900 mile deadhead
 

I was sitting in Calgary, AB and didn't see any good loads on the board. Called a few agents - nothing. Then I started looking for loads in nearby Canadian provinces ... and finally found a flatbed load around Winnipeg, MB, 900 miles away from me. It paid $2,400 for 900 loaded miles from MB to Montana. Having nothing better to do, I plugged in the numbers in Google Maps and determined the trip from Calgary to the shipper to the consignee was 1,800 miles. So I got the Agent's email address from the online directory and made an offer to move this for $2/mi for ALL MILES. Guess what? They said yes! With the wind blowing in the back, I did 8.5 MPG US cruising from Alberta to Manitoba at 62 MPH. Picked up the load and instead of the 20,000 lbs described in the bill of lading, it was only 4,000 lbs. So, I hope to get some great fuel mileage on the way to Montana too. Anyone ever deadhead this much? :) I guess the morale of this story is that sometimes when the shipper posts a cheap rate for a load in a "dead" area, they are shooting themselves in the foot and will not be able to find drivers willing to take it. When this is the case we shouldn't be afraid to give them our own price, no matter how high it might seem at first. You don't lose anything by asking.

Good for you man! We all need some good things every now and then.

Good going Tracer thats the way to do it at Landstar. Know YOUR rate and try your hardest to get it. After a while if you use the same agents they'll know what you'll work for and what you won't.

The longest that I can remember deadheading is 2,289 miles. One thing that I have found over the years is that unless you ask you will never know whether you can get a better rate unless you ask. If more people asked they might be surprised at the rate they could get.

I've done deadheads like Gman. Part of the game in high $ freight.

Good for you, you're learning. Try to do this for every load, they'll pay a reasonable rate when they need to move it.

Got that right. Since I went totally on my own at the end of August I have learned a lot about this business. The most important thing I've learned........... Patience, Patience, Patience. Especially trying to get out of Baltimore. I will not run this truck at cost to get out of this area. So far I've managed to do very well getting out of Baltimore, but it takes work.

What really amazes me is when I call on a load and they quote me the rate and their not even interested in negotiating. Next thing you know it's gone off the board, and I sit there just astounded that some one would take it.

That's why in the other thread I posted about UTI. I've never called UTI and got even close to a reasonable rate quote, and they are never willing to budge, next thing you know the load is gone. Freakin idiots.

Same thing goes on in every business, this one is just faster paced.

When you know that a broker only has cheap freight you could stop calling them. As I believe that I have posted previously, I have limited the number of companies that I normally do business. I will occasionally do business with someone new if my old contacts do not have something. It takes time to establish yourself and find good people with which to do business. If you start out not taking cheap freight you will save yourself a lot of time. In fact, I don't even waste my time on brokers who call with cheap freight. There is more double brokering going on these days than ever before. I have found that most of the time when a broker offers a cheap rate it is because they have either under bid the load to get the business or double brokered the load. Unless it is a new broker it is most likely double brokered. In any case, they can find someone else to take it.

Rates are down about everywhere. I don't know of anyone who is getting the rates they would like on every load, but you can keep on trying and stay away from those loads which don't have any profit in them. One problem new people have starting out is that they don't understand how the freight market operates and what it costs them to operate their business. Many will take what is offered because they are afraid to sit. After all, they have expenses and don't want to take a chance of not having any money to pay bills. Cash flow doesn't necessarily mean that you are making a profit. I can't see operating at a loss while everyone else involved in the load makes money. I would prefer to either sit for a day or deadhead out. Without the truck no one makes money. We need to change out attitude about this business. The shipper cannot get his raw products without a truck. He cannot ship his finished product without a truck. The broker cannot make his commission without the truck. Now, you would think that something that is so integral to the success of everyone would be able to demand and receive a fair rate. It is unfortunate that many don't value their time or service. You don't need to give your services away to stay busy. If you go to an area you know is bad for freight then get a good enough rate going in to afford to deadhead to a better freight area. If you ask for a decent rate you have lost nothing if you don't get the load. If the shipper or broker accepts the rate then you have a good load. Every load is a negotiation.

With this particular load there's at least 2 middlemen involved that I'm aware of: my agent and then some big brokerage she kept referring to as "our customer". When I offered to move this load for my own rate, it took them awhile to re-negotiate with the actualy shipper. I think rates would improve dramatically if only ONE broker/agent was allowed to sell the freight. Shipper - Broker - Driver. Not: Shipper - Broker 1 - Broker 2 - Agent 1 - Agent 2 - Agent 3 - Driver :) It's like passing a piece of cake through a line of hungry people - by the time the cake reaches the end of the line (the driver), only 1/10 of the original is left. The only way to beat this is to bring my asking rate to a profitable minimum. Then if the shipper really wants to move the load, he or she will put pressure on the middlemen and they stop biting big chunks off the "cake" :) Working directly with shippers of course is another way to get a fair rate but for now I have to work through Landstar agents.

Just a curiosity...Was that $2.00 a mile the whole rate, or your cut?

I just completed a 2,449 mile deadhead, Billings, Mt to Ft. Greely, AK. I am leased on with ATS, on the mileage plan so I get $.81 deadhead miles. I deliver this load to Killeen, TX, so it is some serious miles.

Well, technically, you are not dead heading on a "mileage plan". Yes, it is a "dead head", but it's company, not yours....

Deadhead means without freight. It has nothing to do with pay status.

loaded miles: 978
deadhead miles: 903
total trip miles: 1881
line-haul: $2,989
"out of route mles": $310
fuel surcharge: $301
tarping fee: $100
total freight pay: $3,700

I get to keep all the tarping fee and fuel surcharge, not sure about the "out-of-route miles" .... they will probably give me the usual 72% of $2,989 and 72% of 310. Let's see how much it'd be per mile to the truck.

