Official, National "say No To Cheap Freight" Day !!! May 1, 2008

[TheLittleGuy]

As a continuation to the National Trucker Strike on April 1, 2008, we ( the Owner-Operator and Independent trucking community) believe that our message about rising costs and non-compensatory freight must be realized beyond government and consumer awareness. It needs to be heard in the brokerage houses and by EVERY freight shipper across the country!
According to Foxnews.com, on April 1st, 2008, Owner-Operators and Independent Truckers represented approximately 90% of the trucks on the road everyday, nationally. That equates to approximately 500,000 trucks.
We believe that, in many cases, the freight rates including fuel surcharges are inadequate to the service that we provide. There are brokerage houses out there that are notorious for undercutting rates and/or failing to pass along 100% of the fuel surcharge to the person whom is paying for the fuel. Many of these brokerage houses have flourished and have some of the best credit ratings in the business. Meanwhile, carriers that haul their freight have gone bankrupt.
In some industries, shippers refuse to even pay a fuel surcharge, expecting carriers to absorb the cost.
Being such, we wish to make it known that we provide an essential service, hauling other peoples' freight. In doing so, we will NOT absorb a cost that is essential to providing that service. Fuel surcharges must be compensatory to current fuel prices and equipment efficiency and MUST be paid 100% to the person that buys said fuel. We believe that freight rates and fuel surcharges MUST incorporate TOTAL mileage, not just loaded mileage. Shippers and receivers must be held accountable for detention and layover times. Poor or improper planning on your part does not constitute an expense on our part!
WE ARE OPERATING A BUSINESS TOO!
And so, we invite ALL owner-operators, independent drivers, expediters, and the such to participate on May 1st, 2008 by SAYING NO TO CHEAP FREIGHT! Whether you are local, regional, or over-the-road.

[broncrider]

isnt everyday a say no to cheap frieght day???

[Hilltop]

Originally Posted by broncrider

isnt everyday a say no to cheap frieght day???

LMAO...Thats what I thought also....

[liner]

Say NO TO CHEAP FREIGHT on May 1st.What a joke.Thats why the trucking industry is in the shape its in......because far to many people just don't have a clue!!!!

[TheLittleGuy]

obviously, we should be saying no to cheap freight everyday. May 1st, however, is an opportunity for ALL non-company drivers to band together, stick together, and put our foot down in a united voice. We do that, knowing that the big companies CAN'T cover the freight, brokers and shippers will have to raise the rates or their freight sits.
CHEAP FREIGHT is CHEAP FREIGHT; regardless of what the fuel prices are. Profit margins have absorbed so much of the inflation and increases in taxes and insurance to the point where sky-rocketing fuel prices have turned "almost good" rates into "less than cheap" rates.
Simple, no-touch, dry van freight SHOULD be at least $1.00 per mile, plus an fsc of around $.80 per mile(based on current fuel prices and increasing emissions requirements). Look, I think we SHOULD turn SOME kind of profit off of the fsc! Increasing emissions means that we must upgrade our equipment for one. For two, these new ULSD engines honestly use more diesel than their LSD predecessors. So, a small profit off of fsc helps offset equipment upgrades and the loss of MPG. It takes green to become green!
Besides, April 1st was directed # the oil companies and our fantabulous government and their ineptness. So, why shouldn't we set aside a specific day and direct all attention towards those whom pretend to assist us, but really are no better than the oil companies with their greed?
See, I could care less what the fuel prices are........so long as the rate and the fsc more than covers expenses and makes my business profitable. There's plenty of pie for everyone. But, some are more greedy and want to hog all the pie for themselves. They need to learn that, if you don't leave some for the cook, the pie won't get baked and then nobody has ANY pie!

[bbmyls2go]

