Tanker Loads, Prospecting, and Authority Aging | Final Mile 107

Speaker 1 0:00

All right , welcome back . It's the final mile . We're going to answer your questions . These come to us today from YouTube comments and our Facebook group , but make sure to check out all the other content at Freight360.net , including our Freight Broker Basics course , if you're looking for that educational option , and share us with your friends all that good stuff , and check out

Welcome to The Final Mile

Speaker 1 0:19

the sponsors down below . It will help support the channel .

Speaker 1 0:22

All right , our first question . This is going to probably go towards uh , towards you more than anything . It's more of a niche that you're involved in , but it's on on bulk , uh , tanker moves . So the question was what pays more for dedicated contracts ? This was an owner operator looking to , um , to , you know , figure out where

Tanker vs Dry Van Profitability

Speaker 1 0:41

they want to go commodity-wise . I said food-grade or non-hasmat chemical tankers . They said I'm a one-truck flatbed dry van carrier looking to move into bulk . So I guess my first because I'm actually curious myself the profitability of bulk in general versus just a basic dry van . What is the average rates when you were in the bulk world , like what's a rate per mile ? And then we'll kind of compare it to uh , um , a standard like dry van so I mean it's they're very different for very different reasons .

Speaker 2 1:19

So , for instance , I'm just looking at some of the stuff that's like because food grade and non-hasmat chemical actually kind of overlap in a few things . There's lots of chemicals .

Speaker 1 1:30

You could have a food grade chemical .

Speaker 2 1:33

Glycerin , for example , is a food it needs to go in a food grade trailer , right , that is certified , but it is also technically a chemical that is non-hasmat , right . So like there's a lot of overlap in some of these and there's also a very difference , very big differences , in equipment . But like , even just looking at some of the rates per mile , like , and you can be at like 350 to 550 a mile , depending- on what lanes which is way above your .

Speaker 1 1:58

You know your dry van or flatbed it is , but it isn't .

Speaker 2 2:02

So here's the thing , right , and the thing you need to understand with running these types of lanes is those are typically like a round trip . Yes , and here's why there's not a lot of spot loads available for like day of or even a couple of days in advance , and it's also really hard to line them up because you typically have to get a tank wash in between , which could be anywhere from a couple hours to like . Typically have to get a tank wash in between , which could be anywhere from a couple hours to like overnight leaving to get your tank washed , and if that doesn't get done on schedule , you miss the round trip . So what you end up having to do if you're literally running both sides of the lane I don't know North Carolina to like Houston and back you need like a day or two gap in between them because you got to get the tank washed and get over to your next place . So it's a lot more per mile , but you have a lot more dead time where you're basically needing to get there way early to make sure you make your pickup . So even at 550 a mile , a lot of these are run round trips .

Speaker 2 3:00

So cut that in half . You're at 225 a mile . Now you got to throw in a tank wash . Maybe your customer pays it , maybe not , but that could be anywhere from 200 to 350 . So now all of a sudden you're back to two bucks a mile , like right out of the gate , right . So there are lots of things that really matter . When you're trying to figure out , like when we run tankers , we would always look as like , how much can we earn per week per driver on each piece of equipment . Not necessarily per mile , because when you factor all the dead time in repositioning , getting there , getting back like , the numbers seem super high rate per mile , but when you you figure out what that driver actually earns a week , they don't . They're not as exaggerated between the two , if that makes sense .

Speaker 1 3:40

Yeah . So the way , the way I would understand that then is like you know , you look at that rate per mile and if it's roundtrap you cut in half . I guess the benefit to the tanker side is if you can get to a position like that where you're keeping your empty miles as low as possible and you're keeping your . You're keeping your empty miles as low as possible and you're keeping your . Uh , cause , if you look at ,

Converting Email-Only Prospects to Calls

Speaker 1 4:09

let's say , the example you gave and it's like , okay , well , it's cut , you're ended up getting two , 25 a mile and you're like , all right , well , maybe it's two bucks a mile for a drive in , um , but that drive in . Also you have to factor in , like , if they're not doing round trip dedicated stuff , then they're going to be driving empty . You know , deadhead 100 miles here , deadhead 150 miles here , et cetera .

Speaker 1 4:26

And I like how you pointed out what are my earnings per week ? Right , that's , I think , per day per week . All of that is a great way to look at it . I think at the end of the day , the more specialized companies , the niche is very likely there's more potential for higher earnings on it . Otherwise it wouldn't make sense to incentivize anybody to operate in that world . But to the original question food grade versus non-hasmetic chemicals ? The question may have been asked incorrectly and I'm glad that you were here to answer , because I wouldn't have been able to give that .

