Another trucking company closed its doors abruptly. GDS Express cut off driver fuel cards and stopped paychecks, leaving drivers stranded. But while office workers also had their paychecks frozen, some kept working, trying to get their drivers home.
GDS Express closed down on Tuesday, Dec. 17th. The 75-unit trucking company seems to have followed a familiar pattern: After having built up a successful business over time, the good leader retires and leaves his son in charge — who promptly runs the company into the ground.
According to Company Recruiting Director, Mike Cady, there was some major mismanagement at the top of GDS.
“It is with HEAVY heart, fighting anger and tears that I send this message,” wrote Cady in a post on LinkedIn. “Unfortunately, through mismanagement from ownership, GDS is closing our doors. I want to sincerely THANK each and everyone of you who have been part of our “family”. Over the years WE accomplished a lot! We are proud to be GDS, I bled Blue and Orange. … Moving forward if anyone needs help of a reference, PLEASE contact me.”
Workers were told on the 17th that the company would be closing, but company owner Craig Stacy didn’t provide any other information as to why. So it fell to people like Jacob Keaton, Eastern Operations Manager for GDS, to get drivers home.
When Trucker News spoke with Keaton two days after the announcement, Keaton told them that he had been able to get all but 12 drivers home so far.
“We were blindsided,” Keaton, told Trucker News. “We’ve heard no rational explanation in the last 48 hours.”
Source: overdrive, truckernews, gobytrucknews, ttnews, dispatch, news5cleveland
Again, with the economy doing so well, why are we seeing this?
The company is doing well for big companies bottom line. Lots of jobs but low pay some people has to work 3 jobs.the question is who is doing well.
Idiot. Always looking for rationalzations. Open your eyes and realize the end game is at hand. Pay off your debt. Don’t buy anything unless its on a CASH basis and get out of the metropolitan areas. People will not be able to sustain their needs there. YES! it is that bad. Wake up!
We have a winner!
Blue, you left off the LAST PART of your comment…
No doubt, you probably did so because of the same FEAR and TREMBLING that has been rapidly sweaping all across the ENTIRE NATION since January 20th 2017!
BUT..
I will boldly finish your comment for you. “We have a WINNER…in The White House!”
Guys, its TIME to drop our balls and MAN UP…
The Constitution, including the 2nd Amendment, which many of you CLAIM to cherish so dearly, and of which as established for situations just like this is dangling on the line!
Just GOOGLE the Constitutional 2nd Amendment TERM, “Tyranical Government” to find out, that term basically mean, “any government that blatantly IGNORES The Will of its people, and specifically in democratic governments The Will of the VAST MAJORITY of its people”.
The WILL of the people is why the POPULAR vote and then polling numbers matter so much in a democracy.
One final little known historical FACT:
Of the very few Presidents (just 4 before Trump) that did NOT also win the POPULAR vote, absolutely every one of them, up until our day, are always rated by their historical RECORD to be in the VERY BOTTOM 10% among all Presidents!
On the other hand, every single President who is always rated in the TOP 10% also won the POPULAR vote, and in modern times their poll numbers were far, far ABOVE average!
ABSOLUTELY, Not a time to be COMPLACENT.
Truth!
I’m a regional driver, out 5 days,home weekends, 75k, free medical, and 5% match on 401k
Joe,
What is the name of your Company?
I dont see small trucking comps making it with elds too regulated big comps are seeing too this knight England Schneider swift they are way ahead of every body there lobbyists in Congress keep them up to date there will be alot small carriers toss in the towel like back in the 70s only the strong will servive so sad watch rates go up
Same here .. I work 3.5 days a week and 80k great benefits and 6% match
What company is this?
We’ve all have driven for JB HUNT at one time or another.
NO THANKS.
Not me NEVER!! Small company $102K last yr
What’s that got to do with this story?
I’m not doing that bad! I didn’t have a stellar year but my gross was $175,866. With that amount I have my fixed costs and my fuel costs and my varying other costs but my net is well over $3000 on average every two weeks. What happens with family owned businesses is the family bleeds the profits away and weakens their financial stability for the long haul! Lawsuits from negligent accidents can also be a leading cause to a company’s failure to survive the lean years! I’m a solo lead operator and I haul a refer and I never sit long! When I do sit long it’s because the load pays well and allows me more time for rest which I need anyways but I don’t stay out of dispatch long. Maybe I take 4 days off a month. This company had enough units to make a small fortune! Piss poor management probably took this company down! Your insinuation that our economy isn’t doing the best it’s ever done now is misleading to readers because it is the best economy we’ve ever had in history! Company’s start and fail all the time! There are a lot of good companies who offer too pay! If you’re looking for more money per mile and a bigger year end gross then you have to give to get! Nothing in trucking is free! If you want more money it’s out there the question is are you willing to give in order to get!
