Do you haul for less than 5% in you Hopper for Corn?

It is because they all think, especially the Brokers. That trucks are just a bunch of dumb rednecks that are there to be screwed. Case in point. Hauled a load of Fertilizer from Port Neal, IA to Grand Forks. My truck got $2.00 per mile to haul it. Would make you sick or mad to find out what the broker bills the shipper.

The point is. You are offered a load at a rate. It is up to you to take it or leave it. Sometimes if you leave it. They will call you back with a better rate. If they don't. Move on. There will always be someone that is hungry and someone that has no problem sleeping at night after spending a day cheating truckers.

current corn price here in va is 4.31 delivered, should be the same in original post area

Yes We are famers we own over 600 acres on the east coast under various farm names. However we are new to trucking only hauling for ourselves within the last ten years, before we contracted it out or had owner operators. We always pay our carriers a salary so never understood exactly how trucking works. Which is what the question was about.

Why does trucking in general accept less than 10% of the freight to haul it? It's not just agriculture that has this issue it's the same with Reefers, Flatbeds, Vans etc. I understand this is how it's been for 60 years but isn't it time for it to change to a different model? What does everyone think is going to happen when the law that was just passed in CA about "Contract Gig workers" now being classified as regular workers. That same ruling will affect every trucking company as well rest assured. There is no difference in a company driver hauling for a "Percentage" as a "Gig worker" they are one and the same. Matter of fact Uber and Lyft modeled their companies similiary to trucking companies.

That is why I was asking why are the rates so low? What will everyone do when it's mandatory everyone be a salaried employee and pay benifits? How exactly are carriers going to carry commodities at 12 cents a bushel and pay vacations, health insurance, workers compensation, fuel, pay, etc.? Even the owner operators will be forced to cover those things as well.

As to the comment about Socialism, I've lived in Socialism and Communism in Europe. Some Socialistic societies are much better than the American Greed system and awful in other ways. Just pray Communism never takes over. Each society has good and bad. Capitalism has it's merrits as does Socialism, but it's always wrong when a few control the whole, that creates Communism and breaks a Free marketplace.

Just wondered why trucking didn't have set pricing like farming or engineering. No one expects an engineer to work for 7.65 an hour or less once wait times and loading times are calculated in at least for some drivers.

Example: an Owner Operator we know who uses a broker carries corn from our farm from Purdue in MD to Mountaire in DE at .12 cents a bushel which equals 110.00 a load before he pays the brokers 12.5% fee. Oh that load also doesn't cover fuel surcharge since there isn't any. If you work for say Virgil Davis Trucking, or WWCIII trucking, or Fred Flinstone Trucking, they pay their drivers between 19-27% to haul those exact loads.

So lets take the top end of things and the bottom. At 27% of 110.00 for one load the driver made: 29.70 cents and it takes him two hours to make the trip on a good day with no waiting, breakdowns etc. It's 45 minutes one way for that load. The max amount of loads you can do in a day is 5, if your willing to break all the rules 6 or more. Oh and there is no back haul you go back empty. So on a good day the truck can make a little more than 500 bucks, but the driver actually made: 148.50 for more than 8 hours. Which equates to an hourly rate of: 18.56. Which is pretty good around here.

Now let me give you another example. That same load from Perdue goes to Ardent Mills in PA now everyone on the east coast knows about how awful Ardent Mills is. Meaning you must arrive the night before and pray your one of the first trucks otherwise you will miss offloading. They are only open when they feel like it and only from 6-2 exactly but they dont start offloading until 7am. They are union. Which is a bit unusual in agriculture and now I understand why so many people hate union workers. However, those rates are usually about .50-.90 cents a bushel for delivery meaning the load is typically 600 dollars. Now it is a four hour run up from Perdue and back however usually you can find a backhaul out of PA, or NJ, or Va depending. So your not hauling for 600 bucks but could be as much as 1200 - 2000 bucks. It's the same commodities, corn, wheat, soybeans etc. But lets compare apples and apples, and come back empty.

So your truck just made 600 bucks. Driver gets 162.00 However he had to spend the night but those hours don't actually count so the rate for the same period is now: 20.25 an hour. But Sammy down the street wants to haul as well right, and tells Perdue hey I can haul that load for 5 cents a bushel instead. Remember the above is what you pay your driver doesn't cover the actual costs of running the truck or overhead. So lets calculate them in:

Truck made 110.00 a load local. Milage is 30 miles one way. So per mile rate is now: 3.67 mile. Seems like a good price but you forgot your empty coming back so it's not 30 miles it's 60 miles total. Now mile rate is: 1.83 a mile. Truck uses fuel which here is 3.49 a gallon on a good day and for 60 miles uses 4.19 cents. Calculation is based on 50 mph at 6 miles to the gallon of Diesel at 3.49 a gallon. So deduct that out: 4.19 a load. Right Maintenance and Overhead costs are usually 10%: so that cost is: 11.00 a load.

