good freight
 

what companies on average haul more expensive freight

What type of freight are you referring? Van, flat, reefer, etc., ?

well, all of the above

There are a lot of variables when it comes to freight. Most carrier's have some good paying loads. They may also have cheaper paying freight. I have known of drivers with the same carrier who are at opposite ends of the earnings spectre. Whether you earn a below average, average or above average income depends as much on your efforts as it does with the carrier with whom you lease. If you want have the potential to earn a higher income find a good carrier who pays percentage. If you work for a carrier who pays mileage, there isn't a lot of difference between most of them as far as the rate is concerned. However, some pay a higher rate for shorter runs than long runs. It comes down to how well you manage your business.

can you help me do the math? many companies are paying about a $1 a mile to o/o, at 3,000 miles per week you make $3,000. 3000 miles divided by 6(average mpg) is 500 galons of fuel, at 2.50 a gallon with fuel surcharge thats $1,250, thats $1,750 to the driver before insurance , truck payment and on the road expences, fixing the truck sometimes, doesnt add up. cant the company drivers make $1,200 a week and no headaches?

Ahhh,very wise grasshopper,that's why some of us preach against working for the mega carriers or even smaller ones that only pay $1 a mile or less,I work for a company that pays percentage and sometimes my FSC which is on a percentage basis also comes out to .40cpm alone,and my actual pay for actual miles(loaded and empty) is $1.60.

By the way I figure it cost me somewhere in the .80-.90 a mile bracket to operate my truck.

at 120,000 miles a year(3,00 miles for 40 weeks)(12 weeks off) and avereging $1.60 a mile is $192,000 gross, so is it possible to make 100k-net?

my truck and trailer are paid for and while not the most efficent I get close to 6mpg, at your 1.60 a mile i`d net around 90k.

This job isn't like freight hauling in the fact that we usually don't run that many miles a week,I've been avg. between 2,300-2,500 a week.

If I took off 3 months a year I couldn't expect any good paying loads either,I'm afraid no one is just gonna give you money because you own the truck you have to earn it every week.

what is the average mpg do you get when deadheading

don't know,I avg, about 6mpg overall

Load Details
Pickup Location: GREENWICH, CTCurrent Weather Forecast
Drop-off Location: NEW YORK, NYCurrent Weather Forecast
Mileage: 35
Pickup Date: 7/6/2007 (Friday July 6th) Any Time
Equipment Types: Flatbed
Equipment Attributes: Tarps
Load Quantity: 1
Load Size: Full
Load Weight: 39000 lbs.
Oversized: No
Overweight: No
Team Preferred: No
Payment Amount: $500.00FreightCheck Approved Broker
Company Name: Getloaded Test Drive Demo
Company Location: RICHMOND, VA
Contact Name: Mike Maas
Contact Phone Number: 888-565-3921 Call To Signup!
Date Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 10:09am EDT

35 miles, $500, thats $14.28 cpm, kinda cool. :lol: :lol:

That's about right. They are tying up your truck for probably the whole day. It would be great if you could find one load after another like that. You could probably do one a day or maybe 1.5 per day and the savings on fuel would be tons!

Keep in mind there are tarps involved so that could take 3 hours total out of the day. Tarping takes a lot of muscle and does take it's toll pretty quick to a point where you want to just sit for a day.

It is possible to own the truck and clear $100,000, but not likely with most carriers. It is doubtful that you will average 3,000 miles per week with most of them. Besides, there are other expenses involved in running a truck other than fuel.

cant the company drivers make $1,200 a week and no headaches?[/quote]

Here's what I was wondering. If they pay you $ 1200 per week what do they make? Obviously, they are making money or they wouldn't do it.

Why can they make money and O/O can't? Are they more efficient and have lower costs? Better paying loads?

well they are making money on you but not as much as you think, i read an annual earnings report for a company whos name was not disclosed, and they earned $3.5 million, but they had 1,000 drivers employed with the company, take 3.5 million divided by 1,000 drivers is $3,500 profit per driver, so if a driver were to go o/o with this company he probably wouldnt make it.

Here's what I was wondering. If they pay you $ 1200 per week what do they make? Obviously, they are making money or they wouldn't do it.

Why can they make money and O/O can't? Are they more efficient and have lower costs? Better paying loads?[/quote]


Company drivers can earn a good living once they get some experience. There are owner operators who don't make as much as some company drivers. The reason some owner operators fail to make it, has more to do with the person's management abilities than anything else. They lease to these low paying mileage carriers and don't know how to manage their business. Owning a truck is a business. Some new owner operators don't seem to understand that. They run where they want rather than following the freight. There is no point in running to California if the rates are low and capacity is high. In other words, there are more trucks than freight. An owner operator needs to know his operating costs. You must be willing to make adjustments according to what is going on with the economy. During winter months many owner operators refuse to run in the northern states, choosing instead, to run in the southern states where the climate is warmer. This results in rates being somewhat higher in the northern states and lower in the southern states during this time.

This last year has been rather strange. Areas where freight has normally been good wasn't, so adjustments had to be made to get decent paying loads. An owner operator should have some basic understanding of business before buying a truck. My guess is that most don't have a clue about how to run a business. In business you need to do what ever it takes to make yourself successful. Sometimes you need to run in areas where you would prefer not going. Other times, you may need to run rather than taking a few days off.

There are many who get into trouble starting out by over obligating or over extending themselves. They get into big truck payments and then have something happen to the truck. They have no reserve set aside for this major breakdown and no way to borrow the funds, since their credit is poor. If they had purchased a less expensive truck and waited until they had a good reserve, they would likely have been able to survive. Instead, they have joined the statistics of those who have failed. Their poor credit is now worse since they could not hang on to their truck. They now have another obligation to pay. The difference between the payoff of the truck and the cost of making repairs is now put on the back of the owner, or should I say previous owner. He now has a big obligation and no truck.

The large carriers have economies of scale working for them. They may be able to make it on a smaller profit margin since they have 2,000 trucks. The single owner or small fleet doesn't have that economy of scale working for him. Many larger fleets have their own maintenance facilities. Most small operators either have to do the work themselves or pay high rates to a garage to make repairs. Big carriers have a good freight base and often have higher rates than most owner operators can command. An owner operator only receives a percentage of the freight rate, the carrier gets the entire amount if he deals direct with a shipper.

Gman,

Great job answering my questions. Thanks.

You are welcome, Bigmon.

do gps devices have an option for truck routes, because many roads and hwys dont allow trucks