Speaker 2 4:58

Yeah , and I'm even looking at some of my stuff and again , this is from a year and a half ago but like , yeah , I'm seeing everything from like 550 miles , 650 miles . Oh , this customer awarded it for 550 miles , said it was a great rate . But then I kind of look at the lanes they were associated with it and like it was because I was doing a lot of this trying to match up basically backhaul and front hauls with other customers . But then you run into like what becomes even more difficult is in a van . It doesn't matter if it goes in a van , I can pick up whatever you have and pick up whatever Steven has if it goes in a van . But when it's a tanker you might need food grade , you might need a kosher cert . But Steven has a backhaul load and he's like , yeah , great , you have a tanker , but what Steven puts in is going to put in my truck is not allowed before I load you , because then you get into like they're called approved prior load . So basically anytime I'm going to load for you .

Speaker 1 5:50

How far back do they look ?

Speaker 2 5:52

Three , usually three loads . Now it's a little different for different commodities but like food grade glycerin , which is just one I did a lot of , they're going back three loads for every single one . So if you loaded peanut oil and you have an exclusion for peanut oil , then like I can't match those two lanes up and that's it . You kind of run into the same thing . You run into , like with reefer LTL , like different temperatures being able to put different commodities in the same piece of equipment really does make this a lot different . And like there's just more things to try to determine when you're figuring out how much can I make per week as opposed to just what am I getting per mile ? Gotcha All right .

Speaker 1 6:30

Next question is how do you get an email ? Only prospect to take a phone call . So they went on and say , like my this , this person I'm prospecting , will only respond to me via email . I can never seem to get them on the phone . I got a couple of thoughts on this . We probably need more information , but I usually , with anybody , the first time you start to communicate with them , I try to meet them where they're at Right . It's like I've had people that I've talked to that like will just only text me and they'll only text me when they have a question about something , and if I ask them something , they will not respond back . Right , and the same thing can happen via email and then I get friends that are probably like that .

Speaker 2 7:09

Oh yeah , like there's just people you know that have that type of personality where , like they just won't answer the phone .

Speaker 1 7:14

The same thing . You could reverse engineer . You could have a customer or someone that like what they what could get accomplished in an email they will always call you about right , and you just have to start . Wherever that relationship is , and if it's strictly just email or if they're strictly just going to call you instead of saying a quick email , that's where you start and then , um , the you know , if someone's calling you too much , you can always try to build out like hey , um , what do you you think about ? You know , will X , y and Z be done over email ? It's probably the quickest , easiest way to get done . That way I can focus , you know best service for you , et cetera .

Speaker 1 7:51

Now to get someone to go from email to phone some prospects they're just fishing you for rates and you may never get them on a phone call . They're just fishing you for rates and you may never get them on a phone call . It could be that you know you've got to try to work your way through their phone tree to where someone finally patches you through and you're , like Jim , glad I finally got you on the phone here . I know we've been emailing a lot . I had a couple of questions about that quote request you were sending over . Well , now you got them on the phone , the phone , and that's a .

Speaker 1 8:23

That's a gatekeeping technique that some prospects will use , because until they get something from you via email , that that's that they like . They don't want to let you through to the phone . So you know it's going to be the same way we teach about getting through gatekeepers and , you know , trying to navigate your way through their phone system , through their directory , to finally get them . Um , what you probably want to do in an email is give them a reason to take time out of their day and hop on a phone with you . Do you have any thoughts on I know it's kind of a generic question , but any thoughts on this ? Oh yeah , I do that all the time .

Speaker 2 8:53

So , like a couple of examples right , like I can't get somebody to answer when I call , I first try a couple of different days of the week and times of the day to see if maybe I catch them at a better time where they maybe answer . Right , then I'm probably going to try to find a reason to make them want to pick up the phone . Like hey , just saw this , had a couple of quick questions , you got 30 seconds . Didn't want to send you a super long email , maybe something to that effect . Right , giving them a reason of like hey , or like hey , I've got some guys lined up , I think might actually be pretty cheap compared to what we've been quoting . But I want to ask you a few things that the drivers asked to see if we can make this work . Right , I'm trying to think what does it look like from their point of view ? What would I be willing to talk to somebody about ? And then I just started thinking like how can I frame this to make them care enough to give me 30 seconds on the phone , right ? So you're trying a bunch of different things to try to get them on the phone .

Speaker 2 9:49

The other thing is , like I've definitely just had people that just don't talk to anybody . Like I had customers that like just literally won't ever pick up the phone and talk to you . I am trying to find other people in the company to talk to . Then I'm looking who else has that job title that I can pick up the phone and call ? Is there somebody in sales I can call and have be transferred over to that person ? I'm going to try to call just random phone numbers to get maybe pushed over to that person . I mean , literally I would go through every bag of tricks I could possibly think of to try to start building a relationship with anybody over there , whether it's their manager , their coworker , maybe it's someone that works for them , that is below them , that maybe I can get on the phone . But just keep trying .