2,989 x 0.72 = 2152
310 x 0.72 = 223
+ 301
+ 100
-------------------------
$2776 to the truck for all 1881 miles, or

$1.47/mi.

But if you look at the loaded miles only, you'll see that this customer - upon my insistence - paid $3.78 per mile ($3,700 divided by 978 mi = $3.78).

When I was at LS running van, I did runs for a aget out of Chicago (CHI) and ran a Con-Way run from Des Plaines, IL to Miami, FL for $4,000 to the truck (my cut) and I would just bobtail back. Did 1 runa week. left monday morn and came home friday afternoon. Wasn't bad till around January when they decided to have Con-Way drivers run it themselves. Thats when i left.

Just wondering why did it take you all week to go to miami & back?

Chicago traffic ! lol It's 1400 miles each way. 2800 miles for 4.5-5 days doesn't seem too bad:cool:

$1.47 Isn't that a pretty low rate to the truck considering you end up in Montana?Can't imagine any decent paying freight out of there back to Canada so it means another long deadhead to find decent freight again.

I think $1.47 to the truck for ALL MILES is not bad, even after I did 900 miles empty. When we did this exercise at Landstar orientation, determining the required revenue per mile, I came up with the number 1.35/mi to the truck or 1.85 gross (total line-haul to Landstar).

Part of a reason for this $1.47 is that when I check for high-paying freight on their board, it's 100% flatbeds. stepdecks are somewhere at the bottom of the list and if the agent requests a step, it's usually because the load is either oversize, or has parts of it sticking out in the front and the back ("no headboard"). I'm kinda stuck with my Conestoga stepdeck .... and most loads I do are of a 'flatbed variety' :(

I just checked: out of the last 5 loads I did for landstar, NONE needed a step (a regular 48' flat would be okay) and only 2 loads had to be tarped. One of these was a load of 4' tall machinery and the second one is the one I'm doing now where you have to cover two 1' tall skids and 1 6 ft tall machine.

So, I don't know ... maybe my rate would improve if I traded in my Conestoga step for a regular OPEN 48' flat!

2,800 miles. Plus I don't like to drive non-stop anymore, it gets old and boring REAL fast. I don't have any bills, no truck payments, so I'm working like I'm retired at 30 yrs old LOL

It wasn't bad, every penny went into my pocket, and I had a really good weekend and was ALWAYS home. Which made the ladies happy.

I routinely deadhead approx. 50% of the time (in & out of FL). But the loaded miles pay at least $2.44 per mile (I get 70% of that) + F.S., so I'm doing (relatively) OK doing that.

I don't think it's enough. If you deadhead 50% of the time, you make $1.22 per mile on ALL miles. I shoot at least for 2 bucks per mile for all miles, empty and loaded. Otherwise deadheading doesn't make much financial sense.

But he doesn't pay for the trailer like you do, so he has 1/2 the costs I think.

I run 1,200 miles loaded and 1,200 empty each week...... but I get a flat rate and the trailer is basically empty anyways. I avg $1.82 for all miles

Thats not bad at all,if you were able to cover empty miles on that run.It would been bad if you would have to dead head that much for $1/mile or something like that.For me on my reefer op i try eliminate empty miles from the get-go.If i have to run anything over NY city,i ask for extra knowing that coming out of there is anything less than $1/mile,even as low as 80-90 cents per mile to the truck.And sometimes i get it,sometimes i dont.Most of the time,i book my loads from home(the point where i always start) and really tell the broker that im in no rush booking cheap loads.Works miracles with brokers,when they didnt found a reefer and i get to tell them my price!!

That slogan - "say 'no' to cheap freight" should actually be saying, "say 'no' to unpaid miles" :) I"m not home watching TV and drinking beer - I'm out here trying to make a buck. If my wheels are turning, someone has to pay! I do it simple: open Google Maps, type in my current location into Line 1, type in the load origin in Line 2, add an extra destination line, and type Load destination on Line 3. Hit "directions" and look at the miles. Check to see I'm not sent over ferries and then multiply the miles by 2 :) MINIMUM.

Eg, I'm considering a load from IA to QC.

Deadhead: 770 miles (this is how far I"m from the pickup)
Loaded: 1030 miles
.....................
total miles: 1800 mi

times 2 =

$3,600 (my minimum)

Broker is offering: $3,750; which is above my minimum. So, I might take it, if nothing better is around. I'm not doing any $1/mi deals.

Is that what you CLEAR? or is that Landstar money?

NO to cheap freight.
 

I like the way that you think.

that's what is shown on the load board; it's what the load pays GROSS, otherwise known as 'line-haul'. If that was my NET, I'd be in Bahamas now sipping margaritas.

As long as you are OK with what you will NET, I guess its OK.

Last week I DH'd 190 to PU in Syracuse + 190 back to our yard. Then 550 loaded to the Soo + 550 DH back to the yard. So 700 of 1500 were empty. It paid $3,100 and weighed 10,000#. The broker thought it he was Santa Claus paying me $3,100. I disagreed but did it 'cause they are a regular customer.

Last month we DH'd an RGN ~600 miles to Baltimore for $2,950 on ~600 loaded miles.

That's about the farthest I can remember.

I'd ask for $3,300 on the first load and $2,700 for the second. Since Load #2 paid more, that's a bonus.

I hear ya. I said, "At $3,100 I'll do it, but I really should have $3,500 to make this work for me." Well, I got $3,100. But them again, we've done 70 loads for this broker so far in 2010.

As a company driver, I’m currently deadheading 2055 miles from San Francisco to Minneapolis