Okay, you're sitting in Three Forks, MT (where incidentally I"m sitting too) and you see a curious load on the board. The pickup is 2000 miles from you. You are to pick up a 40,000 lb load and deliver it to ... a total tundra not far from the North Pole. The loaded miles are 3,300. Once you're unloaded there's nothing to do there - unless you're into polar bear watching - so you'd have to deadhead ... 1500 miles to Seattle, WA where you know you can get a good load. So, it's 3,500 empty miles and 3,300 loaded miles. The broker says, "Give me a number." What would you quote? I personally think 2 bucks per mile for ALL miles but taking into account the remoteness of the destination, it should probably be more. What do you guys think? The reason I"m asking is because I'm still trying to figure out a formula to determine which load is "good" and which load is "bad"

Don't forget the fuel surcharge!

Before I give a quote I always want to know what I will be hauling. Some freight may require special handling. And I would ask more than $2/mile for all miles going to that area. You can always come down on a rate, but it is difficult to go up once you have given someone a rate.

The load is cable, no tarping required.

Start at $3.00 let THEM work you down to an acceptable rate

$3 for ALL miles (d/h 1 + loaded + d/h 2) or just for loaded miles?

That's what I was thinking. I'd quote $20,000 - $21,000. That's easily a 2 week load, probably more.

The shipper was offering $14,500. Which I think is okay, considering you're making $5k a week for 2 weeks of work plus almost another $5k as "northern bonus". But it was too far in the north ... I can't imagine what kind of weather would be there right now plus you'd have to travel on local 2-lane highways. So, yeah - $20k would be more justified, unless you're a local guy who's intimately familiar with the feeding habits of local 4-legged bears

Keep in mind if you break down out there how much would a tow be and finding a mechanic.

If they were willing to pay $14k, then tell them you will do it for $16,500 and I bet they will jump on it.

Too bad you will only get to see 72% of that.

But on the flip-side, make the agent give you a $6,000 FSC