Counter-offer calculator: your floor, target and counter rate

How the counter-offer calculator works

• Floor = (loaded miles + deadhead) × your cost per mile + extra costs such as tolls, lumpers or tarps. Below it, the load loses money.
• Target = floor + your profit per mile on all miles, or the floor grossed up so your margin is the percentage you set.
• Counter = about 5% above target, rounded up to $25, so you can settle at your target and still feel you gave a little.
• Verdict compares the broker's offer with your floor and target.

Your cost per mile is the number everything hangs on. If you don't know it, work it out first with the trucking cost per mile calculator.

Worked example EXAMPLE

A step deck is offered $2,100 for an 800-mile load, with 200 miles empty to the pickup. Costs run $1.90 a mile and the carrier wants $0.40 a mile profit. On 1,000 miles, the floor is $1,900 and the target $2,300. The offer clears the floor but sits $200 under target. The suggested counter is $2,425.

On the call, the carrier explains the 200-mile deadhead and asks for $2,425. The broker comes back at $2,250. That is $50 under target, well over the floor. Take it or hold out depends on what else is on the board and where the delivery leaves the truck.

How to negotiate freight rates on the phone

1. Get the details first. Weight, commodity, pickup and delivery times, any tarps, stops or detention terms. Details change the price.
2. Know your numbers before you dial. Floor, target and counter, written down.
3. Lead with a number and a reason. "I can do it for $2,425; I'm 200 miles out and the delivery leaves me in a dead market."
4. Listen to the response. A broker who says the shipper is tight on budget may still move a little; one who has three trucks waiting won't.
5. Settle or pass quickly. Brokers book the carrier who answers. A clear yes or no keeps you on their call list.

Negotiating shipping rates: what gives you leverage

• Timing: loads posted late in the day, before weekends or with near pickups often have more room.
• Equipment: specialty rigs such as car haulers, tankers, livestock trailers and heavy haul have fewer competing trucks.
• Lane and season: loads out of areas with few trucks, or during produce and harvest seasons, pay more.
• Reliability: brokers pay for carriers who answer, show up on time and send paperwork the same day.

Negotiating with shippers directly

Direct shippers negotiate differently from brokers. They usually want a rate that holds for weeks or months on a regular lane, so price the lane, not one load: include the typical deadhead to the pickup and the backhaul you expect out of the delivery area. Agree on fuel surcharge, detention and payment terms in writing. A slightly lower rate with steady volume, quick pay and short dock times can beat higher one-off broker loads over a year.

Counter-offer mistakes

• Pricing only the loaded miles. The deadhead to the pickup costs the same fuel and time.
• Forgetting where the load ends. A good rate into a market with no freight out can cost you the next day.
• Countering without a number. "Can you do better?" invites a small bump. A specific figure sets the range.
• Taking a load below the floor to stay busy. It is cheaper to wait than to haul at a loss, unless the backhaul makes up the difference.

What the result means

Red means the offer is under your floor: counter at your target or pass. Yellow means it covers your costs but not your target: counter and settle as close to target as the market lets you. Green means the offer meets your target: check the rate confirmation carefully, then book. Re-run the numbers whenever diesel moves or your costs change, because a floor from last quarter can be wrong today.

Negotiating every load takes time you could spend driving. When you dispatch with us, we negotiate each load from your floor, call you with the result before booking, and you can say no to any of them. See our dispatch for owner-operators or send an application.