XPO Logistics ?

[idtrans]

I've called on a few of their loads on the standard load boards and wow they are wanting to pay $1 or less per mile ! Well That's pretty low if you ask me LOL. The question is are they insulting the expedited trucks with those rates as well ? Because thats even worse than CH robbers or TQL or the other low ball freight movers.

 

[BigCat]

That's stupid. Even if they are payin an fsc that's just dumb IMHO.

Maybe they are double brokering an already rediculous priced load.

 

[idtrans]

I have no clue all I know is I said seriosuly you all need to get a life. And his reply was many people will haul the freight at these rates and well he has a point. And I'm not talking fl loads either I'm Talking Niles, MI to fargo , nd for $700 seriously WOW insanity .

 

[davekc]

Insane is right. But they get some of the bottom feeders to run at those rates. Of course they die a slow death, but are quickly replaced by the next batch.

 

[idtrans]

Another total scumbag outfit is the Landstar MRE and Landstar Logistics divisions they are terrible always offer .80 maybe $1 a mile to trucks. Now Landstar Ranger / America are not to bad at times $2+ .

 

[ATeam]

$0.80 per mile "expedited" freight is showing up not just on load boards where "off-brand" trucks bid at that level. It is coming across Qualcomm screens too.

Diane and I remember a time when an incoming load offer on the Qualcomm unit in a FedEx Custom Critical truck (a beep in those days) was a welcome thing. That faded when that carrier started sending offers with prices so low that they left us wondering why they even bother. No one in their right mind would accept a load like that, yet those offers kept coming, sometimes more than a dozen times a day. We declined them as often as they were sent but the carrier continued to send them (not the same offer repeated multiple times, different offers at bottom-feeding prices).

We asked, but no one at the company was ever willing to explain where such freight was coming from and the company's reason for offering those loads so often.

It's not just load boards. At least one major carrier has fully embraced these low-ball loads and incorporated them into their daily operations. It seems that low-ball expedite loads are becoming increasingly common in this business. The "bottom feeders" DaveKC mentions can be found not only in rattle-trap, no-name trucks but also in all-white trucks that sport big-name graphics.

Why are loads being offered at money-losing rates? Because, as idtrans's contact pointed out, people can be found to accept them.

If you were a broker or carrier and can get an exclusive-use, straight-through expediter truck at $0.80 a mile by doing nothing more than offering the load at that price, why would you offer the same load at $1.60? Better to get the load and make a little than to price yourself too high and make nothing at all, right?

If that means offering freight to trucks at money-losing rates that will put them into the slow-death downward spiral, that's a good thing in the short run. The more desperate those trucks become, the more likely it is they will accept cheap freight (to get home, to get to a better area, to meet immediate cash flow needs, etc.).

In the longer run, the bottom-feeding owner-operators will fail, but their trucks will not be lost to the industry. They will be sold to the next owner-operators who are recruited into the industry. Those people will then be available to haul $0.80 freight for the duration of their downward spirals.

 

[CharlesD]

I had a truck sitting in eastern PA yesterday and I had someone offer me $1.40 for a straight truck load and talk like that was a good price because it was getting "off the east coast and back to the freight lanes." I told him no and he replied with, "You don't want to get that truck out of there don't you?" I booked a 1200 mile load a couple hours later for full rate. Patience.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

so goes business...we make deals on getting our equipment fixed at a good rate, the movement of freight is no different...their job is to move it economically, ours job is to get the best rate we can...and somewhere we meet in the middle...

 

[CharlesD]

so goes business...we make deals on getting our equipment fixed at a good rate, the movement of freight is no different...their job is to move it economically, ours job is to get the best rate we can...and somewhere we meet in the middle...

But do you ever insist that your mechanic charge you less than what it costs to do the repair? At some point everyone has a right to make a profit or you might as well just go get a job somewhere.

 

[CharlesD]

Here's some basic math. If I would have taken that load offer yesterday about $1.14 a mile would have gone to the truck. Their cost per mile to operate that truck is close to $1.00 and it's a team truck. That's a .14 a mile profit on 700 miles. If they put the hammer down and knock that load out in 12 hours, that's a tad over $8 an hour. Split that between two drivers and you're way below minimum wage. And there are people who will run that because it's heading toward the house or getting "back to the freight lanes." Being on the road isn't easy work and it should pay accordingly, not less than some burger flipping 17 year old is getting.

