Making Money

Aug 02, 2017 at 08:15 AM CST + 5
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Is anybody making any money with a hopper? Tried this hopper gig for six months. Loved the work but hated the pay. I nearly went broke. Moved on to the oilfield. Do the brokers and shippers not understand what it costs to run a big rig? How long are guys gonna haul for free? Any thoughts?

Replied on Wed, Aug 02, 2017 at 08:33 AM CST + 2
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. I honestly thought that when the oil field boom went bust and everyone was cutting rates just to make payments, we would see a short period before they went broke adnd the rates would come back. Surprise! They have gotten worse! In 2014 I witnessed the BEST year I have ever seen in my 30+ years in this industry, followed by 2015, the WORST year! We had to fight for everything, the rates were dropping and the government started making a whole bunch of rules for us. It is not pretty out here right now! Most Brokers do not care if the trucks make money because at the end of the day, as long as their loads move, they get their money. With that said, let me also say that there are some EXCELENT brokers out there who have a grasp on what it takes to run a truck and strive to keep the rates up as much as possible. It is my belief that there is a glut of independent truckers coming into the industry looking for a quick buck and not really knowing what it costs to run a truck nor even caring as long as they can make ends meet and have just a little beer money in their pockets at the end of week. I am a little scared at where this industry is going and more scared on what the drought is going to do to the business for the year. My advise to you is find a good company with their own contracts and hook on with them. Work with a non broker that pays regularly and cares about what their trucks and drivers make. They are out there but hard to find.but out there! Keith Kemper ET Trucking Inc.

Replied on Wed, Aug 02, 2017 at 08:33 AM CST

+ 2

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

I honestly thought that when the oil field boom went bust and everyone was cutting rates just to make payments, we would see a short period before they went broke adnd the rates would come back. Surprise! They have gotten worse! In 2014 I witnessed the BEST year I have ever seen in my 30+ years in this industry, followed by 2015, the WORST year! We had to fight for everything, the rates were dropping and the government started making a whole bunch of rules for us. It is not pretty out here right now! Most Brokers do not care if the trucks make money because at the end of the day, as long as their loads move, they get their money. With that said, let me also say that there are some EXCELENT brokers out there who have a grasp on what it takes to run a truck and strive to keep the rates up as much as possible.

It is my belief that there is a glut of independent truckers coming into the industry looking for a quick buck and not really knowing what it costs to run a truck nor even caring as long as they can make ends meet and have just a little beer money in their pockets at the end of week. I am a little scared at where this industry is going and more scared on what the drought is going to do to the business for the year.

My advise to you is find a good company with their own contracts and hook on with them. Work with a non broker that pays regularly and cares about what their trucks and drivers make. They are out there but hard to find.but out there!

Keith Kemper
ET Trucking Inc.

Replied on Wed, Aug 02, 2017 at 11:07 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Any suggestions on that good broker you are talking about

Replied on Wed, Aug 02, 2017 at 05:41 PM CST + 1 - 1
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Quote: "I honestly thought that when the oil field boom went bust and everyone was cutting rates just to make payments, we would see a short period before they went broke adnd the rates would come back. Surprise! They have gotten worse! In 2014 I witnessed the BEST year I have ever seen in my 30+ years in this industry, followed by 2015, the WORST year! We had to fight for everything, the rates were dropping and the government started making a whole bunch of rules for us. It is not pretty out here right now! Most Brokers do not care if the trucks make money because at the end of the day, as long as their loads move, they get their money. With that said, let me also say that there are some EXCELENT brokers out there who have a grasp on what it takes to run a truck and strive to keep the rates up as much as possible. It is my belief that there is a glut of independent truckers coming into the industry looking for a quick buck and not really knowing what it costs to run a truck nor even caring as long as they can make ends meet and have just a little beer money in their pockets at the end of week. I am a little scared at where this industry is going and more scared on what the drought is going to do to the business for the year. My advise to you is find a good company with their own contracts and hook on with them. Work with a non broker that pays regularly and cares about what their trucks and drivers make. They are out there but hard to find.but out there! Keith Kemper ET Trucking Inc." stronger commodity earnings closer to international ports is part of the answer to why rates did not rise after 2008. there are more global markets at play now that do not involve the u.s. and your president is not making it easy to include your country in the trading process. again i need to remind everyone commodities only get a certain price and that includes ALL the freight to get it to the desired market. when the price isn;t there the product does not move. simple as that. so when you are asking yourself why and how, keep in mind the free market doesn't answer to any truck or buyer for that matter.

