Or could this be why some succeed in trucking?
 

1. Do your budget:
This is utterly important, without it you don't know if your turning a profit. What is going on right now is a change of thinking, people are use to spending $400 to $500 to fill the truck and that was 25% of the revenue they was making traditionally. Now its $800 to fuel the truck, and its jumped to 40% or if your working to cheap 60% of the revenue.

2. Learn lanes:
Run different lanes till your find ones that pay you the best, but be ready to and looking for other lanes, cause as the economy changes so does the lanes, also as produce moves from section of the country to another so does the lanes. Its a large country and as a small guy you can't learn all the lanes and markets.

3. Talk to your brokers:
Learn lanes they might have everyweek you can get good money one. Chances are those lanes are hard to cover for them. Be there to fill the gap, plan ahead.

4. Home Terminal:
Run from a home terminal and always come back to it, don't run 48 states, run lanes that bring you out and back, out and back, don't run all over the world, your regular brokers that you get the best money from will find someone else to fill the void when your running all over the country.

5. Backhauls: I hate this word but its only one that works.
Don't wait till the last minute to look for loads, it makes you desperate and then brokers know your not playing at industry levels, you'll get crap for rates. One exception to this is the occasion that a broker gets a load dropped on him at 4:30pm and it has to go, but if its not one of your regular brokers they aren't going to call you anyway.

6. Present yourself:
Always present yourself as a trucking company, not a one man pony show. Brokers have Company rates and Owner Operator rates. They will lie like a cheap rug, they can look up your MC# and see 1 truck but they can't know how many O/O's you have leased on. So always carry yourself as a trucking company!

7. Be sociable and polite:
Regardless how they treat you and how cheap the load is be polite and make a good impression, tell them "Our Rate on that LANE is" don't say can you come up $200, thats the way Owner operators talk, and your asking for it, instead of telling the brokers what its going to cost to use your truck.

8. Create demand:
Watch the trucks, and loads, as the trucks get loaded and freight moves some of in invariably get left on the board, pick a destination lane that you know what to expect coming back, then post your truck looking to goto that city/state but list other states too, this is fishing, I'm looking for that broker to call me, remember its supply and demand, you always get more money when they call you. I've used this same tactic to get $3 mile from brokers.

9. Ask questions:
Whats the load time? How tight is that if we can't get a truck there quick? Whats the delivery schedule? Is it a drop dead appointment? Can it be bumped if we have problems? All these questions lead to your knowing how HOT is the load, and how to price your equipment.
Real world story: broker calls just before Thanksgiving we're in KC MO, has a load delivering Friday before Thanksgiving at 3pm its Thursday morning, he also has a load going to same area but delivers on Saturday. I ask a few more questions, and I've already picked the load, the one delivering on Friday at 3pm. WE booked that load for $3.25 mile on whipped creme, from KC to Dallas.

10. When your going to have a truck in an area call everyone and their brother letting them know. Sure they'll say call back when the trucks gets here, they're doing that to control supply and demand, they want you to be in need, they know that you'll work cheap then.



These 10 points are known by alot on here but theres dozens more that have never heard these points and need to know it, they're loosing trucks for the lack of knowledge.


written by Zecatfish

Interesting points, Load It. The way many of these cheap loads are being taken most of them must not present themselves as a trucking company. If you have your authority you are a carrier or trucking company. I think many of them don't understand that they are a carrier, not an owner operator who is leased to a carrier. It is always good to be polite. It doesn't do any good to get mad, curse the broker and hang up the phone, even though you may want to at times. The broker with the cheap load today may have a really good paying load tomorrow.

#6 and #7 go a long way. I would add to number 6 "personal presentation" as well.

Loadit you are paying your O-Os too measly if fuel takes 40% of their take!

I didnt write that, just passing it along, my O/O's are paid well and on-time.

You can obey all of those points above but if your personal life is over bloated like many of out countrymen is, no matter what, you will fail, like many do.

This is something I've been doing lately. I've been working with an agent who is known for being able to get a broker out of a pinch. Sure, there's a lot of waiting involved, and it can get very stressful when that clock hits 5:00 and you're still waiting for that call, but the reward makes it well worth it.

