September week 1

BIG MIKE’S FREIGHT & RATES REPORT | September 2026

 BIG MIKE’S VOYAGER FREIGHT REPORT
AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2026

Another week in the books, and the numbers keep beating the same drum: STOP BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS AROUND MILES. BUILD IT AROUND PROFITABLE REVENUE.

Nobody gives you a trophy for driving 3,500 miles. But nobody gives you one for sitting around bragging about $8 per mile either.

 THE MONEY ZONE
This week gave us another beautiful batch of 400–600++ mile freight:
Lithia Springs, GA → Groveland, FL — 423 mi / $2,000 / $4.73
Graham, NC → Myerstown, PA — 439 / $1,900 / $4.33
Athens, GA → Auburndale, FL — 473 / $2,045 / $4.32
Benton, TN → Lakeland, FL — 577 / $2,400 / $4.16
Pine Bluff, AR → Chattanooga, TN — 482 / $2,000 / $4.15
Bennettsville, SC → Tampa, FL — 537 / $2,200 / $4.10

That’s our sweet spot. Meaningful gross, strong rate per mile, and enough time left to deliver, reload and sell that truck AGAIN.

 RATE PER MILE CAN LIE TO YOU
Jessup, PA → Liverpool, NY paid a beautiful $8.16/mile — but it was only 136 miles and $1,110 gross. Tampa → Orlando was $6.49/mile, but only $500 gross.

Great little loads if they fit into the day. Terrible business model if one consumes the day. You didn’t buy a truck, insure it, maintain it and accept breakdown risk to build a $2,500 gross week while bragging about your RPM.

The target is maximum profit with minimum necessary miles — while maintaining enough REVENUE to actually run a trucking business.

 LONG FREIGHT? ABSOLUTELY — WHEN IT PAYS.
Raleigh, MS → Aurora, CO paid $5,000 on 1,259 miles. Webster, NY → Lakeland paid $5,000 on 1,282. Grand Marsh, WI → Mulberry paid $4,950 on 1,413.

We’ll run 1,400 miles tomorrow if the money, destination and timing make sense. The 400–600 model isn’t a religion. It’s math.

 FLORIDA DID FLORIDA THINGS
Outbound Florida freight showed us roughly $1.59–$2.09/mile.

Don’t waste half a day fishing in a pond with no fish. Take the best available load going to the best possible reload market and GET OUT.
You’ll make the money once the truck gets back into stronger freight territory. One weaker outbound load doesn’t kill your week. Wasting a day trying to turn Florida into Chicago might.

 BIG MIKE’S TAKE
Stop obsessing over one number.
$8/mile with no gross can suck. $2/mile with the wrong destination can suck. 1,400 miles at the right money can be fantastic.
But week after week, that 400–600++ mile neighborhood keeps producing the balance we want: strong RPM, real gross, quick turnover and multiple opportunities to make money.

Don’t chase miles. Don’t chase RPM. CHASE PROFITABLE REVENUE.

That truck isn’t a mileage machine.
It’s a fucking business.

— Big Mike | Voyager Nation