We got some reports recently that confirmed what we thought: Truckers and trucking are in trouble. Average costs for a trucking company and the average spot rates aren’t at the same place at all. So what do truckers need to do to make money in trucking?
We have a few suggestions.
Average Costs
Unsurprisingly, the costs to run a trucking business have gone up. In this economy, why would trucking be exempt from the inflation rate that are gutting our family incomes? According to CCJDigital,
… the cost per mile to operate a truck in 2023 increased another 2 cents, bringing the total average operator channel cost per truck to $2.27 a mile.
source: CCJdigital.com
Only 2 cents? Com’on, man. Our expenses have gone up more than that. But that’s on top of a huge jump in 2022. Keeping a truck on the road isn’t cheap, but the biggest problem isn’t the average costs. It’s the pay.
Average Spot Rates
According to DAT Freight and Analytics, the average spot rate for a van is $2.00 per mile in September, 2024. Only slightly better is the reefer rate at $2.30 and flatbeds at $2.44 per mile.
Aug 26 – Sep 1: Spot market capacity tightened last week, with truckers taking time off for the holiday weekend and shippers moving freight ahead of quarter close. But even with the spike, national average spot rates were down in August for all trailer types.
source: https://www.dat.com/trendlines
So if you’re a van driver, what are you going to do?
Average doesn’t mean all loads are that low
You’re going to go onto the load boards and find there are loads that pay more than the average. But you’ll find plenty that pay less as well. The key is how can you find, bid, and win those best loads.
Maybe it’s not about the load boards at all. Maybe it’s time to develop your own customers.
Allen Campbell, one of our founders, drove flatbeds for years as well as owning his own trucking business. He made contacts in a local company that had three loads per week. When their business grew, so did Allen’s. But trips out to Illinois didn’t bring any money back on the returns, so Allen started to look for other businesses near that customer’s destination in Illinois. With a flatbed, he was able to make connections with building material companies, which led to more connections in Ohio.
Know Your Minimums to Avoid Taking Loads You Can’t Afford
Just because we’ve got an “average cost per mile” from a reliable source, that doesn’t mean that your numbers are the same.
But how do you know? Do you know how much it costs you to move a load per mile?
Variables
There are so many variables to try to compare costs per mile. An average cost per mile is a very complicated number to compute.
Good thing we’ve got computers. If only we had a way to consider all those variables
- driver pay (you gotta pay yourself!)
- insurance for the equipment
- insurance for the business
- loans for equipment purchases
- office expenses
- road expenses – fuel
- road expenses – everything but fuel
- equipment maintenance
- equipment records
- software to bill clients
- software to pay taxes like IFTA and IRP
The problem sometimes is how to compute a cost per mile for something you pay once or twice a year.
That’s why you need Trucker Stats™.
Trucker Stats™ from TruckingOffice PRO
Trucking average costs aren’t easy to determine. But TruckingOffice PRO trucking software can do it for you – without you adding anything extra to the program. If you use TruckingOffice PRO to
- compute your IFTA or IRP
- send invoices or manage late pays
- track and schedule your truck maintenance
- to manage your trucking business
Then, you’ve already got all the data you need to compute your average costs per mile for your trucking business. But you don’t have to do the math. TruckingOffice PRO does it for you.
Trucker Stats™ will give you your average costs per mile at the press of a button on the screen. In seconds, you can know if the load you’re looking at on the load board is the right one for you. Or how much more to bid to make sure you’re making money hauling that load, not giving it a free ride.
TruckingOffice Trucking Management Software
Using a single trucking management software package gives the independent owner operator the same benefits that big trucking companies have in expensive software solutions. TruckingOffice offers the best options for the solo trucker. We’ve got affordable trucking management software that handles everything. TruckingOffice PRO makes your life easier and managing your business smoother by helping you handle your tasks better and faster:
- dispatches
- routing
- invoice generation and tracking
- expense management
- IFTA and IRP
- maintenance
- Trucker Stats™– reports to show the state of your trucking business.
Combined with the TruckingOffice ELD, you’ve got everything you need to build a successful trucking business – even from the cab of your truck.
Contact us today to learn how TruckingOffice PRO can help you avoid loads that cost you money to deliver and to discover what equipment is the most profitable for you.
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