A proposal is being floated in Washington that would tax mileage on all vehicles–including local trucks, OTR trucks, even cars.
http://www.truckinsurancepro.com/industry-news/proposal-to-tax-mileage/
Take a look, read all about it, and contact your legislators if you are so moved.
Keep rolling,
Jonathan Miller, Editor
It now costs over $200 to fill up a straight truck, and pouring 120 gallons into your twin-75 equipped tractor can cost $500. In an earlier post we discussed fueling strategies. If $10 is saved on labor, it is as good as $10 saved on fuel cost. What else is there?
We are not going to list all the well known strategies for reducing fuel efficiency, such as more efficient trucks, driving slower, less idling, correct tire pressure, etc. Many of these techniques have little benefit in the local trucking universe. Often overlooked is what kind of diesel is being used. This is a potential money-saver for you. Think about it.
During the winter months diesel is often blended with expensive additives to prevent ice buildup. Sometimes standard practice starts the “additive season” too soon and ends too late. The difference in cost can be ten cents per gallon or more.
In the warmer months, or warmer climates, biodiesel is an excellent choice. Because of government subsidies, biodiesel is often $0.15/gallon less than plain diesel. Biodiesel gets the same or better mileage and comes with no additional maintenance or other expense. Look for a source, figure out the extra labor cost (if any) to get the truck to the appropriate facility, and make an informed decision. Most wet fueling operations can provide biodiesel. It is your tax dollars that are providing the subsidy, so you might as well get some benefit from it.
So, what is biodiesel? Biodiesel is a blend of diesel fuel with organic materials other than ethanol, such as used cooking grease, canola oil, etc. It is refined and cleaned before use. Here is a link to an interesting slide show about biodiesel:
http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/sustainability/pdfs/Advance_Biofuel_Webinar_20100827.pdf
As usual: keep doing the homework, and you can probably keep finding new places to save money.
More and more shipments, including local delivery, are being controlled by freight brokers or their fancy-named cousins, logistics providers. There are many considerations for doing business with brokers–but first, you must get the freight offered to you.
How do you successfully solicit shipments from freight brokers? The first step is to contact a prospective broker. Most brokers do not have a specific dispatcher assigned to local pickup & delivery. Each dispatcher generally has a personal local resource list. You can understand a dispatcher sometimes wanting to guard that list against revealing to other dispatchers. The trick is to gain a beachhead with one dispatcher and then leverage that relationship to get introduced to other dispatchers that may need local services.
Once you have interested a broker in your services, the next step is to fill out an information sheet. This rarely asks the questions that pertain to local P/U & delivery, such as: “Do you have straight trucks?” or “Do you have liftgates?”, etc. Often you are asked to simply list states in which you do business. It is difficult to define a metropolitan area. All these questions are barriers to local operations. The information you provide is usually entered into a spreadsheet format that has no room for “explanations.” You must consult with your prospect to determine the best way to enter information such that it is visible to other prospective users.
The path is difficult, but the rewards are worth it. You must “sell” each dispatcher as if s/he were a separate customer. Keep in mind that dispatchers often change jobs and usually bring their “stable” of customers and resources with them, potentially providing you with fresh dispatchers to solicit. Resist the urge to get the work thru price reduction. Brokers use one-truck operators, unregistered carriers, etc. who can all undercut your rate.
Do not try to match rates; concentrate instead on work that would be profitable for you if you got it. Accept the fact that 90% of freight is going to the lowest price and you are competing for the remaining 10%, which is often the only work worth doing.
There are many other consideration for doing work with brokers, some of which will be examined in future blog posts. In the meantime, do not ignore this potential rich source for future business.
