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KNOW YOUR NUMBERS! No business can succeed without knowing their cost of operation. That’s an absolute fact. You’ll never know how to improve if you don’t know where you’re at right now. And you have a lot to keep track of.
- Truck and trailer cost
- Fuel price and mpg
- Insurance
- Maintenance
- Licensing, IFTA, 2290, taxes and fees for the states you do business in
- Tolls, parking, lumpers
You see where this is going. You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to understand why knowing your numbers is the starting point to knowing if you’re actually making money.
Knowing Your Numbers Doesn’t Matter – To This Guy
I’ve been reading a lot about negotiating better rates from freight brokers. Nearly every article I read starts out the same. Step one, know your numbers. It’s time for a serious reality check. THE BROKER DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOUR NUMBERS!
Seriously, a broker doesn’t care if you get 4 mpg or 7.5 mpg. It’s not his concern. A poor credit score could be costing you hundreds per month in insurance rates. He doesn’t care. A brand new truck or a paid for truck, it’s not his problem.
Older equipment may disqualify you for certain loads. I know several shippers who won’t load a trailer older that ten years. They aren’t paying more for a trailer that’s only a year old. In fact, they usually aren’t paying any more than comparable loads without the requirement.
As we progress through the year, negotiation skills is near the top of the list for topics I want to cover. Before we dig into what matters, we need to know what doesn’t. Your numbers aren’t going to raise the spot market rates out of New Jersey or Florida. They may help you with damage control when you can’t break even to get out of these lanes, but the broker just doesn’t care.
Show Notes
Cops in big trucks. from GoByTruckNews.com, It’s not the first time this has been done.
DOT bumper Inspections? OverdriveOnLine has this story. Could this be a statistical nothing-burger?
How to get a not so quick 35 bucks. TheTruckersReport tells us how one company driver sued and won.
This year’s June inspection blitz should be interesting. From OverdriveOnLine.
Two Shelby pickups worth mentioning.
Family Truckster sells for nearly 100 grand.
