These expresso stands here in Montana are few and far between. Not like in Washington where they are damn near on every corner. But all gas stations have fast food of sorts. Not like a 7-11, but close.
With Our Already High Fuel Prices This Is Really Going To Hit The Pocketbook
- Thread starter Old406Kid
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I'm not 100% sure about loggers, but I can tell you what it's doing to truck drivers based on what I've heard. Disclaimer, I'm a GC, I build schools, so this is what I'm hearing from the construction side.
Start with the basics - what is the contractual relationship for the trucking company?
It could be a lump sum agreement for specified number of units, e.g. we (the trucking company) will ship X number of units for Z amount of $. In this arrangement if price of fuel goes up, the trucking company takes a hit, if it goes down, they get the benefit. But they get to secure considerably more work because they have an agreement with someone that might stipulate loads per week, etc. I think this is more common with brokers rather than independent rigs, but not sure...I don't see this very often.
There's also just a flat rate agreement. We see this one much more often. You pay me X to take your load from point A to point B and I charge based on the load weight/size/etc.. The kicker here is the trucker has to be competitive, or they don't get the job. Someone else more willing to take a hit on higher fuel prices can underbid them. Tough decision to make - get work at a reduced margin, or keep your margin and possibly lose work to someone who's willing to eat a bit of profit.
There's probably other agreement types, but those are the ones I've seen. You can see with both, there's risk there and if fuel prices go up, it gets tough. Crushed? I don't know. But fuel prices going up certainly doesn't make it easier on anyone IMO.
One other thing we see a lot of in shipping contracts is a fuel surcharge. We do this a lot with trucking companies, like concrete/redi-mix for example. We get a unit price on the actual redi-mix product, and then agree on a fuel surcharge that they get to charge us per mile based on whatever the fuel cost index says the fuel is. So the concrete we're buying from Cal Portland is $115/CY, but then they add on a fuel surcharge per mile driven. The challenge with the surcharge, even though it's helpful, is it's a lagging surcharge. The index is based on the week (Monday). So if fuel prices go up and up starting every Monday, even though you have a fuel surcharge, as the week goes on, you're still losing out because by Friday the price per gallon of fuel is up from Monday and you're only able to tag on the surcharge based on what the index showed on Monday. Now do this for 6 months with record setting fuel price increases. It ends up eating into peoples margins pretty quickly and makes things less profitable.
Does it crush them? I don't know. But it certainly doesn't help them.
I was pretty surprised when I moved to coastal Washington and first pulled up to a drive-through espresso stand. Peep show coffee stands are not a thing in Vermont.
Dustin Chromers
Legend
I'm no prude but I've never been more uncomfortable in my life than pulling into one of those by accident. I guess that explained the popularity of of the place. Again not a prude but I felt like I was standing at the hatchery pipe. Just not sporting and felt wrong. Some poor girl doing her darnedest to make me comfortable in her underwear. I just stared at my phone, paid in cash, and left without collecting my change.
Old406Kid
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There's no room for expresso stands when you already have a casino on every corner.
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Anonymous member 148
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Don't feel too bad for the poor ladies. They are making wayyy more money then me! Also a good way to get clients for their only fans....
I hear ya. Do it with your wife and 3 kids in the car....
Happened to us last weekend. Not familiar with the area and we pulled into the first coffee stand we found. My wife "oh shoot, we thought you'd be wearing clothes, we'll go somewhere else"
WAAIIIIIT A MINUTE.
Shit. Could you imagine if Finnys homeschool idea caught on? Talk about getting crushed
Coach Potter
Life of the Party
I wasn’t being an A-hole. You said the trucks you saw didn’t look like they were being crushed…I made a joke.Does a truck with a healthy profit margin have a different "look" to it than one with a meager profit margin?
I had to buy tires this morning and was charged an additional $150 freight fee...it didn't kill me, but those types of things can become the norm in multiple purchases and before you know it you've died the death of a thousand cuts.
My point was that you have no idea if a guy is making money or not. My dad and I run a business and we have stayed operational through 2 gnarly recessions. Nobody had a clue how bad it was for us except for us. We were hemorrhaging cash just to meet payroll and make rent. We gave no appearance of operating on a shoe string.
Dustin Chromers
Legend
I think allot of people weigh in with an opinion on running a business in this state without ever having tried to run one. No knock on them as everybody has a right to an opinion but the view from the foxhole is often different than that of the command tent or for that matter the couch at home.
Coach Potter
Life of the Party
That’s just how people are…I don’t find them to be nearly as irritating as “football” fans
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Rob Allen
Life of the Party
I'll be buying gas in Oregon..
I missed it, what was fins idea?
Rob Allen
Life of the Party
I guess Broncos fans are really bad.. lots of people here refuse to go to games they've so bad.That’s just how people are…I don’t find them to be nearly as irritating as “football” fans
Heck yes. Schools for everyone!!
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