Talk rates, brokers and trucking with Rate Per Mile Masters.

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About Chad

Chad Boblett is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Lexington, Kentucky. He became an owner-operator and founded Boblett Brothers LLC and Rate Per Mile Masters to help carriers get paid what they're worth. He served as a Sergeant in Marine Corps Motor Transport, has advised trucking-tech companies including Motive, SmartHop and CloudTrucks, and writes for DAT and Motive. His core message: get your authority, work smart with brokers, and name your price.

I spent ten years in the Marine Corps, came home from Iraq, and went to work as a company truck driver. My first trucking job was with TMC, a flatbed company, where I later trained other drivers in load securement. After my first year, I moved to McLane for more home time. The money was good. Then I hurt my knee and neck, went through two surgeries, and couldn't drive. I went from having everything to living in a weekly-rent motel in Lexington with almost nothing. The only thing I still had was good credit.

So I took the leap I'd always wanted to take. In January 2011 I put about $35,000 on four credit cards, bought a used Volvo from a truck lot right down the road, added a dry van, and got my own authority. It came through in about three weeks, and I ran my first load on the fuel that came in the truck. I paid that first truck off in less than two years. I named the company Boblett Brothers in honor of my fellow truckers. In the Marines you learn that everybody depends on each other, and trucking is no different.

Out on the road, the trucking radio shows were all about cutting costs and saving a few cents a gallon. Nobody talked about how to make more money. The real rate talk happened at the docks, where drivers traded phone numbers and the names of brokers who paid well. So I started a Facebook group, put my friends in it, they added their friends, and Rate Per Mile Masters was born.

We kept it professional from day one and moderated it hard. I've been mentoring carriers through Rate Per Mile Masters since March 2014. For more than a decade I've read and approved every post and every comment myself, because that's my passion. When FreightWaves profiled the group in 2018, they called it the largest professional online forum in the U.S. on rates and logistics in the freight industry. As of December 2024, it's more than 36,700 owner-operators, carriers, brokers and agents helping each other get paid what they're worth. My message hasn't changed: the money is there. You just have to ask for it, know where to look for it, and set yourself up for it.

DAT was my first partner. Over the years I've written for DAT and Motive, advised trucking-tech companies including Motive, SmartHop and CloudTrucks, and been quoted by Overdrive, FreightWaves and Transport Topics. My rules with brokers are simple. I use the data, so I already know what a lane pays before I call. And I keep it business: "I don't want to be friends with you. I want to run a business and make a whole lot of money."

Boblett Brothers

Boblett Brothers LLC was Chad's trucking company in Lexington, Kentucky. It no longer hauls freight. Read the Boblett Brothers history.

Fast facts

• Marine Corps: Sergeant, Motor Transport, 1996–2006
• Trucking since: 2006; started as an owner-operator in 2011
• Company: Boblett Brothers LLC, Lexington, KY · USDOT 2114519 · MC-737113 (authority granted Feb 16, 2011; no longer hauling freight)
• Community: Rate Per Mile Masters, 36.7K members as of December 2024
• Past appearances: MATS Pro Talks, 2022–2026; keynote at DAT's first user conference, 2016.
• Writing: DAT blog and Motive guest author