Unfortunately, Dejanh, rates are down across the board. Rates tend to decline in winter and rise during the spring and summer months. When capacity exceeds demand, rates drop. That is what is happening. You also have marginal owner operators hauling loads for much less than they should. I have gotten good rates from both Landstar and C. H. Robinson. I have also been offered cheap rates from both. You should be able to make a decent living with any of these carriers, but you will not get rich leasing to ANY carrier. I believe Landstar requires 1 year experience for drivers or owner operators.

tanker usually is no problem getting detention pay, you are dealing with customers who have a much better attitude and treat you with respect.
most plants run 24/7 so frieght usually isnt a problem, I haul sulfuric acid and I love it, you dont wait in a long line for your turn, and you dont have to deal with lumpers, and you get to know the customers on a first name basis, most of my customers know me and they just sign the bill and say, you know where the phone is, call me if you need anything. its a whole different world. one that I think you will end up liking very much

Well, what i think is happening at the momment is that brokers first will make a fake situation in which all of them wont pay what they should because,, times are slow'' . maybe to a certain extent but not this much and we all should know it, not when trucking buisiness is posting record revenue in all areas of this buisiness. I have been present when loads are being booked at my office and its interesting to see how different broker based companies pay the same amount of money to a certain area, its like all of them are holding each others back in trying to get as much from the carriers as they can, while they can, and this here backs up my claim stated in the opening statement of my post, they are making a fake ,,slow'' situation to make more money.

Cheap freight is another thing, you Mike are pretty set in your ways, you have 30 or some odd years expirience under your belt and probably some substantial savings to keep you going while the times are tough, not everyone is the same expecially folks who just started driving for ex. , folx that have bills piling up and so forth, folx that need to keep running to make a living. Although i donr approve of cheap freight i can understand people who are willing to run it from N.E or F.L. and for that i wouldnt blame them, i would blame a broker who makes the situation look hard and heavy to pass whatever he wants. Unfortunally theres little a driver can do except deadhead which i usually do but not everyone can afford it..

I understand that some may need to have the cash flow to keep going. We all get in a bind at times. One reason it is good to have a good nest egg starting out is so that you can pass on cheap loads. If you haul loads in which you don't make a profit, you are only avoiding inevitable. You cannot survive in business without making a profit. I don't mean to sound as though I am condemning anyone for doing what they feel is necessary to survive. The problem in hauling cheap freight is that it makes it more difficult to haul the better paying loads, because the broker knows you will haul for less. Some brokers can pull you up on their screen and see what you have run for in the past. There is no reason to pay someone $2 when they will run for $1. Hauling a load in which you will not make a profit is like working in a factory and foregoing a paycheck at the end of the week. :shock:

All good points but the fact is that Fl and NE loads will never pay worth a crap, they have not been during these 3 years that i have been driving and i dont see it changing any time..

Every so often I can get a decent paying load out of Florida. For the most part you are correct. That is why I usually stay out of those areas without getting a better paying load going in to those areas. Just think what would happen if everyone refused to take a load out of those areas. If they only refused for a couple of weeks, it could change things. I know....it is only wishful thinking. There are some decent paying intrastate loads you can find. It is the interstate rates which stink. :x And as far as New England is concerned, it is rare to get something coming out which pays decent. But, like Florida, you can get lucky sometimes. 8)

This is something I have also found,everyone to a fault has been nice at shippers and receivers.

Most everything has been set up on a appointment time and except for a few minutes here and there I have not had to wait for either loading or unloading.

Also with DANA,we have something like 50 terminals and everyone I have been to so far have their own tank washes and everytime it has been drop dirty tank and pickup clean one.

Thanks for posting the info on tankers. I have been taking a close look at leasing on with a tanker outfit, and I am finding that most tanker companies pay very well. I still have going back to my own authority in the back of my mind so I am still investigating and trying to decide if I want to make a long term commitment to being a leased O/O.

Any more tanker folks with experience to share?

Ok here is a update,I got my first settlement sheet

Total miles including personal,deadhead,running out of route to go home for New Years day,and loaded = 3217

Total Pay including fsc,detention = $4401.87,$1.37@mile

by the way my deadhead miles was at 22.3% or 718miles

Interesting that if I would have run it straight acording to pc miler practical it would have been 2765 miles or $1.59@mile

So that I can feel like I can run with the big dogs 8)

I am averaging $1.76 a loaded mile,and only a little 'ol lease operator.