So for our current load from MD to DE for a total of 60 miles comes to:

110.00 total

29.70 for driver at 27%

4.19 for fuel

11.00 for Maintenance and Overhead.

Profit is now: 65.11 for that load. Now you also owe for your share of the drivers taxes at 28%. So after you take that out now your profit is:18.23 cents.

Md to DE at 60 miles at 5 cents a bushel:

45.00 total a load

12.15 for driver at 27%

4.19 for fuel

11.00 for overhead

17.66 in profit now pay 28% in taxes for your part for the driver.

you just made 4.95 cents in profit Congradulations.

Guess I shouldn't be so upset at 12 cents huh.

This is why truckers are angry.

I sell my corn for 4000 a truckload and on one of my farms in maryland one of them which is local to Perdue is 60 acres. We haul out between 2 and 4 fully loaded hoppers per harvest depending. This harvest we sent out four loaded hoppers and stored some as well. So the farm made: 4X 4000 = 16000. for corn, we make usually twice that on soybeans since they usually sell for 8.00 a bushell pretty steadily although this year I'm not sure yet. So out of the 16000 we made the drivers were paid from us 40 cents to haul it to town. So the drivers made: 360.00 a load. Not bad money we made in profit after paying costs: 8000. Now that has to go six months but if you have outside income isn't too bad. That is one farm. Our land is owned outright so no mortgages.

But you can see why I ask the question about pay. Why would you drive for 18 dollars an hour? Lowes pays the same and you can sit all day? What will happen when the drivers realize that Virgil and WWCIII now owe them back pay and benifits for work they have done for last years etc. at 65.11 I doubt either of them would have the funds to backpay all of those drivers. But yet they keep driving down prices in the area.

Wonder what they would do if someone came in and took it all over. What's to stop a monopoly from cropping up? If you had enough trucks you certainly could under bid everyone in the marketplace and then what would happen? Guess we will wait and see Indigo Transport is trying to do exactly that. So far not having much luck but they are buying farms and granaries as fast as they can. Guess we will see.

I would just like to see the rates posted. or have a clear understanding on why carriers go on per mile rates instead of a flat rate? If carriers understood that the granary is paying farmers 4.00 a bushell perhpas they would be so inclined to haul it for under .10 cents, or at least they would know what the actual payout is upfront. Then you know if the broker is scamming and taking 40% for themselves instead of 10-15% and the brokers who charge more than 15% shame on you. Most reputable companies send out emails of the loads availalbe and its rate. Why exactly can't a broker, or other corporations do the same? Perhaps I'll work on that. Knowledge is power right?

Yes I'm glad that trucking isn't our main buisness Farming and Engineering is, and well lots of good investments over the years. You are right about what you say and I'm equally disapointed, but some of the ones undercutting everone else have been around for more than 20-30 years doing this. Our farm has commercial and Farm Plates, but it's not legal to haul anyone else's commodities with Farm Plates for profit. Yes I understand everyone does it but it doesn't make it legal. Our farm must be legal at all times. Just a shame that in the trucking side they can't take a page from the farmers playbook or the cut throat buisness handbook and understand that by cutting rates so low you are either delivering an inferior service, driving an unmaintained truck or unlicensed driver and eventually those consequences catch up. Yes the east coast lanes are as cut throat as it gets because of the density and population and ease of entrance to the jobs. Doesn't make it right, and it doesn't make it right that as a farmer I can't pay my employees who pick a decent wage either and am forced to try and find H1B Visa workers. It seems lately the only ones making it are the corporations on top.

Always remember those who have enough money will always be able to undercut you for enough time to put you out of buisness or in serious peril no matter what line of work you are in.

If anyone is looking for loads during the day in TX, AL, IN, NB, OR, LA pretty much anywhere in the midwest, let me know I have lots of loads come up with no one to haul them. Pays is pretty good nothing under 30 a ton. Had two loads yesterday for 110 and 115 a ton to NE from KY. Don't get a lot of back hauls from out there, but probably could find some as well, never have asked since we don't run out there.

Also if you have a TWIC card and are an owner operator look us up we can always use you.

Well said.

I wanna know where ya selling grain for 4 bucks? Its 3.25 cash in KCMO....Most trucks from N. Missouri to KC get 30 cents ..Been that way a very very long time and now fuel is fairly cheap.....Yes it should be .40 cents..

We haul seed corn in the winter - could be $200,000 on a load

We haul fertilizer year round that is $10,000 per load

I have never once thought I deserve a percentage of what the load is worth - how does that even make sense? All I care about is miles and the highest price per mile that we can negotiate. It doesn't matter if we are hauling corn, beans, wheat, steel, or TP its all about the price per mile.

Disclaimer - we farm and truck, we truck a lot more than we farm.