And you did not, no need to apologize! 8)

But if you really want to learn, you better think again. I'm not saying, that you shouldn't do it, only that "paper runs", didn't work, in reality
You may learn it an easy, or hard way, the fact is stay the same! :wink:

Deadhead is relative. If rates are high enough, the deadhead won't make as much difference. Another think to keep in mind is that most brokers will be off on their mileage by at least 5-10%.

The extra costs of having your own authority are roughly around 20-25k more a year than leasing with a megacarrier paying 1.20 a mile. Even if you average 1.60 a mile for all miles you will still be 15-20k ahead,will you not? Another thing to keep in mind is that you don't use as much fuel when you deadhead,which makes a difference at the pump. If having your own authority isn't much different than leasing with a megacarrier paying .90cpm+fuel surcharge than all O/Os would be broke. :lol: 1.20 a mile in today's economy with high fuel and maintenance costs is simply far from enough to operate on. Sure,you might make money in the beginning until the operating costs catch up with you. Been there,done that.NO THANKS.

Solo, just my Military experence coming into play. We did not set the ship on fire to learn how to put it out, Though they do certain ones for certain schools, you do not shot at others or have missiles fired at you to learn to battle them, yet we had fired dumby Torps at and been fired at by submarines, but It's mostly done in drills (paper runs). And I had to put these paper runs into realtime events. Fire at Sea May 8, 1985, Cuban hositilties (Never made the News) in the mid 80's and again in 95, and Central American Country attacking a US Flag Sailing Vessel.

I always try to Plan ahead. Seeing how things go. I do know it would not be the same. I do know that there more to it than writing it down. But I do know if I can make it from that. I do know I can find loads going to and from. So it not a wasit of time. It is a learning tool. And all it is a tool. On Paper and out doing it, is 2 different things. But I am taking what you and others are saying, and put it down in trail runs such as I did to learn to do it so I can do it with less problems.

Guess you don't know how to manage money then... also have you heard of a maintenance escrow? I just started 3 months ago and have $1900 saved.


I take 1 week off minimum every month.
I'm doing fine with my megacarrier. Despite many people on here telling me that I'd be just another number. solo379 was talking sht when I started a thread saying I was going o/o

You can have your own authority and make 25-35 cpm more then me, but you have to find a good honest broker(s). You don't mention also time spent finding loads if your broker don't have one... Have fun sitting at the DAT board LOL. Meanwhile I'm rolling on down the road.

The unpaid deadhead miles take their toll GMAN, you know this. I'm at least paid for those.

The issue isn't managing money. The issue is 1.20cpm is NOT enough to operate on in the long run. When leasing with a megacarrier you are merely a glorified company driver. Some find out the hard way. :cry: Maintenance escrow? :lol: Most carriers only require what,1k? :lol: On a used truck you will end up spending FAR more than that and it is merely just a low-reserve savings account on a new one. There is no point in rolling down the road if you are not making a profit. :lol: 1900.00 saved in 3 months,lol? That is only 7600.00 a year and won't even cover an overhaul. :lol: You are just subsidizing the company.Like I said before everyone does fine in the beginning until operating costs start catching up,which is one reason why you see a full repo lot.

Funny that you've mention it!
I just want to add, that it applies to any O/O, weather leased, or with own authority.

All i wanted to say, is that authority is not necessarily makes you success, and profitable, and in a lot of cases, they are making the same, if not less, than those "will work for food" $0.90+FSC O/O.

At the same time, leasing to a good company, could work quiet well! :wink:

Coastie,

I must agree with no_worries and solo.....I think you're numbers are off a bit. I don't know much about vans, but from what I read, I think $1.50 is high. Also, 60 dead miles might be achievable if you're pulling a van to and from a good area, but I can tell you that you will have many, many more dead miles than that with a flat.

It almost seems that you're taking the best from each scenario...i.e dead miles from vans and higher rates from flats.

We run steps and double drops in the northeast and I feel lucky to get a 60-100 mile deadhead to pickup (in NY, PA, CT back to ON) on a 400-500 mile load. That's 20%-25% and it would be higher in less populated areas. Also, unless you live in Ohio or Pittsburgh, being home every weekend will cause your DH miles to skyrocket.

I think Steve is running about $1.60 loaded with about 10% DH (that's probably low). Using those numbers, that's $1.45 for all miles. If we put costs at $1.10 (no driver pay), you'll have a pretax profit of $35,000 on 100,000 miles.

Budgeting for $1.30 loaded and 20% DH "should" provide some breathing room for an economic downturn.

Not trying to be an accountant...just trying to provide a viewpoint. Hope it helps.

Agreed. It all comes out to what you average per mile and what your costs are. The problem with leasing to a carrier is that most are paying .90cpm plus fuel surcharge and the few percentage-paying companies that are left average out to the same thing. Finding good customers and/or brokers is the key.Unfortunately it is not done easily.

The same thing, is about finding a good(very subjective) company to lease to. And if you'll find such a company, you'll find all in one;-customers, brokers+some cost reduction, on top of that! 8)