US vs CA lanes???

artmax

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Jan 8, 2021
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I had someone from Toronto ask me if 6800 was okay?
Why is there such a disparaging gap between cross-border and domestic US lanes?
Wait - are you guys getting 22000CAD one way???
 
Because Canadians have to return to Canadian Soil - so you're kind of hoodwinked on options... that rate sucks though. (the 6800)
 
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I had someone from Toronto ask me if 6800 was okay?
Why is there such a disparaging gap between cross-border and domestic US lanes?
Wait - are you guys getting 22000CAD one way???
Yep, it's a beautiful time to be a legal carrier in the US. Reefer rates are through the roof - its produce season in CA, TX and FL and they need the produce in NY and NJ.
Flat bed rates are also high, Dry van not as much but so much better than here. Posted spot DV rates right now for US intrastate is average USD$2.85/mile.

On the link right now, I hear that the price is absolutely dismal for the average back haul rate to GTA from most places. The outbound price is not compensating for the horrible inbound price. The scary part is that the fuel cost is well over $1.10 CDN.

I'm continuing to add broker names to my long A** list of brokers who keep telling me that carriers are doing it for far less and continue to use the clown carriers driving these rates down. Those carriers are not interested in getting enough money to pay their Driver Inc. labour costs, fix their trucks or replace their equipment.
 
I'm continuing to add broker names to my long A** list of brokers who keep telling me that carriers are doing it for far less and continue to use the clown carriers driving these rates down. Those carriers are not interested in getting enough money to pay their Driver Inc. labour costs, fix their trucks or replace their equipment.
I was told by a Canadian brokerage that clients are tired of paying high rates for transport - luckily, we don't have a lot of openboard exposure.
 
I was told by a Canadian brokerage that clients are tired of paying high rates for transport - luckily, we don't have a lot of openboard exposure.
Yep, clients can be tired of high rates but as usual, we cannot control the fuel price, and the mountains of other costs that make up the rate.
They're just shell shocked that the cost of fuel has increased by +/- 85% and that is the largest component of the rate. The current CDN rates, even with the increase since Feb, will not sustain the industry. There will be many carriers dropping out and when that happens, it will be post COVID rates all over again. The clients of Canadian brokerage companies will be crying then, and my A** list will very handy.
 
View attachment 3811

I had someone from Toronto ask me if 6800 was okay?
Why is there such a disparaging gap between cross-border and domestic US lanes?
Wait - are you guys getting 22000CAD one way???
So I have dabbled in produce...

It's the absolute wild west. You are seeing these insane rates cause these are almost guaranteed to be 1-4 picks, and could take 2 days to get loaded.

There is a very small carrier pool that is willing to do produce regularly, blitz week it's even smaller.

The fines associated with these loads aren't your simple 1k for being late fees. It can be upwards of 100k depending on where it's delivering. Add to it, some groceries have it in their contract that you are liable for the cost to replace the goods.

So for example, if a buyer is tasked with providing 500 cases of green peppers and fails to deliver. The grocer has to go out and source green peppers either locally from distributor or maybe a different state but on short notice, they are going to pay massive premium for it. That alone could be 50k.

*edit to fix my terrible grammar, MikeJR can confirm :)
 
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6800 sounds too low especially at today's fuel prices ... and particularly in produce season. $9-$10K USD wouldn't surprise me at all to Toronto for now. For that you can just get out somewhere and deadhead in ... and you'd probably need to.