Van market now vs last year?

[dc843]

So everyone and their mom is on here saying how vans are a bad choice on here.

But, when i first got in a van last year (June-November....looking to get back in now) everyone on here was saying how bad the van market was, dont do it youll lose money blah blah, yet i made what i consider pretty good money, so i gotta take the anti van advice im seeing now with a grain of salt

So i mean yeah i know it depends on your carrier and all that but like for those of you that were vanning then & vanning now, is it any worse than how bad it supposedly was like summer?

 

[xiggi]

You have to understand a lot of us have been at it a while. We are comparing many years. I'd say this year has started slow if you want a decent rate. It could all change next month.

 

[brokcanadian]

Yes. FAR worse. Of course every year I remember the busy times and forget the slow ones...

The prices are out of line right now, in the wrong direction

 

[Turtle]

blah blah, yet i made what i consider pretty good money

Clearly, you think you know more than the rest of us already. If you made what you consider pretty good money, that's all that really matters, isn't it?

Oh, and you should probably take that with a grain of salt, too.

 

[T270_Dreamin]

Depends on carrier and how hard you wanna run. I won't run for less then .90 so I just stay at home and go on strike and I'm not going to put on my armor and fight for loads at a better rate, just let the .60 guy have it...

 

[ntimevan]

So if we tell everyone thats its all Roses and great money in the Van segment then when They fail and go bankrupt its our fault too ... ... isn't it better for us to tell the truth that its not a cake walk to easy money ... if you succeed .. great ... if you Fail ... you was Warned ...

Sent from my SM-G900M using EO Forums mobile app

 

[VSprinter]

So everyone and their mom is on here saying how vans are a bad choice on here.

But, when i first got in a van last year (June-November....looking to get back in now) everyone on here was saying how bad the van market was, dont do it youll lose money blah blah, yet i made what i consider pretty good money, so i gotta take the anti van advice im seeing now with a grain of salt

So i mean yeah i know it depends on your carrier and all that but like for those of you that were vanning then & vanning now, is it any worse than how bad it supposedly was like summer?

Great as in?
Let's assume you made 50k gross.
For someone who used to make 25k a year regular job it would sound great. But after expenses you lucky sometimes to clear 50%.
If one made 100k gross driving 250k miles a year all miles as a team, would you consider that great?
Take your net, divide by total hours on the road (sitting, waiting, driving, sleeping). If you make more than other jobs out there per hour, maybe that's great?

 

[VSprinter]

If you take your last 3 years. Find best year (call it 100%er).
Calculate other 3 years off that. What I came up with is this:
2014 - 100%
2015 - 77%
2016 - 65%(family emergency, 6 weeks shorter).
So it is definitely a decline in my accounting. Others may see different picture.

 

[Moot]

But, when i first got in a van last year (June-November....looking to get back in now) everyone on here was saying how bad the van market was, dont do it youll lose money blah blah,

Keep in mind that your reference point is a single 6 month or less period of time.

...yet i made what i consider pretty good money,

Pretty good money compared to what?

 

[Mailer]

[QUOTE="VSprinter,
Take your net, divide by total hours on the road (sitting, waiting, driving, sleeping). If you make more than other jobs out there per hour, maybe that's great?[/QUOTE]

Expediters are paid by miles. If ya like to convert to an hour, that'll be $150-200 per hour for some short loads. I only look at the gross from the loaded miles.

Any waiting, sitting, sleeping and DH times spent are expediters' perks. So much for IRS breaks, vacation breaks, sleep break and other breaks from this "job." Ya don't usually get these breaks from the regular jobs. Lol...

So, I'm inclined to think it's declined.

 

[Turtle]

Moot nailed it. Six months.

In six months you can make some really good money, because the perception is the only real expenses are fuel and oil.

 

[VSprinter]

[QUOTE="VSprinter,
Take your net, divide by total hours on the road (sitting, waiting, driving, sleeping). If you make more than other jobs out there per hour, maybe that's great?

Expediters are paid by miles. If ya like to convert to an hour, that'll be $150-200 per hour for some short loads. I only look at the gross from the loaded miles.

Any waiting, sitting, sleeping and DH times spent are expediters' perks. So much for IRS breaks, vacation breaks, sleep break and other breaks from this "job." Ya don't usually get these breaks from the regular jobs. Lol...

So, I'm inclined to think it's declined.[/QUOTE]
There are jobs out there that pay $200-300 per hour. But that's not norm.
I too once had a load that paid $4200 an hour ($437.5 per mile) if I use your method of only calculating paid miles.
But we all know that not always the case, and many other factors and costs went into that run to delute it to almost nothing.

