Load Planning

First, my schedule: Tonight I have to take my truck to the dealer and have the hotel shuttle follow me and bring me back. Tomorrow I'll call the dealer before checkoiut to get a prognosis, and probably shuttle back there. Before I do, I'll call the computer guy to see if I can trade computers that day.

Ok. It's become pretty clear to me after more research. Two of my free load boards are exact duplicates, and the same loads appear on several of the paid ones. One of these only had one unique load each that weren't on the free boards. www.getloaded.com is the one that had a whole bunch of unique loads. Most of these were pretty short, but they were there.

Also on getloaded they have charts: truck-to-load ratios, inbound vs. outbound truck ratios, etc. by state, which are extremely helpful in planning ahead; knowing where to look to haul a load.

I have a new respect for company load-planners, and understand why my current company doesn't preplan.

I've started actual mapping for my first trips. For each trip, before I call a broker or anything, I need to calculate my costs, and determine my bottom line (at 74%), so I'll have a figure in my head before the broker tells me what the load pays. (You don't negotiate. You take it or leave it. You might say "call me if it goes up", but that's about it.)

I can even roughly anticipate the rate, based on origin, destination, and weight--but will need a lot more practice with this before I get very good at anticipating stuff.

Anyway, I'm making absolutely sure I can pick up a load, so my searches are for the 17th. I might do it over for the 16th, but know that most of the loads posted are probably actually gone, and just nailing something down for the 17th is probably smarter.

I found several going to Texas (the Utah is gone). One of these looks familiar, but the origin is different. This run is from Fort Wayne, IN, and in my searches I've detected a bi-daily run. It's possible that this is one I should reach for at some point.

You see, with USA I fell into a two-way run, carrying empty racks one way and supplies the other. I could do them as fast as I wanted, and there were always loads waiting for me on each end. Zero deadhead miles, minimum wait-time, and I could park overnight at either location. It was great.

For now, it's a 187-mile deadhead, and I found zero loads coming out of Texas, or even the region. On monday, or even on friday (let alone the weekends.) It's not that nobody is shipping, but that all that freight has been gobbled up, and there are simply too many trucks there. I'll ask the broker about this load anyway. If it's the same reciever, then I know that I can get a load back out, and they just don't bother listing them.

Of course, this was as a per-mile driver--I still don't know if these loads pay anything; racks I know do not.

At any rate, I found one to New York and one to New Jersey. These might pay better, because nobody wants to go there. I calculated my costs (fuel and tolls) for each trip, including deadhead miles. (This was a factor--both shippers are less than 75 miles from my company). I eliminated a load as soon as I saw that it was south Philly.

Then I searched ahead to friday the 19th, when I was certain I'd be empty--for loads coming out of these areas. This knocked out the other New Jersey load---nothing happening there, and I might get stranded.

This left me with three possibles out of New York (to Springfield, OH, where I could consider dropping the trailer back at base and seeing the family for Xmas), to Rome, GA and to Texarkana, TX. The deadheads were from 206 to 326 miles. After some figuring, I determined that I'd take a lot of toll roads, since I'd pay the same in fuel if I tried to avoid them. On the Springfield or the Texarkana runs, I would save at least 50 bucks in fuel by stopping at a specific truckstop.

All these loads are over 40,000 lbs., so I had to figure my mileage with that, the terrain, and speed limits in mind. I'm giving myself lots of extra time allowing for inclement weather and other delays.

The three coming out of New York are, fortunately, all listed by the same broker, so that's one phone call. Before I make the calls and stuff, I would also check ahead to monday loads at the destinations from New York, but that will be the 22nd, and I'm libel to be stuck anywhere I land.

So Springfield might get a little extra weight...I'll want my computer back anyway.

I'll have to make the calls and get all the rates before I decide. It's incredibly deep.

For example: To take the New York load, it's 80 deadhead miles, then 737 trip miles. I'd be there in the morning, so that's one day for me (with the wormholes and alien abductions and all). I go past my cheap truckstop and save on fuel, too.

