HAD TO LAUGH AT THIS RATE...

martinetav

martinetav

Well-Known Member
Aug 17, 2012
679
347
63
Beauce region near Quebec City
20
Okay, so just when you thought you'd been offered the lowest rate ever... you get offered even less... Idaho Falls, ID to St-Bruno, Quebec... $3500 CANADIAN DOLLARS... has Costco really dropped their rates that low... XPO has been a little on the Cheap side since they purchased , was it Celadon... don't remember... I sure hope they have a hard time to move it... This is getting ridiculous...
 
Not because it's going to Costco St-bruno that it's a Costco order...:)
 
I'm so sick and tired of this bull***t rate game that is going on. Before all the brokers on this forum jump down my throat, yes I know it's "supply and demand" blah, blah, "market" blah, blah, but things are totally out of control right now. Brokers get annoyed with me when I give a rate that reflects our ACTUAL cost to run our truck from A to B. If we are running into/out of the US, then yes I am going to quote in US dollars because we pay US dollars for fuel, tolls, scales, etc.
AND, yes, if you are trying to offer me $1/mile one-way then, yes, I am going to charge you $3+/mile to come back. Simple math.
OR, if you paid me in US dollars before, why are you suddenly paying in CDN dollars now for the same load, same customer, etc?
Most intelligent brokers understand that if a carrier is offering a cheap rate then they are not serious about how they run their company. In a few months they will go bankrupt, close their doors or whatever and the legit carriers are left behind to deal with the crap created by the other carriers.
I know this has nothing to do specifically with the original post but I'm just fed up.
Karma..........it's a b*tch!
 
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It never ceases to amaze me, how upset and angry some people become over this whole rate issue. If you're selling something..... transportation, cars, apples, whatever, you have the luxury of setting the price of your goods or service. If no one wants to buy what you're selling at the price you've set, guess what, change the price, change the way you sell it, change the way you operate your business, or find another endeavor. If carriers were really serious about getting rid of low rates, or at least trying to increase them, then stop accepting what you know is a low rate! I consider myself to be an intelligent broker, but I have no way of knowing how serious a carrier is about his business just because he has offered his services at "his" rate. Maybe he needs to get to that area, or maybe he needs to get home, I don't care, he has set his rate and I can use him or not. I am not "jumping down your throat", but either we can employ a free market system in transportation where the market sets the rates, or we can go back to the days of government regulation, but wait, I think we have already been down that road before.
 
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loaders said:
....If carriers were really serious about getting rid of low rates, or at least trying to increase them, then stop accepting what you know is a low rate! ....
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Loaders, I totally agree with you on this point. The problem is that we do not accept the low rate, but we have no control over the carriers that do. Many are hypocrites - they stick the "Say NO to cheap freight" stickers on the back of their trailers and then turn around and accept a load for $1/mile. Sticking to our guns and refusing cheap loads costs us money, but we are trying our damnedest. Some carriers don't care that they are screwing the others and that is what pisses me off.
 
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Just remember, a cheap broker's best friend, is the carrier that accepts his cheap rates! As soon as he loses his best friends, he's out of business and then perhaps the rates will move up.
 
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loaders said:
Just remember, a cheap broker's best friend, is the carrier that accepts his cheap rates! As soon as he loses his best friends, he's out of business and then perhaps the rates will move up.
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The problem is they are like cockroaches - by the time one dies, a thousand others have already been born! I'm just waiting until I win the lottery and them I'm outta here! LOL
 
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loaders said:
Just remember, a cheap broker's best friend, is the carrier that accepts his cheap rates! As soon as he loses his best friends, he's out of business and then perhaps the rates will move up.
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just a doubt that XPO (who bought ConWay) will not go out of business any time soon... same as those other bigger boxes that get smack around here
 
It depends on your operation. If you run LTL out and truckload back (for example), and you're very disciplined about sticking to your core lanes to minimize empty miles and other costs you could be more competitive on the return. The carriers who have the toughest time are the small open board truckload outfits. They don't have the economies of scale that the big outfits do, and they're lucky to get away with 10% empty miles... some are as high as 20%. The big outfits also have the luxury of being able to take a short term loss provided that long term profitability isn't jeopardized. You can't control what your competitors do or what the market is, but you can control how you manage your costs and how you run your operation. Focus on that, and don't worry about what you can't control. Easier said than done I know, but really.. that's all one can do.
 