Replied on Wed, Aug 02, 2017 at 05:41 PM CST

+ 1 - 1

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

Quote: "I honestly thought that when the oil field boom went bust and everyone was cutting rates just to make payments, we would see a short period before they went broke adnd the rates would come back. Surprise! They have gotten worse! In 2014 I witnessed the BEST year I have ever seen in my 30+ years in this industry, followed by 2015, the WORST year! We had to fight for everything, the rates were dropping and the government started making a whole bunch of rules for us. It is not pretty out here right now! Most Brokers do not care if the trucks make money because at the end of the day, as long as their loads move, they get their money. With that said, let me also say that there are some EXCELENT brokers out there who have a grasp on what it takes to run a truck and strive to keep the rates up as much as possible. It is my belief that there is a glut of independent truckers coming into the industry looking for a quick buck and not really knowing what it costs to run a truck nor even caring as long as they can make ends meet and have just a little beer money in their pockets at the end of week. I am a little scared at where this industry is going and more scared on what the drought is going to do to the business for the year. My advise to you is find a good company with their own contracts and hook on with them. Work with a non broker that pays regularly and cares about what their trucks and drivers make. They are out there but hard to find.but out there! Keith Kemper ET Trucking Inc."

stronger commodity earnings closer to international ports is part of the answer to why rates did not rise after 2008. there are more global markets at play now that do not involve the u.s. and your president is not making it easy to include your country in the trading process. again i need to remind everyone commodities only get a certain price and that includes ALL the freight to get it to the desired market. when the price isn;t there the product does not move. simple as that. so when you are asking yourself why and how, keep in mind the free market doesn't answer to any truck or buyer for that matter.

Replied on Wed, Aug 02, 2017 at 06:42 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. 08-09 are when rates in many freight industries(trucking) have gone down. Doesn't matter what part of the country your in. They have been going backwards. This my oqn opinion.

Replied on Wed, Aug 02, 2017 at 10:07 PM CST + 1
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. There is a load listed out of Texas into Oklahoma right now. 229 miles for .25 a bushel You cant get much worse than that.$1.09 at 1000 bushels for 229 miles. A legal load on my trucks averages around 26 tons.. Its $1.01 for that.............................Ridiculous

Replied on Thu, Aug 03, 2017 at 06:22 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. What's the spot? The, everyone's happy rate to a truck? What type of trailer? If you don't mind sharing -Jake

Replied on Thu, Aug 03, 2017 at 06:24 PM CST - 4
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. I'll call you Monday, I'm a good broker. -Jake

Replied on Fri, Aug 04, 2017 at 07:54 AM CST + 1
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Quote: "stronger commodity earnings closer to international ports is part of the answer to why rates did not rise after 2008. there are more global markets at play now that do not involve the u.s. and your president is not making it easy to include your country in the trading process. again i need to remind everyone commodities only get a certain price and that includes ALL the freight to get it to the desired market. when the price isn;t there the product does not move. simple as that. so when you are asking yourself why and how, keep in mind the free market doesn't answer to any truck or buyer for that matter." This is an excellent point, I see this myself quite a bit. For example, we haul a product on hoppers for a customer of ours. However, they do sell the product as bags. The shipper will bag the product at a cost, but van rates out of that area are significantly less than hoppers. So when the customer was looking at buying bags instead of bagging the product internaly, it simply came down to price. Was there a net savings for the customer while paying the supplier more, but running vans out of an area where there is little van freight, not to mention my customer's cost of labor and materials? If the answer was yes, we ran bags in addition to hoppers. A "no" meant we'd run an additional hopper load when needed. The ability to make a profit drives everything for everyone. Theres no point otherwise.

Replied on Fri, Aug 04, 2017 at 07:54 AM CST

+ 1

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

Quote: "stronger commodity earnings closer to international ports is part of the answer to why rates did not rise after 2008. there are more global markets at play now that do not involve the u.s. and your president is not making it easy to include your country in the trading process. again i need to remind everyone commodities only get a certain price and that includes ALL the freight to get it to the desired market. when the price isn;t there the product does not move. simple as that. so when you are asking yourself why and how, keep in mind the free market doesn't answer to any truck or buyer for that matter."

This is an excellent point, I see this myself quite a bit. For example, we haul a product on hoppers for a customer of ours. However, they do sell the product as bags. The shipper will bag the product at a cost, but van rates out of that area are significantly less than hoppers. So when the customer was looking at buying bags instead of bagging the product internaly, it simply came down to price. Was there a net savings for the customer while paying the supplier more, but running vans out of an area where there is little van freight, not to mention my customer's cost of labor and materials? If the answer was yes, we ran bags in addition to hoppers. A "no" meant we'd run an additional hopper load when needed. The ability to make a profit drives everything for everyone. Theres no point otherwise.

Replied on Tue, Aug 08, 2017 at 05:07 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Quote: "Any suggestions on that good broker you are talking about" HTC, Tallgrass Commodities, Rocky Wells, RFG Logistics, Reliant has some good freight. Depends on where you want to run and where your located.

Replied on Tue, Aug 08, 2017 at 06:54 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Quote: "HTC, Tallgrass Commodities, Rocky Wells, RFG Logistics, Reliant has some good freight. Depends on where you want to run and where your located. " I've hauled for the above companies and yes, they do have some better rates... WES over at RFG Logistics is a cool fella....