Hi all. I recently was laid off in the business I am working in and my dad asked if I'd like to drive for him. He has a small company (2 trucks) and just got his MC#. My question is this: After riding with him for a couple of weeks, I noticed we made a lot of short trips, and spent a lot of time loading/unloading/searching for addresses. Would a person be better off takinglonger trips like from the MidWest to Portland/Seattle, or is the short trips deal the best money wise? Personally, I would prefer driving a longer distance as opposed to many short trips. Thanks!
Long Hauls?
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This is the old "quality (length of load) vs. quantity (no. of loads)" question.
It depends how far out you want to run, and how long you want to stay way from home. Pay per mile wise it is better to take the longer runs but... sometimes you can take a long load out west and end up sitting for a few days before getting something back east, or have to deadhead back. In that same amount of time you could have done a few short loads in one region and made the same amount of money. Does that make any sense? I'm going to guess your father doesn't like to sit or deadhead, that's why he does the shorter stuff.
-Weave-
It depends how far out you want to run, and how long you want to stay way from home. Pay per mile wise it is better to take the longer runs but... sometimes you can take a long load out west and end up sitting for a few days before getting something back east, or have to deadhead back. In that same amount of time you could have done a few short loads in one region and made the same amount of money. Does that make any sense? I'm going to guess your father doesn't like to sit or deadhead, that's why he does the shorter stuff.
-Weave-
OK, that makes perfect sense to me. Are there areas out West that a person would be better off taking loads to? Areas a person might not want to go to? I understand that this is a changing business and there are probably no "hard" rules on things like this, but I figured there may be places that are better than others for getting loads out of. Thanks for the help!
What type of expedite unit are you using. Don't know
what the expediters are doing as far as going to the western part.
I will tell you for the last 2 months I have been going to
Oklahoma, Kansas, & Nebraska at least twice a week.
I run for a local company out of Memphis. The length of my shortest
run has been at least 850 miles and about half of my runs has
a load returning to somewhere in the mid-south. The return loads
only average about .80 cpm. It sure makes taking a load out west
more easier to say yes when asked to go west.
Don't know how long these loads will last but they sure have
came in at a good time, with the freight as slow as it has been.
This is my experience with taking the -longhauls-
Gook luck in your expediting endeavor-as always be safe on
the trips you may make, whereever they may take you.
what the expediters are doing as far as going to the western part.
I will tell you for the last 2 months I have been going to
Oklahoma, Kansas, & Nebraska at least twice a week.
I run for a local company out of Memphis. The length of my shortest
run has been at least 850 miles and about half of my runs has
a load returning to somewhere in the mid-south. The return loads
only average about .80 cpm. It sure makes taking a load out west
more easier to say yes when asked to go west.
Don't know how long these loads will last but they sure have
came in at a good time, with the freight as slow as it has been.
This is my experience with taking the -longhauls-
Gook luck in your expediting endeavor-as always be safe on
the trips you may make, whereever they may take you.