Is this trucking load worth taking? A worked example
How to decide whether to book, counter or pass, worked through on one offer. You need four things: every mile the load makes you drive, what each mile costs you, what you pay yourself, and the least profit you'll accept.
The offer
You're empty in Waco, TX. A broker offers $1,150 for Dallas, TX to Memphis, TN: 452 loaded miles, dry van, 38,000 lbs. Pickup is 96 miles away. At $2.54 a loaded mile, it looks fine. Here's how to check.
Step 1: count every mile
You'll drive 452 loaded miles plus 96 empty to get there: 548 miles. Divide the offer by all of them:
$1,150 ÷ 548 miles = $2.10 a mile
That's what the load really pays per mile you drive. More on deadhead.
Step 2: cost the trip
This truck gets 6.8 mpg on $3.85 diesel, puts aside $0.18 a mile for maintenance, carries $3,750 a month in fixed costs, pays a 3% factoring fee, and pays its driver $0.65 a mile. Over 548 miles and about 12.0 hours, that comes to:
| Fuel | $310.26 |
|---|---|
| DEF | $13.50 |
| Maintenance Reserve | $98.64 |
| Tire Wear | $21.92 |
| Depreciation | $43.84 |
| Fixed Overhead / Insurance | $123.63 |
| Tolls | $0.00 |
| Operating Profile Costs (pay, fees, percentages) | $390.70 |
| Total Expenses | $1,002.49 |
That's $1.83 a mile. Fixed costs are charged for the day the load takes, not by the mile. A slow load costs more than its miles suggest. Every line explained.
Step 3: pay yourself before you call it profit
If you drive your own truck, your wage is a cost. Here it's $0.65 a mile, $356.20 on this trip, inside the last line above. Leave it out and a load that only pays your wages looks like profit.
Step 4: what's left
$1,150 − $1,002.49 = $147.51
That's $0.27 a mile and $12.33 for each of the 12.0 hours the load ties up your truck.
Step 5: compare with your floors
A profit floor is the least you'll accept: here, $0.40 a mile and $20 an hour, after your own pay. This load is under both. It isn't losing money, but it doesn't meet your standard.
The rate that meets both floors is the minimum acceptable rate: costs plus whichever floor asks more. On this load that's $1,241.76, $91.76 more than offered. How to work out your minimum.
Step 6: decide
- Book if the offer meets both floors and nothing about the load worries you.
- Counter if it's short by a gap a broker can realistically close. KRYSTAL uses 25% or less. Here the gap is 8.0%, so counter at $1,250, the minimum rounded up to the next $50.
- Pass if the gap is bigger, the risk is too high, or you can't get a number you need, such as the stop count or return miles.
KRYSTAL's answer on this load: NEGOTIATE. Ask for $1,250. At least $92 more is required to meet your configured profit floors (8.0% above the current offer).
Before you book, also check
- Expected waiting at both docks, and whether detention is paid.
- Where it delivers: will you find a reload there, or deadhead out?
- The broker: how they've paid you before and how quickly.
- Weight, appointment times and anything that adds hours.
See every section of KRYSTAL's report on this load on the sample report.
Get this answer on every offer
KRYSTAL keeps your costs on file and runs all six steps in seconds. Or start with the free cost per mile calculator.