My carrier is my customer but if the customer wont pay what I need to run my business than I need to look for another customer who wants and will pay for my services.
Just Wondering ....... Who do you work for?
- Thread starter lrtexpedite
- Start date
lrtexpedite
Active Expediter
Your right Hyperdrive !
idtrans
Expert Expediter
I remember doing a help run to help a carrier to Minneapolis from waterloo, ia and the carrier let me sit all weekend because he didn't want to take a run from st paul, mn to Seattle WA at a .03cpm profit to him because it wasn't worth his time so i was stuck all weekend waiting for freight.
The short run thing works many ways if a contractor does a bad run to make you look good then YOU should also be ready to help your contractors make money as well even if you do just break even.
Common courtesy goes in many directions.
Best of luck LRT
The short run thing works many ways if a contractor does a bad run to make you look good then YOU should also be ready to help your contractors make money as well even if you do just break even.
Common courtesy goes in many directions.
Best of luck LRT
lrtexpedite
Active Expediter
An I am sure you would have sat in seattle much longer !
I'm gonna throw in my 2 cents now. I work for three carriers. One pays me 85 percent of what he gets the load for and the other two pay a straight 85 CPM. I will take a 120 mile load from The carrier that t gives me 85 percent of gross but not from the carriers that pay me 85 cents. Here is how it works. The carrier that gives me 85 percent of the gross profits will book a 120 mile load for at least 250 dollars, and I will get 204 dollars to go 120 miles which more than covers my deadhead, and also allows me to make a decent profit. Yet if I take the same run for 85 CPM, I would make 106 dollars and barely break even or make very little after the deadhead involved. So, I don't mind sharing the grunt work with the carrier on a short load as long as the carrier shares the profits with me.
If a carrier is worried about servicing a customer on a short run because there might be a longer run in the future (the carrier should charge a decent rate for that short run and pass every cent over to the driver) because the driver then could make enough money off of the run to make it worth his wile, and the carrier would then build up a good relationship with that customer or carrier who called with the emergency situation!
I know how much these short runs pay, and they pay at least 190 dollars for a 55 mile run. The problem is that once the carrier takes their cut, the driver ends up with very little and had to turn the load down because it is a wash! When I start my company I will run it like this 85 cents per mile or 85 percent of the load, whichever is higher. If the driver does a 55 mile run for me and I get it for 190 dollars, the driver will get 170 dollars and fifty cents I believe. That means I only make 19 dollars and fifty cents. But if I get a 2000 mile load for a 95 cents a mile, the driver will get his guaranteed 85 cents per mile, because 85 percent of the load would put him under his 85 cents per mile. Now, there will be times when a driver is in a bad area like Laredo and I would call him and ask if he would go lower to get out "then we'd both take a hit" but that isn't always the case!
That being said, some loads are not worth fooling with. Like running a short load on a Friday when that is ruining your chances of getting a very good weekend load. Or if you take a short load for one of the carriers you work for that takes you out of a good area for a long load with another one of your carriers. You really can't expect a driver who works for multiple companies to be dedicated to you for small loads. I understand that. And a really good carrier would know this and never offer one of their drivers a load that they can't make money on. If that emergency load needs to be moved I will have to ask my driver what he needs to be paid to get it done and if that customer can't pay it, then I have to decline the load! Any how, I'll leave my post with these words of wisdom, if it don't make on dollars it don't make no cents "or sense" depending on your accent!
If a carrier is worried about servicing a customer on a short run because there might be a longer run in the future (the carrier should charge a decent rate for that short run and pass every cent over to the driver) because the driver then could make enough money off of the run to make it worth his wile, and the carrier would then build up a good relationship with that customer or carrier who called with the emergency situation!
I know how much these short runs pay, and they pay at least 190 dollars for a 55 mile run. The problem is that once the carrier takes their cut, the driver ends up with very little and had to turn the load down because it is a wash! When I start my company I will run it like this 85 cents per mile or 85 percent of the load, whichever is higher. If the driver does a 55 mile run for me and I get it for 190 dollars, the driver will get 170 dollars and fifty cents I believe. That means I only make 19 dollars and fifty cents. But if I get a 2000 mile load for a 95 cents a mile, the driver will get his guaranteed 85 cents per mile, because 85 percent of the load would put him under his 85 cents per mile. Now, there will be times when a driver is in a bad area like Laredo and I would call him and ask if he would go lower to get out "then we'd both take a hit" but that isn't always the case!
That being said, some loads are not worth fooling with. Like running a short load on a Friday when that is ruining your chances of getting a very good weekend load. Or if you take a short load for one of the carriers you work for that takes you out of a good area for a long load with another one of your carriers. You really can't expect a driver who works for multiple companies to be dedicated to you for small loads. I understand that. And a really good carrier would know this and never offer one of their drivers a load that they can't make money on. If that emergency load needs to be moved I will have to ask my driver what he needs to be paid to get it done and if that customer can't pay it, then I have to decline the load! Any how, I'll leave my post with these words of wisdom, if it don't make on dollars it don't make no cents "or sense" depending on your accent!
Thanks....but this is how I view some parts of our industry. Thanks to the Internet, the secrecy that many carriers tried to operate under has pretty much disappeared.
