Oh, the Imbalance of it all
The transportation business is a complicated chain of wants and needs and inbalance. This lack of proportion or relation between corresponding things leads to most individuals connected to the transaction feeling taken advantage of at one time or another.
Our spending choices are sometimes strange
Spending choices? What's that got to do with brokers and truckers? I suggest our own personal money and spending habits have to a large degree more effect on how a person manages our small business than is recognized.
Who's responsible for insuring the everyone who touches the products doesn't overpay or underpay?
When you go to the store or now days the online retail platform, do you think about how much profit every person made off of your purchase?
Not likely, compare that shopping experance to going to the local farmers market or "pick your own orchard or farm?
We gladly pay more for the experience and feeling invested in the food we are about to enjoy but in comparison price was is it fair? And of course most people will say the food more directly from the farm taste better, but why?
Who sets the price?
It's complicated and the development of a proper mindset and skill sets needed for negotiating load contracts are many. This is an auction, what's your bid is the truck owner bidding up or down to get the job? Have you ever thought about how opposite our business needs are from that of our truck driving desires?
How helpful could it be to find ways to seperate the driving from the business deal making. Our driving is what most trucks see as the profit center. When in reality it's your ability to do record keeping in a way that feeds you the cost of doing the driving. This allows the truck owner to recognize if a load has profit potental or the ability to even negotiate a potental profit.
You hold the Keys! Act like it !
•If your a truck owner ask yourself "who sets the price?"
• Why do you accept the freight rates offered?
• Why reject loads offered?
Never give up your right of refusal !
These thoughts this morning are only the basics and most owners at some point will experience an epiphany moment and new insights as to how business works and that the freedom to fail in the end allows us to improve.
Truck owner, should you be required to tell your customer how much your receiving and presumed profiting from the load?
Becareful what you wish for. Could this lead to price controls and limited opportunities for the truck owners who are the better business managers?
Let me know what you think?
Coaching owners up!
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