Transportation Costs

Fuels prices are on the rise again in July 2013

Freight costs run based on a number of factors from employment  of the driver to maintenance, fuel, fees and more.  Many of the costs are fixed while others such as fuel are variable changing regularly.  Prices charged by trucking companies are not all the same.  You should be aware of what the cost-per-mile (CPM) or cost-per-hour (CPH) are and what other aspects are involved.  When considering cost you must consider which type of freight hauling you’re using whether it’s Refrigerated Trucking, Refrigerated LTL, Temperature-Controlled Trucking, Van Lines, Flatbed Trucking and LTL-Less Than Truckload or Flatbed LTL

Each has their own costs associated.  Also there are new rules that affect cost from mandatory breaks for the drivers to regulations requiring licensing in certain States.  These as well as simple things like which route is being taken, the timing of the trip, and a myriad of other aspects that are reliant upon the expertise of the drivers and the trucking professionals and management at the trucking company.

It seems the hot topic anymore is fuel costs. Let’s face it, for the most part we all depend on fuel at some point and some of us more than others. Being a trucking company doesn’t make this any easier. You’ve been to the grocery store and seen the price of goods increase overnight and maybe even wondered why. This is a the trickle affect. When fuel prices increase, everything increases. West Coast Carriers transports everything from consumable goods to textiles to machinery and equipment. We have seen our rates increase dramatically because of fuel. We pass this cost along to the consumer who then passes their cost on to their consumers and so on. It’s scary to think that the United States Department of Energy just announced that seeing fuel prices under $3.00 is now a thing of the past. Looking at other countries and comparing the price of fuel, the United States has the cheapest fuel prices. A strange fact for you on this is that it is cheaper for the United States to export fuel and then to import it from another country rather than to get it to a US refinery for refinement. These are just a few things driving the shipping rates out there right now. Not to mention  Hours of Service Regulations (HOS) that just went into affect July 1, 2013. All of these things compiled together affect the cost of shipping and transporting freight. If you think you’re paying too much in shipping costs, give us a call at 360-876-5568 we would be happy to work with you.

To get the best pricing on trucking services just give us a call or use the Free Quote button to shoot us your contacts and we’ll drop you a line.  It’s really as easy as that.