Average rate per mile

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roca
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Roca

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In general what do you all carriers like to see, 1.60-1.65-1.70-1.75-1.80?

I am talking about both inbound and outbound combined.

Looking for general opinion.

Thanks!
 
I am not sure why you would be asking that question Roca. Certainly if you're a carrier, you might be interested in what the competition is doing. However, if you are strictly a broker, that information is not something that should enter into your business operation. As a broker, it shouldn't matter to you if the round trip rate per mile is $1.50 or $4.50. You should be basing your rates on what each carrier quotes you for each specific lane you have, regardless of what the per mile rate is. I have never been a fan of applying some master formula to all our shipments and thinking somehow it will work, there are just too many variables, especially in today's market.
 
not at all looking for a master formula, I hate those too, I'm just wanting to better understand the carrier standpoint.
 
So if that's the case, maybe your question should be "what is your operating cost per mile?"
 
Roca everyone's cost per mile is different, some companies run lean other like to have lots of staff, some owners drive fancy vehicles and own expensive houses.......all this factors into cost per mile and it should be one of the most guarded secrets a company has. We do everything we can to keep our cost down to give us the advantage over our competitor, it's hard work and the pay off is evident if you do it right.
 
I completely understand all those variables.

I thought there was an average that if you had would make it good.

But like us, every one is different.
 
I use a pricing model that is pretty accurate. Roca, I think what you need to do, if it's a broker situation, is to use what you know about the market and look at the $/mile rates you are seeing. Some will tell you that they want to see $1.85/mile on their round trip and others maybe $1.75. You have to keep in mind that shorter miles will mean much higher round trip $/mile rates. Things go funny at around the 500 mile mark and what you think is $2/mile in one market may turn out to be less in another market (IL vs MA is good example), depending on which way the rates are skewed (example: MA is on the low side, IL on the high side)
 
yeah I've notice you can cover 700 miles to the carolinas for $1000 but can't move to MA or CT for $1000 lol, full loads.

So I guess rates really depend on the carrier and on the day.
 
No MA is full of toll roads and no shortcuts, when you do your mileage for the east coast you should always use interstate because there are no short cuts and the tolls are high, very high.
 
Roca said:
yeah I've notice you can cover 700 miles to the carolinas for $1000 but can't move to MA or CT for $1000 lol, full loads.

So I guess rates really depend on the carrier and on the day.
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Let me get this right. You have carriers going 700 miles into NC for $1,000.00?? HMMMM they won't be around very long, LOL Try doing the math, on "average" you can count on $1.55-$1.70 per mile just to operate, but your moving loads for $1.42 per mile, shame on the carrier being stupid enough to do it, but then again, how can you sleep at night?
 
I guess now maybe brokers can start to understand why it is costing $3 per mile for inbound
 
Jeff said:
I guess now maybe brokers can start to understand why it is costing $3 per mile for inbound
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yep, we already know that.

and for sleeping at night, we didn't force anyone, we didn't break anyone's arm, we were asked for this load by a bunch of people.

we work with what the client has to work with...
 
Roca

Again that coment makes me remember a scene in a movie with Meryl Streep in the lead where she had to choose between having one of her two children killed or she would lose both, naturally she picked one.

So yes you are part of the problem if you are propagating loads at such low prices, and the theory that someone else will do it anyway is quite true, although "a conscience" comes into play somewhere along the line.

So keep on justifying it for yourself!!
 
this is only for now, usually our rates are good.

and I'm not justifying anything, just pointing out that rates are up and down, left and right, the market fluctuates!
 
Let's all get one thing straight. Carriers set the rates, not brokers. If a broker rates a lane too low for whatever reason, pure greed, customer won't pay more, etc, etc.- it simply shouldn't move. I am not defending low rates or those that continually seem to offer them but really, who is at fault here - the party offering the low rate or the party that accepts it? There was another thread yesterday, also started by Roca, discussing rates per mile and what carriers need to operate. In my humble opinion, if carriers realize what their costs are, there should be no question about accepting a cheap paying load, unless of course, they need it to re-position for a higher paying load.
 
Roca really opened up a can of worms and took a beating on this one. I don't usually agree with some comments from Roca but I have to give him kudos for putting this out there.

In some cases if you can't get the inbound truck and it must move, you may need to run as a roundtrip. In this case knowing the average for a round trip is necessary. We should all know that the total miles will play a factor in this.

You can't knock Roca or any other freight broker for trying to make the margin on the outbound as the inbound is moving at close to cost.

Don't blame freight brokers for carriers whoring themselves out for the outbound. I think all of us have our carriers we have tight relationships with asking (begging) for the outbound at very low rates. I will not consider giving any outbound to any carrier that I don't have a relationship with who is not handling inbound for my company as well.

We all are in this to make money and brokers are taking the hit just as much as the carriers.
 
loaders said:
There was another thread yesterday, also started by Roca, discussing rates per mile and what carriers need to operate.
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this is that thread.

thanks for understanding what we go through every day!
 
You're right Roca, this is the same thread. I quess my brain is getting a little frayed!
 
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