The return to Springfield would make that would be 206 more deadhead miles (fuel 70.00, tolls 50.00) for another 527 paid miles with a 45,000 lb. load. That's 1,264 paid miles, minus what a lot of weight and tolls cost me (plus the 50 bucks or so I'd save buying cheap fuel).

The return to Texarkana would be 360 deadhead miles (fuel 120, tolls 50), but then 1300 paid miles. That would make 2037 paid miles (at 38,000 lbs. so I could save about 50 bucks on fuel).

See all the problems lurking around every corner?

Shippers do factor in tolls and the unpopularity of an area when they put rates on loads, so the one going to New York might pay well, but the return might not be as good.

Where it gets more complicated for me is when I consider that the Fort Wayne to Katy TX load only weighs 25,ooo lbs., I'd pay zero tolls, and driving intelligently I could get GREAT fuel economy. That one is 187 deadhead miles and 1200 paid miles. It's an easy delivery on friday...with no listed return load.

However, this Fort Wayne-to-Katy load is a repetitive listing, and might just be the same reciever in Katy I have in mind. They might have a return trip to Fort Wayne or a location in Illinois that I was going to which isn't listed (these would be the return racks. They can't pay much, but weigh less than 8,000 lbs.)

Even if it's not the same company, I could just go to that place and solicit my own rack-load!!

It might well be worth the (relatively small) risk. I'm wildly guessing that the Katy load pays around 1600, 74% of which is 1180 or so. I'd net about 600 bucks. That's not great. The rack load on the return (to Fort Wayne would pay a lot less, but also cost less...I might only net 300.

However, if I could establish this cycle, and it works like it did with USA, I could complete this round-trip...easily and legally...twice a week.

Conversely, on the two-way to Hudson NY, then back to Texarkana, I might net about a grand, with little chance of another load in a truck-dense area three days before Xmas.

This is why some owner-ops go under. You have to consider a whole lot more than the rate, and you have to think moves and moves ahead.

Gee...writing really helps you think, ya know? You have to slow your brain down to get the speed you can type, and you have to focus.

Anyway, I have pretty much settled on www.realtimefreight.com as the one and only paid service I'll use (at 30 bucks/month). Additional analysis and triple-checking shows me that in addition to their in-network freight, they also raid other load-boards.

Most of the freight their shipper members list are probably not listed elsewhere, giving me an advantage over a lot of my fellow greedy bastards. Also, their system is efficient. A shipper lists a load, and I bid on it right on-line (if the rate is listed. I'm hoping that most of them do that, so I don't have to call them to ask and waste my time like that).

As with the other services, I post my truck as available in an area at a given time. With the other brokers, I doubt that anybody ever reaches out to them, but within the realtime network, that might be more likely. I mean, if I were a shipper, I'd check my area for trucks and send them a message before I bothered to list it. This way I'd make absolutely sure that the RIGHT people would know about my load, and I'd have a much better chance of getting it convered.

Also, this is a closed network. I'm more likely to make repeat runs for the same companies, and get consistant work. It should be more predicable, and speed up my search process--or maybe if the Katy TX thing isn't there, some other regular, lucrative 2 or 3-way run might be.

I said before that I didn't want to be a dedicated driver. That was only because trucking companies factor in home-time (reducing the miles) in order to retain drivers. But since I will now be self-dispatching, I can be dedicated "full-time", and maximize the money I make. I can also create my own little 2 or 3-stop circle.

While I do still think that these loads will tend to be heavy, I know that there are a lot of them, and some pay better...like say onions (I think), or chemicals...plus they do say that they've got some manufacturers on-board, so I might find some lighter stuff, or even high-value stuff.

I'm feeling pretty positive now, except my inner-child is frightened of making the phone calls, and my ennate laziness wants me to keep taking it easy. For example, I've considered remaining here at the hotel one more night to watch the Browns game. I've considered using the computer thing as an excuse to hang around another week.

But my inner-adult knows that I need to get rolling again. If I don't get at least that 600 or so bucks going to my account THIS WEEK, I might be bleeding cash until January 2 2009. (I could--but it would be stupid.)

Of course, I might be stuck here monday night anyway. That's why I searched for loads on wednesday, to make sure I could go get them.

Well okbye.