So technically, yes, on paper we get paid per mile, or per agreed amount.
But in reality driving includes fuel, insurance, repairs, tolls and many more things that are "perks", not to mention stress, sleep deprivation, mental challenges of being in truck for so long, away from family.

That's what we have to say to newcomers, not just our rate and how "rosy" this business is.

ntimevan has a very good point, I stole his words

 

[Mailer]

[QUOTE="VSprinter,
Take your net, divide by total hours on the road (sitting, waiting, driving, sleeping). If you make more than other jobs out there per hour, maybe that's great?

Expediters are paid by miles. If ya like to convert to an hour, that'll be $150-200 per hour for some short loads. I only look at the gross from the loaded miles.

Any waiting, sitting, sleeping and DH times spent are expediters' perks. So much for IRS breaks, vacation breaks, sleep break and other breaks from this "job." Ya don't usually get these breaks from the regular jobs. Lol...

So, I'm inclined to think it's declined.

There are jobs out there that pay $200-300 per hour. But that's not norm.
I too once had a load that paid $4200 an hour ($437.5 per mile) if I use your method of only calculating paid miles.
But we all know that not always the case, and many other factors and costs went into that run to delute it to almost nothing.

So technically, yes, on paper we get paid per mile, or per agreed amount.
But in reality driving includes fuel, insurance, repairs, tolls and many more things that are "perks", not to mention stress, sleep deprivation, mental challenges of being in truck for so long, away from family.

That's what we have to say to newcomers, not just our rate and how "rosy" this business is.

ntimevan has a very good point, I stole his words [/QUOTE]

In general, you are right. This is not all rosy business and will fail any new O/O if they failed to dissect the EO threads.

In not so general, we've got to figure out why ntimevan, OVM and other veterans of expediters are still standing. Lol..

Looking at the past 5 years in this business, last year's was worse, 40% drop in gross. But that because I decided to do out and back.

The freights are out there, How to get them that's where we need to focus on. And, it much more than just sitting and waiting for calls. It's a larger picture.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

There is a lot of little things one can do to improve costs.but that takes time....Time at todays rate one just can't deal with...the market is crap and the crap is spreading to every major center not just confined to Dallas or Atlanta or Chicago...

 

[FlyingVan]

And don't think it is only limited to the vans. Straights are affected also, but in not such a big way as vans.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

 

[Mailer]

I remembered dissecting through the EO threads all the way back since the beginning. Sipping through those postings wanting to find out how this business behaved.

I was able to see the pattern of business behaviors in term of past, present and calculated future. Those patterns showed 3 things, the profits, the break even and the ugly...Lol...

Since started, I've experienced all 3 things. I wasn't worry about the break even or the ugly, but was focusing on saving the profits to deal with the potential "ugly" future.

Today, I understood davekc's post, "It's not what you make, it's what you keep."

Sure it's slow, so what ya waiting for? It's time to cut open and unstuff that mattress(s). Lol..........

 

[crich]

So everyone and their mom is on here saying how vans are a bad choice on here.

But, when i first got in a van last year (June-November....looking to get back in now) everyone on here was saying how bad the van market was, dont do it youll lose money blah blah, yet i made what i consider pretty good money, so i gotta take the anti van advice im seeing now with a grain of salt

So i mean yeah i know it depends on your carrier and all that but like for those of you that were vanning then & vanning now, is it any worse than how bad it supposedly was like summer?

Great as in?
Let's assume you made 50k gross.
For someone who used to make 25k a year regular job it would sound great. But after expenses you lucky sometimes to clear 50%.
If one made 100k gross driving 250k miles a year all miles as a team, would you consider that great?
Take your net, divide by total hours on the road (sitting, waiting, driving, sleeping). If you make more than other jobs out there per hour, maybe that's great?

the only thing different is the guy that brings home 25k at a regular job vs the van is the van that brings home the 25k most likely don't give the goverment a dime in taxes. What would donald trump do?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

when one is out there..you are putting in 168 hrs a week....don't divide the hours and get a per hour rate...it'll sicken you...

 

[Ragman]

when one is out there..you are putting in 168 hrs a week....don't divide the hours and get a per hour rate...it'll sicken you...

This is not a by the hour industry. Why even bother trying to calculate an hourly rate. Imho

 

[xiggi]

This is not a by the hour industry. Why even bother trying to calculate an hourly rate. Imho

A lot of people in this country have the trading hours for dollars mindset. If that's their idea of judging value in a job that's their right. However most with the entrepreneurI or be your own boss mindset will gladly work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours traded for dollars.