what have you gained? Not a wise idea to take a load that may pay well, but the route is expected to get a major snowstorm and really cause great delays. And if the miles that the rate is based on an unrealistic route, then that can cause me to decline. And the customer involved plays into it also. There are some customers I will not haul for. They would have to pay far beyond what the market will bear for me to show up. And the demand of when it is to be picked up and delivered. I will not do stupid things because someone in a cubical cannot get orders placed in a timely manner or a shipper cannot have load ready in a timely manner to meet the demand or the receiver is not flexible based on any delay at the shipper.

Q3: No

Q5: YES! iPhone and Laptop. I use anything that will help in decision process. Google mapping for determining possible routes. National weather service to see projected weather conditions along those routes. Estimated fuel costs and discounts available along the route. And the list goes on. Individual state DOT apps that keep me alerted in advance of traffic conditions, road closures, alternative routes, etc.

Q7: Indeed.

[GAnthony]

Originally Posted by rooftopview3

Hey, my brother is an owner op and is also trying to develop a better understanding for what loads to accept. Is there anyway you could answer this short survey for him. I pasted it below. Thanks again!

Hi All. I live in Fort Wayne, IN and I am working on a project that would be helpful to companies and especially Owner Ops who have non-forced dispatch. The finished product would help make the most of your time which is really important with the ELD mandate. Feel free to send a pm if you don't want others to see your answers. I appreciate any help you can give to the effort! The questions are:
Q1. How do you determine whether to accept or decline a load?
Q2. How much time on average do you have to accept or decline a load before it is gone?
Q3. Have you ever accepted a load that was less profitable than you wanted or expected it to be?
Q4. Of those loads, how much money would you estimate you lost in the past year?
Q5. Do you currently use mobile technology in any aspects of your job?
Q6. If not, would you be willing to use mobile technology to assist in your job?
Q7. Would you see value in a mobile service that helps you quickly decide if a load is profitable, and help you negotiate better rates?
Q8. If you do see value, what would be a reasonable price?
Q9. What price would you say is too high?

i have seen this posted on other truckers websites, i see you're going around. you didn't get the answers you were looking for at the other 27,000 sites.>??


you "claim" your brother IS an o/o, yet he is just now looking for this information.>??

if he didn't do his homework BEFORE he became an o/o like i told you in the previous postings elsewhere, he is doomed. you don't want to "learn" important business decisions AFTER an investment of money is made.

as i said in the past, good luck. and remember, much information you get, WILL BE THE SAME no matter where you post, as i HAVE SEEN HERE.......

learn anything new..?????

[safefleetsolutions]

Great questions. Like most businesses profitability is about managing it from both ends - the product/service and the operations.

[Areelius]

These are NOT legitimate questions from someone who claims to already be an O/OP. If you don't know the answers to these questions then you are not in the trucking business. You are probably just looking for free info to get into the game, so just be honest and ask us real questions.

[Brian Junior]

Originally Posted by rooftopview3

Hey, my brother is an owner op and is also trying to develop a better understanding for what loads to accept. Is there anyway you could answer this short survey for him. I pasted it below. Thanks again!

Hi All. I live in Fort Wayne, IN and I am working on a project that would be helpful to companies and especially Owner Ops who have non-forced dispatch. The finished product would help make the most of your time which is really important with the ELD mandate. Feel free to send a pm if you don't want others to see your answers. I appreciate any help you can give to the effort! The questions are:
Q1. How do you determine whether to accept or decline a load?
Q2. How much time on average do you have to accept or decline a load before it is gone?
Q3. Have you ever accepted a load that was less profitable than you wanted or expected it to be?
Q4. Of those loads, how much money would you estimate you lost in the past year?
Q5. Do you currently use mobile technology in any aspects of your job?
Q6. If not, would you be willing to use mobile technology to assist in your job?
Q7. Would you see value in a mobile service that helps you quickly decide if a load is profitable, and help you negotiate better rates?
Q8. If you do see value, what would be a reasonable price?
Q9. What price would you say is too high?

1 I look for a mileage (check it by zip codes provided) and for the rate. I own a Dry Van so I try to stay around $1.7 per mile on short distances (400 miles+-) or $1.5 for long distances
2 about 15 minutes to have a deal and about 30 minutes to have all the papers signed
3 Yes
4 Don't know, I am new carrier
5 Yes
6 Yes
7 Yes
8 Maybe $30 per month