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Salma said:
I'm so sick and tired of this bull***t rate game that is going on. Before all the brokers on this forum jump down my throat, yes I know it's "supply and demand" blah, blah, "market" blah, blah, but things are totally out of control right now. Brokers get annoyed with me when I give a rate that reflects our ACTUAL cost to run our truck from A to B. If we are running into/out of the US, then yes I am going to quote in US dollars because we pay US dollars for fuel, tolls, scales, etc.
AND, yes, if you are trying to offer me $1/mile one-way then, yes, I am going to charge you $3+/mile to come back. Simple math.
OR, if you paid me in US dollars before, why are you suddenly paying in CDN dollars now for the same load, same customer, etc?
Most intelligent brokers understand that if a carrier is offering a cheap rate then they are not serious about how they run their company. In a few months they will go bankrupt, close their doors or whatever and the legit carriers are left behind to deal with the crap created by the other carriers.
I know this has nothing to do specifically with the original post but I'm just fed up.
Karma..........it's a b*tch!
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Salma, on the contrary, it exactly that... How do they expect us to survive as long as they are offering us less per mile than it cost to run the truck... some very dumb freight brokers out there... They have us all sick and tired of this bull hocky... There were a few of us that gave reasonable rates in areas that were looking for trucks... Hateto tell you brokers this but... no more Mr. nice guy... We'll be making up for it then... and we are keeping notes on who and when. Don't know how many of the shippers are selling their product at a loss...
 
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As well, one carrier might say, "no way,that rate is too low", while another might say, "a bit lean, but I can live with it".
That is the marketplace at work and how one company differs from another, as Freight Broker outlined below. My comments earlier about a cheap brokers best friend, were not meant to include the large scale brokers that G Roch mentions. Large brokerage operations will have a real, large, mixed bag of rates, from the just barely cover your costs, to the maybe made a profit type of rates. As such, no, they are not going out of business anytime soon.
 
loaders said:
It never ceases to amaze me, how upset and angry some people become over this whole rate issue. If you're selling something..... transportation, cars, apples, whatever, you have the luxury of setting the price of your goods or service. If no one wants to buy what you're selling at the price you've set, guess what, change the price, change the way you sell it, change the way you operate your business, or find another endeavor. If carriers were really serious about getting rid of low rates, or at least trying to increase them, then stop accepting what you know is a low rate! I consider myself to be an intelligent broker, but I have no way of knowing how serious a carrier is about his business just because he has offered his services at "his" rate. Maybe he needs to get to that area, or maybe he needs to get home, I don't care, he has set his rate and I can use him or not. I am not "jumping down your throat", but either we can employ a free market system in transportation where the market sets the rates, or we can go back to the days of government regulation, but wait, I think we have already been down that road before.
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Loaders, so you selling your loads for less than you customer is paying... it costs us $1.63 us dollars to run a truck. If you are offering me $1.25 per mile...duh... I'm loosing money... Karma my friend... it will be back your way one day :cool:
 
G. Roch, once the small companies and the independents have been eliminated I wish you all good luck. It's one thing to have customers you move freight for BUT if you don't have trucks to move it with... good luck with the horse and buggys.
Freight Broker... I've marked my calender... never thought we would even half agree on anything
 
But someone else might be fine with $1.25. It really depends very much on your operation and your lifestyle. A one truck carrier who lives in the backwoods of KY, in a three room house with no indoor plumbing that's been paid for 30 years ago is going to have lower cost structure than someone who is living in a modest 500K home in Mississauga that isn't paid for.
 
Sorry martintav, I don't quite understand what you're saying. I have no control over what your costs to operate are, and frankly, I don't care what they are. You offer me a rate for a shipment and I say yes or no to it. Same goes for me, when I offer you a rate, you get to say yes or no. I wouldn't expect you to operate your business at a loss, and if someone offers you a rate, myself included, that doesn't cover your costs, please, don't take it.
 
loaders said:
Sorry martintav, I don't quite understand what you're saying. I have no control over what your costs to operate are, and frankly, I don't care what they are. You offer me a rate for a shipment and I say yes or no to it. Same goes for me, when I offer you a rate, you get to say yes or no. I wouldn't expect you to operate your business at a loss, and if someone offers you a rate, myself included, that doesn't cover your costs, please, don't take it.
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when you do pricing do you take all factors into consideration. I don't really think so or you would not have responded this way... makes me sick to think that our society has become so singular. each thinking only of themselves... you just keep selling your freight cheaper than it costs to run the truck per mile... there's more than just fuel and tires involved. I hope you enjoy doing business with the cheap trucking companies. Hope they don't throw you under the wheels with service that is becoming to you cheap rates.
 
Freight Broker said:
But someone else might be fine with $1.25. It really depends very much on your operation and your lifestyle. A one truck carrier who lives in the backwoods of KY, in a three room house with no indoor plumbing that's been paid for 30 years ago is going to have lower cost structure than someone who is living in a modest 500K home in Mississauga that isn't paid for.
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don't know who could be fine with $1.25 when it costs $1.63 to run the truck. This is a number that comes from the ATA
 
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