Merry Christmas and get ready for 2017
The upcoming year 2017
Merry Christmas to all that are going to be home with their families this year. For those that are still out running hope you make it home for the New Year.
As we go into 2017 let us all remember that the past two years have been hard on the Independent Carriers. We have lost many through attrition and other reasons as well. This means the marketplace for freight should improve for those of us that remain in 2017.
It is time for us to push back on the rates, don't believe the shippers or the brokers when they offer you cheap rates that resemble those from the 1970's. If you don't know what your profit margin should be then either get out of the business or use the old timer's rule of thumb. Run your operation for the cost of diesel at the pump per mile. I personally prefer to know what my margins should be, but the per gallon=per mile method works for most segments of our industry.
We have been sticking to our margins regardless of what the shippers or brokers tell us, it is true that we may sit a day in between loads, but we still are meeting our margins by the trip, day, and week. In the end that is what matters. We will be making an adjustment to our margin this upcoming year, therefor increasing our rates as well. We are a mercenary style company and have learned that the only time we are loyal to a customer is when they are paying us. The customers will show very little to no loyalty if another company walks up and offers to do the job cheaper. The only thing the customers care about is their margin (bottom line).
When we Independent Carriers start running our business in the same fashion, then and only then will we see stabilization of rates. There is only about a quarter per mile difference between the cheapest truck in the market vs the more expensive truck in the market. Think about that as we head into the New Year.
Let us all be reasonable and be profitable this upcoming year.
Alfred Scott Jordan
Powerhouse Transportation
Independent Carrier Group
Freedom with Integrity