andrew sterling
Rookie Expediter
i understand that... the lower fuel cost then and now, apples to apples, my rate now would be $1 ish... not .50/.60/.70
Low prices are killing this month!ppl bending over like crazy!
ajakapari
Expert Expediter
Ya lots of PPL coming In the business for sure... All kinds of ppl.. Let's hope it gets better tho.. Because things are not looking good.... Like u said soon we might have to get a regular job...
Say no ! To cheap freight !!!!!
Say no ! To cheap freight !!!!!
not really the math doesn't work...4 yrs ago FSC was like .40 depends on the carrier..now today its .04 cents.....thats .36 decrease minus that off your $1.25......hey I've taken the same hit Andrew..your not alone...
Uhm, if you notice in the exchange above, HE had the last word, not me.
hey I am 65 now, own my van i get 22-25 mpgs I'll out run anyone...IF and thats IF i need too....I am just in this for SS credits.....LOLYa lots of PPL coming In the business for sure... All kinds of ppl.. Let's hope it gets better tho.. Because things are not looking good.... Like u said soon we might have to get a regular job...
Say no ! To cheap freight !!!!!
While this is probably true, it should not be true for the owner/op. If I have more than one company call me on the same load, they all get the same price. Rate per loaded mi, DH, layover, handling .. whatever. For a multi carrier owner/op to operate any other way is foolish. If the carriers wish to compete for my vehicle .. that's up to them.
I'll say this about rates ...
I've been doing this for 4 yrs & have been able to avg close to $1 per mi, all miles. Min is .90 cents. I've done literally a handful of loads for .80-.90 cents over that time - death in my family, had to get home, was out for 3 months & decided it was time to go home. Twice I had looooong DHs home because I couldn't get out of an area, but I've never handled a load for under .80 cents. It's suicide!
This year definitely started out differently. Jan was a complete bust for me .... literally 0 miles! Couldn't get loaded from home, at rate. On the bright side ... I couldn't get loaded from home
Finally got loaded in Feb. During the first week, twice, I had counter offers to bids. i.e. 500 mi, cv load, single pallet, 1,000 lbs, little DH, good destination .. my price .90 per mi ... they came back & said I'd can have it for .80 ... both times I asked 'em .. why not .95!? Basically told 'em to shove it. Each time I got the load for the original offer. Does that happen all the time? ... of course not .. but it does more times than not. Rest of Feb was good ... good rates & miles.
IMO running a full size Sprinter, Transit or ProMaster for less than .90 is foolish. The $ is out there. If the market won't tolerate this & .70 becomes the standard .. I'll just get a desk job.
andrew sterling
Rookie Expediter
Do you have your own authority Grizzly?
No ... but I've been flirting with the idea for a good bit.
If I can't swim in ajakapari's pool, then there's no sense diving in ....
It may not affect you directly, with your conversations with your dispatchers, but when a single unit gets posted multiple times, it does indeed create capacity artificially higher than what's actually there, and that can only drives rates down. If you're the only van in an area and the customer thinks there are three sitting there, they have in their mind what they're gonna pay, so when they get three virtually identical bids, they might go ahead and take one, or they may very well make other arrangements that aren't maybe quite as expedient or convenient, but it'll be more to their liking. The expedite shipment may be nothing more than a matter of convenience and isn't all that critical. So they go with the cheaper options.
ajakapari
Expert Expediter
If he is the only van in the area who cares what the broker wants to pay... He is getting same rates so he would get the memo... Or driver can tell each of his dispatcher a slight higher price then the previous so he can push the broker to act fast and give it to the 1st price he gived.
Say no ! To cheap freight !!!!!
Say no ! To cheap freight !!!!!
"The expedite shipment may be nothing more than a matter of convenience and isn't all that critical. So they go with the cheaper options."If he is the only van in the area who cares what the broker wants to pay... He is getting same rates so he would get the memo... Or driver can tell each of his dispatcher a slight higher price then the previous so he can push the broker to act fast and give it to the 1st price he gived.
Say no ! To cheap freight !!!!!
Understood. Hence why I started my sentence with "While this is probably true .."
I can't predict what sorts of ideas are running through each customers mind .... can you? lol
I offer my services for a certain price & move on. Booked = go pick up the load. Not booked = keep bidding.
I don't give slightly higher prices, in the same manner that I don't give slightly lower prices. I like to keep things fair & square between each carrier.
Turtle, I'm not sure I'm understanding this completely.
In your scenario, if I'm the only vehicle in the area & I have given the same price multiple times ... what cheaper option is there? I'm the only option ...
If it's not a critical shipment, then of course they can always choose other options.
So you want more money.
Move up to a str8 or a TT. What, you don't want the hassle of driving a TT during rush hour? Don't want to deal with logs, scales or HOS?
Driving a van isn't exactly rocket science. At 58 years old this is the least stressful and least strenuous business I've ever been in. Did I make more money in my other businesses? Definitely. Am I making enough money doing this to make it worthwhile? Yup!
If you're not happy with what you're doing and how much you're making don't do it.
Everybody talks about how great free enterprise and capitalism is. Guess what, someone doing the job for less is just part of the system.
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Move up to a str8 or a TT. What, you don't want the hassle of driving a TT during rush hour? Don't want to deal with logs, scales or HOS?
Driving a van isn't exactly rocket science. At 58 years old this is the least stressful and least strenuous business I've ever been in. Did I make more money in my other businesses? Definitely. Am I making enough money doing this to make it worthwhile? Yup!
If you're not happy with what you're doing and how much you're making don't do it.
Everybody talks about how great free enterprise and capitalism is. Guess what, someone doing the job for less is just part of the system.
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Listen .... I'm not telling anybody how much they should run for. I'm just stating my opinions.
You wanna run for less than I previously stated ... go for it! Lots of guys do. I simply don't because I know how much $$ is actually out there. If everyone up the ladder is making $$ ... why shouldn't the guy that actually hauls it?
Like I said, I stayed home for Jan .... placed a ton of bids ... didn't book anything. Did I ever drop my pants & bend over .... nope! If you'd like to ... then by all means ...
You wanna run for less than I previously stated ... go for it! Lots of guys do. I simply don't because I know how much $$ is actually out there. If everyone up the ladder is making $$ ... why shouldn't the guy that actually hauls it?
Like I said, I stayed home for Jan .... placed a ton of bids ... didn't book anything. Did I ever drop my pants & bend over .... nope! If you'd like to ... then by all means ...
ajakapari
Expert Expediter