Speaker 1 10:25

Yeah , the whole . The big takeaway is you want to pose it in a way that it gives them an incentive to want to talk to you on the phone . So the examples you gave were great , um , all right . Lastly is about , uh , the age of a authority .

Speaker 1 10:39

So this is a carrier asking , cause a lot of you know some , some brokers will say hey , we don't work with anybody that's got less than a year authority , et cetera . So the question was if I pay for a new MC and insurance for six to 12 months without hauling anything , will it then count as seasoned

New MC Authority Challenges

Speaker 1 10:58

for brokers who require it ? So my understanding is yes , because as brokers we can't see how many loads they've hauled , but what we can see is how many inspections they've had . So if you didn't meet my criteria for , or if you meet my criteria for 12 months but you've had no inspections , you're throwing up all kinds of other red flags . Because if I'm like he's got a truck , he's been in business for a year , has never been inspected , is he double brokering ? What's going on here ? That's where my brain would go .

Speaker 1 11:30

So , technically , yeah , your authority is going to age . My recommendation would just be if you're new , do it the new way that everybody else does . You're going to have to go through build relationships . You're probably not going to get the best lanes or the best pay and freight that's out there . It's the same thing we deal with as brokers when we're new is that we have to take time and build up trust , and with that comes the less profitable business as we're getting started off . What's your take on that ?

Speaker 2 11:55

Yeah , similar . I mean agree with everything you said . What I would also do is start making phone calls immediately and trying to build relationships and just saying , hey , like I'm new , this is what I would like to be able to do . I'd like to be able to build a relationship with you . I know I might not meet your criteria , but if you ever really need help with a load or a lane that comes up and you give me enough time , maybe I can help , Because what you're really trying to do is to get that brokerage to make an exception .

Speaker 2 12:21

And the easiest way to get them to make an exception is two things getting them to trust you by talking to them and , second of all , being patient enough to where the opportunity happens , where they're going to need to make the exception . Right , it works the same thing with a broker trying to get in with a shipper hey , I know you guys aren't on board any new carriers , but if you ever need help and nobody else can get you a truck , I might be able to give you a hand . Give me a call If I can . Maybe we can work it out and I can't tell you how many customers wave that and on board you immediately because they actually need you to get that truck . The other thing , is .

Speaker 2 12:52

I would go through new brokers too .

Speaker 1 12:55

Yeah , that's a good point . One of the things that I've always , like we've done , is like if they're under a year , we have that set as , like you know , it'll flag it as they're a new authority . But you talk to these , you know , you talk to this owner operator and he's like , yeah man , I just drove for 12 years under this other company . I wanted to go start my own shop . It's like you probably got a way better driver on the phone there versus someone who started their business two years ago and passes that 12 month authority rule . So it's all you know relative to the big picture . So , like you said , pick up the phone , call people . But yeah , that is one of the hurdles for anyone that's new as a broker or calling shippers .

Speaker 2 13:35

Like if I'm a carrier and I really wanted to do that honestly , like I would probably call every shipper local to me and I would go there in person and start introducing myself and I would say , hey , not expecting you guys to need any help right now , not expecting you guys to be able to talk about like running or doing business together . But I'm literally right up the road starting a new trucking company . I've been driving for 12 years with a larger company . There's ever an opportunity where we can talk or you need local runs done last minute . My yard's three miles up the road . Feel free to give me a buzz .

Speaker 2 14:05

I'd love to be able to connect and I would just do that with everybody . And then I would follow up with all those people two weeks later and then I'd do it again , you know , two weeks after that . And I would just keep doing that over and over because one of them is going to go . Yeah , I have this local lane . That's a pain in the ass that I can't anyone get to cover last minute . And then you'll start getting random phone calls of like , hey , can you go grab this from me this afternoon ?

Speaker 1 14:25

Sure , and again , you've got to be available , you've got to be able to help when they need the help too no-transcript and you know , when I'm delivering to a certain place , like , hey , I'm actually and you may have some sort of restrictive covenant , depends on you know who you're working for . But if I've got FaceTime with this location already , I'm going to be like , hey , I'm actually looking at branching off on my own . You can have those conversations in person ahead of time . So , yeah , cool Good stuff , good questions . Keep them coming our way and we'll keep answering them . Final thoughts Ben .

Speaker 2 15:13

Whether you believe you can or believe you can't , you're right .