This is an attempt to set the record straight on some of the postings to this thread.
To Blue Dragon
First of all, Dave is not married to one of my daughters, and is not the “head dispatcher”. Secondly, if you were offered 70cpm, it was probably because of a glut of trucks in a particular area and we saw an opportunity to get one load at a reduced price with ample time to build a reasonable paying load for you. If you opted to leave prior to our acquiring additional freight you did so knowing you would be accepting the lower rate.
We did not then, nor in the first quarter of this year offer rates to our drivers at less than a buck a mile, without FIRST approaching the driver for acceptance. Advances cost money because it takes time and book-keeping efforts to coordinate pay. Sorry it did not work out for you, but your take on our operations is skewed and inaccurate. Grudges against drivers are unproductive and not profitable for either party. If we have problems with a driver or O/O we simply agree to disagree and part company. I am glad you are doing well with the cat.
To all others…
If you cannot turn a profit on your straight truck at $1 per mile, then you probably do not know how to accurately compute your costs per mile… OR you may have limited your ability to handle the maximum amount of freight for your size vehicle, and or you may spend more on repairs than you do on preventative maintenance. Over the past 25 years I have owned dozens of trucks and I know what your costs are. The question is… do you?
Can you double stack 52” skids in your box? Can you handle skids at 49” side by side?
Did you buy an underpowered import with a 96” condo thinking you were getting a 22’ box only to measure much too late and find that your 22’ box is actually 19.5 feet? Are you getting less than 10 mpgs on this great purchase? Do you drive a motor-home with a 12’ box? Do you carry spare serpentine or fan belts and fuel filters in your truck, or do you call a tow truck? The question is “Are you managing your business or is your business managing you?”
The same guidelines hold true for vans and Sprinters. You should be profitable at 65 cpm. Did you pay the dealer too much? Did you buy a sprinter with one of those wonderful interior cabins? I’m sure it is very comfortable, but you are failing to maximize your load carrying capabilities. Have you installed insulation in your van that limits your maximum load to less than 48” in height? Do your personal items consume valuable floor space?
MOST vehicles can and will provide you a minimum of 500,000 miles of service, before repairs begin to exceed replacement costs. For many of you, that mileage will translate into 5 or more years of service. Whatever the period of time, your cost per mile will remain relatively constant. Your greatest variable in this cost is fuel expense. Show me a straight truck that looses money at a dollar a mile and I will show you why. You paid too much, you equipped it incorrectly, your insurance costs are too high, you spend too much on the road, and/or you don’t have a preventative maintenance program. The list of reason is much longer than these few items.
The first quarter of 2009 for our industry was brutal. Many companies reduced their acceptable charges to the point of no return. Some of those companies cheated their drivers and other reputable expedited companies out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by simply refusing to pay those who did the work for them. I can name five well known companies in our industry who owe my company and sadly many drivers thousands of dollars. Whether this was done in an effort to survive or simply to scam us is unknown. Four of the five are still in business today, and continue to be “slow” or “no pay”.
We took a different approach at survival. We set a minimum acceptable rate that would allow us to continue in business, reduced our office staff while increasing the hours for the remaining, pared unnecessary expenses, asked our drivers to accept less and NEVER in 25 years have we cheated a driver out of miles or pay.
The second quarter of 2009 began the “turning of the worm”. While our ability to charge more per mile did not improve, our load opportunities increased and we were able to dramatically increase our average miles per driver per week. Again, understand that our drivers continued to haul for a buck a mile, and that we NEVER asked our drivers to accept less than a buck without their consent. Once the driver accepted our offer to wait for additional freight, they were paid a buck per mile EVEN if additional freight was not acquired. YES… we took losses in those gambles, but our drivers did not.
Two thirds of the way through the third quarter we are now seeing some daylight. We have acquired a couple of new accounts. We believe we are seeing a trend toward increasing rates and as a result have begun paying FSC’s once again. Our FSC’s for straight trucks will vary based on our ability to attain higher rates. The sliding scale moves up to 20cpm for straights and 15cpm for Sprinters and vans. Couple this increase with our continued bonus for additional freight when and where the opportunities are presented and our straights CAN make up to 1.60 per mile.
I am not predicting a full economic recovery, and I cannot make any statements for any other carrier regarding increasing rates. I believe that certain expedited carriers habits have been noticed by certain shippers. I believe that they are no longer able to influence the market as they once did, and hope they never have that opportunity again. I believe the truck to shipment ratio is improving. I also believe that the increased revenue per mile will continue, or I would not have reinstated our FSC program.
Our drivers have an average of more than 7 years in the expedited industry. Most of our owner operators know their costs, and all of them are operating at a profit…some in spite of their own bad business practices. We have had O/O’s who have not made a go of it with our company, and for the most part it was because of their lack of experience and/or bad business decisions. Our starts up costs are minimal. Our weekly deductions are fractional. Our deadhead miles are less. We pay on time every time. We have never cheated anyone out of mileage or pay in any way.
Xiggi...
“It isn't that simple. Compared to the cat my paid miles have doubled and my deadhead miles are down by 70%. I set empty less, have paid for no showers out of pocket, and been able to give several to othet drivers, I have even spent less on drinks from earning free ones. Deductions from the company are lower too.
Just because a company pays more per loaded mile does not mean your net will be higher.”
OntarioVanMan
“But is he making money...that is the magic question ”
The answer to the magic question is … ABSOLUTELY! And now more pm!
FACTS…
It is Sunday morning and every truck in our fleet has been loaded over the weekend.
Our teams are averaging over 4000 miles a week. Our solos are maxed out most every week. We have Sprinters that are averaging over 3000 miles a week and we could load three times the number of trucks we have in our fleet. And yes, we are signing on additional straight trucks, Sprinters and cargo vans with a minimum of two years experience. Refer to our ads for owner ops on Expediters Online for contact information and applications.
I do not intend to answer questions or accusations in this forum but felt that this thread needed clarification.
