Which of these 2 trips would you choose and why, if your fixed costs were the same as mine?
MY FIXED COSTS PER MONTH
Truck & trailer: $3,000
Tires: $100
Maintenance: $200
Total: $3,300
Per day: $194.12
(17 work days in a month, as per advice by "Overdrive" mag)
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Trip 1
Ontario, Canada to Ohio; one-way
Deadhead: 40 miles
Loaded: 300 miles
Total distance: 340 miles
Days to complete: 1
Load: metal logs, 22 ft long, entire load is 4 ft high
PAY TO THE TRUCK: 668.25 (incl. fuel surcharge)
FIXED COSTS: $194.12
VARIABLE COSTS: $199.06
(Insurance (5.25% of freight): $29.06
Fuel at 6 MPG and $3/gal: $170)
TOTAL COSTS: $393.18
GROSS PROFIT: $275.07
GROSS PROFIT PER DAY: $275.07
Trip 2
Ontario, Canada to Kentucky and back; 2-way trip
Deadhead: 7 miles
Loaded: 1,000 miles
Total distance: 1,007 miles
Days to complete: 2.5 (long waiting time for the reload)
Load: hoppers with scrap metal plus steel coils on the way back
Note: this is a 2-way trip that ends at the same place where it starts
PAY TO THE TRUCK: $1,934.95 (incl. fuel surcharge)
FIXED COSTS: $485.30
VARIABLE COSTS: $581.26
(Insurance (5.25% of freight): $77.76
Fuel at 6 MPG and $3/gal: $503.50)
TOTAL COSTS: $1066.56
GROSS PROFIT: $868.39
GROSS PROFIT PER DAY: $347.36