Case in point - the other day I was sitting down in Wytheville, VA, and I'd been getting offers all day from agents and brokers to run loads up to the Baltimore area. The best one I was offered paid around $650 on 350 miles. Far too cheap to go to Baltimore, IMO, so I waited. At 5 pm, I got the call - $1100 on 532 miles to NJ, and within 4 hours of getting unloaded, I had a reload that paid $1000 on 377 miles to MA. Plus I already have a reload out of MA that is paying me quite well.

Whether it will last, who knows. But I'm learning that the first offer is rarely the best.

I agree with this tactic and a lot of people practice this daily, but it doesnt pay off daily. This is what the expedite business is built upon. To me, $2100 from Wytheville to Boston is good others here will find a way to diminish it, just as they would over the citizens band.

and after tolls you were right back to the 1.85 pm. :roll:
not busting on you, I'm busting on the tolls up here.
Harbor Tunnel..... 12.00
Susquehanna.......30.00
DE.....................9.00
(Don't know your route after that)
I go around the nine dollar toll in DE. I'm a real desperado.
You should have stopped by, could have thrown a few Kielbasa on the grill.

ok.... back on topic...... sorry. I have a thing about tolls.

Gman, I have found that larger companies will take the cheap load to move their truck. I dont give my loads to the larger companies, because they will back door you. These newer carriers, mc near 6_____ some have no idea/clue and dont get me started on the brokers and cheap/competitive shippers.
Always be polite!!!! I cant stress that one enough.

What tolls?

I should have Google mapped Wythville, VA. first, my bad.
see what the thought of tolls does to me....

Rev...I knew it was coming.

Come on RostyC even with the tolls he made out $2049 on 909 miles and he probably went up there because he knew he had a load out. If you go to the Northeast w/o a load out, you have 2 choices, leave empty or leave cheap. I've done both. He isnt going back to Wytheville empty so even if he deadheaded to a better area w/in 300-400 miles he was still profitable assuming Rev hasnt added a Legacy sleeper and customized the Lincoln.

Even if I would have had all those tolls, I wouldn't have been at $1.85. It would have knocked me from $2.31 per mile to $2.255 per mile.

I really think you took my post the wrong way. It was not at all intended to be a criticism of Rev, it was just when I read it the first thought that went through my head was going up I95 and the tolls associated with it. A bit off topic. I had only half a cup of coffee at that point also. Sorry for the confusion. :)

Resume discussion.

Please see above post. :D

The only thing, that's really counts (for me anyway...), it's your yearly average, for all hub miles run. If i could double my cost per mile, i'm considering doing good.

I agree and so does the Revenue Service.

I am always polite. I have heard many people who have told me that it is the owner operators who are hauling all the cheap freight. I think it is as much of more of the larger carriers who are taking the cheap loads. I would think that you would have more who will back door with the current economy than usual.

Gman,

I agree with you. I don't think owner operators drive the freight prices down, but much rather the larger companies. Case in point,I work with an established broker and he was complaining to me how us express undercut his rate at something like 90 cents per mile,compared to 1.60 ,the rate he was getting out of this shipper. If these huge megacarriers will fall out(I hope they will),I think the supply of trucks will be just fine fine for the current demand. And. I think its a matter of time,not if, for this to happen.

It seems that it is almost like they have their heads stuck in the sand not wanting to admit that there isn't enough business to go around. I think they want to see if they can drive prices down to a point where they will drive their competitors out of business and then they can make a killing when the economy turns around. They are positioning themselves where they can take advantage of the situation when it does turn. It is a crap shoot to see who will be the last standing when the dust settles. We are seeing a number of mergers and acquisitions among those who are in difficulties. It will be interesting to see who will be left when this is over. I have been expecting at least one of the major carriers to bite the dust. This country does much better economically when we have more smaller to mid size companies rather than a handful of mega companies, and I am not just talking about motor carriers. Smaller companies have greater flexibility. Most large companies have much bureaucracy with which to deal. I remember a guy who had over 100 trucks telling me once that he never thought he would be hauling some of the cheap freight he was hauling. At the time I was thinking about buying several more trucks and trailers. He said that the bigger you become the more willing you are to haul cheaper freight just to keep the trucks moving and your drivers happy. In retrospect I think he is correct. When you only have one truck you can be more selective with which loads you take. When you have several hundred or thousand trucks you will compromise just to keep the wheels moving. These large carriers have a lot of overhead with which to deal. Many of them lease or finance their equipment. They must make those payments at any cost.