 

[idtrans]

Charles I learned as a vanner sitting is not so bad. I sit and move the truck to a better place and hunt. Yes can be tough but like you said a little while longer and BINGO $ in the bank. I can't complain last 2 weeks were real good this week is junk but this week I am also trying to get to my house in Florida. Wanna plant more flowers in my garden LOL. And do some fishing and relax you know how I get when I am nervous it isn't very pretty. and well I need a few days home time to goto church and fishing and a big bbq.

Ian

Here's some basic math. If I would have taken that load offer yesterday about $1.14 a mile would have gone to the truck. Their cost per mile to operate that truck is close to $1.00 and it's a team truck. That's a .14 a mile profit on 700 miles. If they put the hammer down and knock that load out in 12 hours, that's a tad over $8 an hour. Split that between two drivers and you're way below minimum wage. And there are people who will run that because it's heading toward the house or getting "back to the freight lanes." Being on the road isn't easy work and it should pay accordingly, not less than some burger flipping 17 year old is getting.

 

[ATeam]

If they put the hammer down and knock that load out in 12 hours, that's a tad over $8 an hour. Split that between two drivers and you're way below minimum wage. And there are people who will run that because it's heading toward the house or getting "back to the freight lanes." Being on the road isn't easy work and it should pay accordingly, not less than some burger flipping 17 year old is getting.

The burger-flipping comparison is popular but note that some of the drivers who are willing to run for less than minimum wage do not have what it takes to hold down a minumum wage job. To be a successful burger flipper, you need to bathe, show up for work on time, follow instructions and play nice with others. One of the features that draw people into self-employed, owner-operator trucking is the freedom they have to work as little as they wish and not be bothered with developing or exercising human relations skills.

 

[ChanceMaster]

I had a truck sitting in eastern PA yesterday and I had someone offer me $1.40 for a straight truck load and talk like that was a good price because it was getting "off the east coast and back to the freight lanes." I told him no and he replied with, "You don't want to get that truck out of there don't you?" I booked a 1200 mile load a couple hours later for full rate. Patience.

Yep, I'm finding that patience is a virtue and profitable. I counter offer a lot of load opps . It's difficult though if you've been sitting, your first reaction is to take the first thing smokin' just to move, I'm becoming better at waiting.

Sent from my PC36100 using EO Forums

 

[blizzard2014]

I had a truck sitting in eastern PA yesterday and I had someone offer me $1.40 for a straight truck load and talk like that was a good price because it was getting "off the east coast and back to the freight lanes." I told him no and he replied with, "You don't want to get that truck out of there don't you?" I booked a 1200 mile load a couple hours later for full rate. Patience.

Everyone wants to tell you that you need to go cheap to get your truck off the East Coast. That is the biggest crock or bull that i've ever heard. There is less competition in the Northeast and all you have to do is wait for the low ballers to leave to get the good paying run. There are loads coming out of Massachusattes that the shipper will stay open late just so they can deadhead a truck in there to get the load picked up and it ain't getting booked for now cheap price! Good job keeping those rates where they need to be.

 

[blizzard2014]

The burger-flipping comparison is popular but note that some of the drivers who are willing to run for less than minimum wage do not have what it takes to hold down a minumum wage job. To be a successful burger flipper, you need to bathe, show up for work on time, follow instructions and play nice with others. One of the features that draw people into self-employed, owner-operator trucking is the freedom they have to work as little as they wish and not be bothered with developing or exercising human relations skills.

You guys just had me spitting up my drink here. I like that line about most drivers not being able to play nice with other people. You are absolutly right about the motley crew that you will find out here in the truckstops at any one given point in time. I can play well with others and even bathe on a regular basis, I just hate the office politics and chit chat about who is going to win American Idol. lol.

 

[davekc]

Sad state of affairs. I believe I would fail on the Mickey D's burger line.

 

[mzraik]

I never could get that numbering system figured out