Right?  You've seen your rates go back up!  You've seen more than ample loads out there to keep you running constantly!  Right?  Right??

One thing I have learned over the last 20 years is that the economy follows trucking...about 6 months later.  Granted, this weekend while I was out I noticed more people eating out.  I saw more people at the mall than I had seen for awhile.  But that was aided here in Iowa by a tax free weekend, and was only 1 day.

Unemployment remains over 9%.  Stocks have gotten back to where they were 7 months ago.  Where is this economy then?

For the past few months, carriers have been turning in their authority at a very fast clip at a rate of 5 to 1 versus carriers getting their authority.  As of Friday it was still almost 3 to 1.  So the number of carriers has dropped significantly over the last year (supply).  Christmas is surprisingly only 4 ½ months away, and the fact that retail stores have been focused on reducing their back stock for the last 9 months, shipping should start taking off again very soon (demand).

If you have been one of those carriers considering calling it quits, we recommend you be a little more patient.  Give it a month if you need to, but hold on.  We see good things coming again. 

In the mean time, use this time to sit down and figure out a true cost per mile (CPM).  Figure in every cost you can including state specific costs like fuel tax rates, weight distance taxes, even call your insurance agent and find out more about the rates for miles in Illinois, New York, and California. 

You've made it almost through this outlasting your competition.  Take the time to position yourself to outperform your competition by knowing your expenses so that you can check out that loadboard and know which of those loads is really the most profitable, not just which one produces the most revenue. 

Even though some believe the recession is "over", don't believe it should be business as usual.  If you need help figuring out your CPM, feel free to contact us and we can help you at 515-210-0245!