To make any argument you first to have to have a solid facts.
I read a post below and scratched my head - where in the world did
Fox News ( as cited by 'TheLittleGuy' ) come up with the statistic that 90% of trucks/truckers in the U.S. are independent?
There are 3.4 million truckers in the USA according to the Department of Labor, and only 9% of them are "independent owner/operators".
I found Reuters newsservice and many trucking blogs using the 90% figure and found nothing to back that up.
The OOIDA has 161,000 members which they report is half of the approximate 350,000 independent truckers in the US.
350,000 is just about 10% of the 3.4 million reported drivers by the Dept. of Labor.
Now I know some will come in and argue semantics - O/O drivers, drivers for O/Os, O/Os leased to companies, O/Os with fleets etc. But there is no way you are going to create a shift of 2.6 MILLION drivers into the independent column. By the way, union drivers represent 10% of all C.D.L. holders in the U.S., couple that with the claim by FoxNews tht 90% are O/Os and you have ZERO non-union company drivers in the United States, LOL!
Maybe these writers are being purposefully deceptive because to show the true figures would show just how little effect their numbers could possibly have.
I have had friends pepper me with questions for the past month about the "trucker's strike" to which I have to respond with a mini-lecture about the industry starting with the fact that a man who runs his own company, by definition, can not go "on strike". No, he is shutting down his business.
Union drivers are the only ones who go "on strike" and union drivers have not
"gone on strike".
So we have a work stoppage or slowdown by independents who by all official statistics comprise 10% of the driving/trucking work force. And if lucky, they managed to get 2% of their own numbers (7000 trucks) to participate across the country back on April 1st.
And that is supposed to what?
What is needed is lobbying of Washington to help the O/O with fuel subsidies.
Lobbying (which is happening) to get fuel diverted BACK into the US marketplace to bring prices down.
And the tough part, get the entire industry to raise freight charges so that fuel surcharges are not part of the equation and to put competition back on an even keel between the big guys and the independents. Until the corporate greed of the men owning those other 90% of trucks on the road lessens to the point that they insitute fair and competitive shipping rates, I see no way an O/O can fight back. As TheLittleGuy said, the hard fact is that the big companies NEED the owner operator and the sooner they realize that and work cooperatively in areas such as freight rates, the sooner it will be better for all in the industry.

By the way, I have written the author of the Rueter News article
( [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. )
that seems to be the sole source for the 90% figure asking where she gathered her information to support that number and I am equally perplexed that sheep reading the news have never questioned that figure.

[candab]

I'm a company driver, but I believe that my boss would have no problem with this particular brand of work stoppage. We actually discussed the previous strike that blamed "oil", and determined that anything the O/Os did to disrupt freight would be detrimental and push shippers to seek out the larger companies for longer term stability.

The idea of having a day set aside to make "no cheap freight" a headline issue would be much better, as it addresses the specific problem that companies are having. It's not fuel, it's lowballing by conglomerates with poor safety records.

The after-effects of such a day would bring a heightened awareness of low freight rates to the forefront, and make more O/Os and small companies think twice about taking on LTL and truckloads that basically only pay for the fuel to get back to a better area.

[candab]

Oh, and the idea that 90% of trucks are O/Os and independents is spin. That number figures in the fact that there are so many drivers in "fleece purchase" plans and owners in lease agreements with the big companies. Those should NOT be considered "independent".

[bbmyls2go]

First off, kudos to the reporter and editors at Reuters - I received a full reply from them within 2 hours of my email.
It IS a matter of semantics, and each of us can put our own spin on if the number is reasonable or even relevant - I argue it is not relevant.
Janet McGurty who wrote the article said she got the figure from the OOIDA, though I pointed out to her their numbers also say that only 10% of drivers are O/Os.
The difference? The 90% is apparently the group of TRUCKS owned by companies running 6 or less units. It is not independent O/Os.
I can't dispute that figure and it does sound reasonable to me and certainly does help paint the picture to the public of how a majority of the trucking industry is small business and thus hurt more by the pricing of fuel and freight.
I myself am guilty, as a former Crete driver, for seeing the number of big firm rigs and having the impression they are in the majority, when in fact they are not.
I do feel the semantics make the use of that figure very misleading however. That implies that 90% of all DRIVERS are independent O/Os that have some say over whether or not they park their rig in protest or not. They should have used the 10% figure given by the OOIDA which represents the men and women who actually drive their own business and are on the front lines of the fuel surcharge/fuel price war.
Again, the OOIDA clearly identifies that it is representing the small business man, and maybe all the article needed to do was be more specific that the 90% figure included small businesses, not just independent drivers (and that begs the question, why do 6 trucks make a small business and thus an O/O business, and 7 trucks is suddenly a "fleet"?).
So, to recap, if 360,000 own their rigs, and another 340,000 are part of the larger outfits, and another 340,000 are union drivers, that leaves about 2,300,000 drivers who have no say in parking in protest and who factually, do not dig into their pockets to operate the rig they are paid to drive.
Well, sorry I got off on a tangent, but the numbers implied just didn't seem right to me the way they were presented.

[TX_Proud]

One day of protest over cheap freight rates won't do much good IMHO. Freight will either move before or after whatever date is targeted. The best way, and easiest way is to not haul cheap freight at all on ANY day. If it sits, then it sits. This is one way that we as independents can present a united front without rallys, without disrupting the daily flow of commuters, and without drawing negativity from the general public.

Unfortunately, there are some who see a $1/mile freight as acceptable because they want/need to get back to a higher paying load. These types of loads are a backhaul for them, but are headhauls for someone else. Personally, I don't ever accept $1/mile freight EVER, I don't care where I've got to get to. I don't accept any freight that is less than 80% of my targeted rate. I'll deadhead first because IT HURTS EVERYONE when shippers think they can get their freight hauled so cheaply!

What better message to cheap shippers/receivers when you say "I'd rather drive empty than be insulted by the rate you are offering?"