Without being carrier specific (they know who they are), many will spend their last dollar to take that dime from the operator.
Some are even funny enough to try and justify it.
Many will do it through excessive fees, FSC & mileage games, reduced rate loads, manipulation of their profit centers (insurance, plates, qual-comms, escrow monies, com-data fees) you name it.
Then of course, they will throw thousands out to recruit and wonder where all their trucks went.
Well....Duh.
Goofy game playing can be expensive.
In all fairness, when the economy was humming, you seen less of this yet is was still going on. When profits dropped, everyone was trying to save or justify their job like a lot of other companies outside of expediting.
Trying to maintain the same profit margins from years past is very tough.
Rather than getting smarter, many turned to squeezing as much out of the operator as they could. Some squeezed a little too hard and now it has caught up to them.
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Can you say more about this? What do you mean exactly?
idtrans
Expert Expediter
Monty
Expert Expediter
Service your customer, or perhaps cultivate a new one?
While with Roberts Express, and having the ONLY temp controlled unit in the fleet .. I came from Jan Jose, Ca to Washington Dc for a paltry sum, (I don't remember exactly how much, cost plus a few pennies as I remember it,
Dave Hodge, White Glove manager, had made me a proposition.
NASA had some critical freight that needed to be in Greensboro, Nc .. a run of about 280 miles. Were we to fulfill this need of NASA they might become a regular customer. I did, we did, and they did. This was an investment in my ability to be called on for more specalized runs.
The actual loaded rate was phenominal, for the 250 miles. The "across the country" deadhead was not.
I made the investment, and it paid off .... time and again.
Who do I work for? I work for the business I have. How do I prosper it? What is required? Will there be short runs is of little concern to me.
I want to know how I can cause that customer to call again, and mention my name when they do!
While with Roberts Express, and having the ONLY temp controlled unit in the fleet .. I came from Jan Jose, Ca to Washington Dc for a paltry sum, (I don't remember exactly how much, cost plus a few pennies as I remember it,
Dave Hodge, White Glove manager, had made me a proposition.
NASA had some critical freight that needed to be in Greensboro, Nc .. a run of about 280 miles. Were we to fulfill this need of NASA they might become a regular customer. I did, we did, and they did. This was an investment in my ability to be called on for more specalized runs.
The actual loaded rate was phenominal, for the 250 miles. The "across the country" deadhead was not.
I made the investment, and it paid off .... time and again.
Who do I work for? I work for the business I have. How do I prosper it? What is required? Will there be short runs is of little concern to me.
I want to know how I can cause that customer to call again, and mention my name when they do!
That same approach works today, but you have to be in a business relationship where your services are noticed and valued, and your name is remembered.
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idtrans
Expert Expediter
This is a very poor formulated post...and about speaking clear english, let me quote from your post "My main client I move allot of freight"
that doesn't sound quite right...
idtrans
Expert Expediter
This is a very poor formulated post...and about speaking clear english, let me quote from your post "My main client I move allot of freight"
Spell how I do and talk how I do but the point is I am not hauling cheap freight and anyone hauling cheap freight should be ashamed and deserves to run out of money !
I totally agree about not hauling cheap freight!!!!
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Well I am going to bring this up again.
Cheap freight is relative to the person driving, not a standard in the industry.
So if you want to service a customer, give quality service and utilize the equipment to it fullest extent at the same time bringing in maximum revenue, then all freight matters up to the point that it won't work for your business, but you have to set the limits.
When someone can make money at those $1 a mile runs with a truck, while giving great service, then what's wrong with that?
Nothing.
Cheap freight is relative to the person driving, not a standard in the industry.
So if you want to service a customer, give quality service and utilize the equipment to it fullest extent at the same time bringing in maximum revenue, then all freight matters up to the point that it won't work for your business, but you have to set the limits.
When someone can make money at those $1 a mile runs with a truck, while giving great service, then what's wrong with that?
Nothing.
I ran for LRT. Yes, there were loads I took that I knew where questionable on profit, but I did it anyway. Why, because there was always a rainbow at the end, yes and no.
John ran me frequently in my old Dodge one ton. Yep, many said it could not carry the loads, not true. I got loads of loads, and made money. My van was paid for, so that was a plus.
There were moments of fussing, but who doesn't fuss out here in the world of expediting. Did I get stuck in Laredo,yep, and NC and Florida. But I also ran for Whirl Wind Logistics and was busy there too. I dont have complaints, just my learning curve never ends and my brain gets strained , does yours??
John ran me frequently in my old Dodge one ton. Yep, many said it could not carry the loads, not true. I got loads of loads, and made money. My van was paid for, so that was a plus.
There were moments of fussing, but who doesn't fuss out here in the world of expediting. Did I get stuck in Laredo,yep, and NC and Florida. But I also ran for Whirl Wind Logistics and was busy there too. I dont have complaints, just my learning curve never ends and my brain gets strained , does yours??
AMonger
Veteran Expediter
Without question, I work for myself first, my owner second, my carriers third. Doing so means serving the customers, and sometimes eating a crap sandwich of a load if it might lead to better things down the road. But as has been pointed out, the time to do that isn't when doing so would tie up your vehicle during prime expediting hours.