Is anyone moving?
- Thread starter Scuba
- Start date
easyrider2697
Expert Expediter
Not near as much as I would like, did a recovery friday night going to East Syracuse for ASAP delivery Sat morning, then sat all weekend on a backup load, for Tuesday that cancelled Monday morning (booked backwards), then small load picking up in Wilkes Barre, but nothing special...been looking at backhaul boards all morning, with fuel dropping at record numbers I can run a little cheaper freight and stay in the black, paid $2.35 a gallon last night for it in Roanoke, Va at the TA., heck at least you can go sit in orentation and get a free meal out of it!!
Been expediting for almost 5 years all with Panther and have never seen it this slow..been watching all the boards and the dailey averages are going down as fast as my bank account.when you do get a load offer it has no miles or way to much deadhead.....talking to friends at other carriers they are also real slow.....guess the only good thing that will come from this is we will be thinning the herd.......there will be a lot of owners that get out of expediting..
easyrider2697
Expert Expediter
Well go figure, got one offer yesterday morning, nothing to get excited about, so I pulled the " old...make plans, they will call trick" and headed to the house and sure enuff, one of those wonderful pick up in the middle of nowhere loads popped up going to TX, but I had already made it to the house, so we will see how it works for the rest of the week
Dreammaker
Seasoned Expediter
Haven't had a Panther load in several weeks. Doing backhauls. Do a 700 to 1000 mile backhaul and then take a day to find another load. Sat in one area where qc said we had one load a day. I was the only truck in the area. Sat there for three days. Got an empty move back to the same area a week later. I was the only truck sitting there. Sat for another day. Still no load. I am curious who was getting that one load a day. Sat in another area. Qc said I was among 4 trucks in an area that had 2 loads a day. Woke up the next day. Had not moved. Qc said I was in a different area with no loads. I called dispatch and asked how that worked. Dispatch had no idea. Had to move to that area that had one load a day. Sat there for three days. Still no loads. Steve in backhaul says we have to do what we have to do to stay in business. I guess the plan is to find your own loads, book your own loads, pickup and deliver loads, and then get paid a little less than you would with a Panther load. Income is down 50% even with backhauls. Are we having fun yet?
Dreammaker
Seasoned Expediter
There is life after death - death of the expediting business, that is. Just booked two back to back loads - Louisiana to Ontario and Michigan to Florida. A total of nearly 2100 miles. Both pay nearly $2.00 a mile. Net $1.67 after Panther takes out its cut. My foray into changing my business model has been helped by one website. Check out truckloadrate.com. It is a monthly fee for service website ($30.00/month). You can type in your lane and the website will tell you what actual invoices have paid for that lane in the last several months. It usually shows that your backhaul broker is seriously lowballing the rate. At the very least, you will know how much you are being snookered by. Or as it happened this morning, the broker offered me exactly the amount truckloadrate.com said he should offer. Smiles all around. This information helps when you are talking with a broker about a load. I usually get them to increase their initial offer by several hundred dollars. Alternatively, I know to keep on looking if they are in the $1.50/mile or lower range. Secondly, truckloadrate.com offers a load finding service that is in its beta testing. Looks like it is more tilted towards flatbed freight than van freight.
And finally, some wisdom after looking at the lanes for several weeks. If you are in the southern states, you can usually find a load going to Canada that will pay at least $2.00 per mile. Loads coming from the north to Florida usually pay fairly well. Good luck to all. Have a happy Turkey Day.
And finally, some wisdom after looking at the lanes for several weeks. If you are in the southern states, you can usually find a load going to Canada that will pay at least $2.00 per mile. Loads coming from the north to Florida usually pay fairly well. Good luck to all. Have a happy Turkey Day.
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easyrider2697
Expert Expediter
Be really careful about those backhauls to canada, thats almost like ice skateing with a blindfold on....you might not ever have a problem, BUT when you do, Panther will not be there to resolve it, they will tell you it between you and the broker...just something to keep in mind, that $2 bux a mile going to canada will do you no good when you are sitting at the border for 5 days waiting on it to clear. Good luck and keep the wheels turning this winter, you seem to have the mindset to keep it in the black during this slowdown.
Dreammaker
Seasoned Expediter
Thanks for the wisdom. Sounds like you have been there, done that. The company that brokered the freight does as much transborder business as Panther does. The Customs Broker is one of the one's Panther uses. And this load goes up there once a week with no problems. But still, strange things occasionally happen at the border. Thanks for the analogy of iceskating with blindfolds on. I like that. I try not to do that. Life's too short.
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