The economy is not going good and that’s what people need to realize this new tax on everything is not good for this economy
Select sectors are doing well. The rest of the house is falling apart but nobody cares as long as Wall Street is putting up positive numbers
The Fed is creating money out of nothing givingtuesday it to banks who lend it to companies owned by the same people that own the Fed. It will not be payed back but the people will owe more national debt to the Fed. That is why the stock market is doing so well. How can the little guy compete with that?
So put your money in the stock market like I do.
Investing in the stock market when you have no effective influence in the management of the company is betting against the house. Any real profit centers get outsourced to organizations owned and controlled by those with real influence. Rank and file investors get equity in liability, not assets.
The companies that own utility right-of-ways into customers homes (gas, electric) have huge market capitalization (lots of investor’s money). They also have very slow growth and very low dividends. The companies that they buy power and/or fuel from, require far less market capitalization, and return greater growth and/or dividends. These companies are often privately held, and may be owned by executive managers at the utility companies where they wield broad discretion over who the utility contracts with, at what rates, and under what terms.
It’s not just about buying stock. It’s about having a seat at the table – and where you’re sitting. If you think that you have a seat at the table, and you’re still hanging around here, talking to us… you’re probably the main course.
Countrycuz, WARREN BUFFET dIsagrees with you. He has pulled BILLION OUT of the market and turned it into CASH!
He knows that, in the middle 1920’s, many people were also unwisely putting their hard-earned money INTO THE STOCK MARKET!
That was during President Calvin Coolidge Administration that started in 1923 at the sudden stroke DEATH of Warren Harding!
Check this out and COMPARE:
1. Coolidge was NOT dully elected by a POPULAR vote.
2. He started his Administration by HYPER-INFLATING the stock market with massive TAX CUTS!
3. He was WARNED by experts that the TAX CUTS would eventually over heat the economy.
4. He kept IGNORING the EXPERTS at the DEMANDS of The RICH Class who primarily benefitted from TAX CUTS and a souring stock market!
(Doesn’t all of that well-documented USA HISTORY sound familiar to our present day?)
But, how did those tax cuts and the resulting HYPER-INFLATED stock market work out for The Nation by 1929, and on in to the 1930’s?
An ECONOMIC DISASTER and the Nation’s all-time deepest DEPRESSION!
Get your GREEDY heads out of your butts PEOPLE…
No business or government finances that are being built on FAULTY economics can keep GROWING UP forever like #45 is knowingly decieving so many Republicans and Independents it WILL!
Great idea – until that tanks. . . . again. Anyone remembers 2008 – 2009? Not exactly boom years for the stock market.
The trickle down economic plan is like musical chairs – sooner or later you’re out in the cold.
Exactly Countrycuz666, what a lot of people do though. When they are making the extra money, they just spend it and when the extra goes away its everybody’s fault but theirs that they continued spending as if it would never leave. I work for a company that use to have employer 401K match but as of this month they did away with it. I don’t sweat it for it was never considered apart of my living expense. I work for a good company, but unfortunately Management has not stayed fugal on the money spending and they are having to take it from the employees to fix. LOL I can assure you they aren’t going to give up any of their extra’s
Read the post it was a management problem the owner failed not the damn economy
Paul B I want to know the same thing. I was telling my husband this very thing just last week….. This is sad though and VERY scary! You do what you’re supposed to do and you STILL lose?!?!? How far is that??
Childhood games should have taught you that winners are those not afraid to bend or break the rules, play dirty, or cheat. If you’re covering a man in football who is about to catch that touchdown pass, you may have to throw down with some pass interference, and the penalty be damned. It’s cheaty, but the consequence is less damaging than the play.
At this level of the game, even prison time looks worthwhile, because no amount of hard, honest work is likely to yield comparable results – and these guys go to the white collar prison for non-violent offenders, anyway.
If you feel morally or ethically constrained, you are operating at a disadvantage.
Mrs. C You are so right there ! “You can do everything right, and still be wrong “. You try your best, and seems it’s just not good enough. Saw this on a wall at a large college…”Nothing is free, and there is always someone there to take what you have away “.
ELD………………………………
The HOS rules didn’t change. They made it easier to stay compliant. A business model that requires the ability for its drivers to falsify logs is bound to failure
That’s part of it . When the government starts interfering in business it goes to hell
Extreme Logistical Disaster
Crappy management.
Because the owners spent all the money coming in and ran up huge debt. They did not manage the company right. You can have the best economic times and a company rolling in cash, but if the owners are spending it on toys and drugs and hookers then no company can stay open! I am not saying that this company paid for drugs or hookers but they spent it on something plus hauling cheap freight to get the work!
yep,houses and boats and vacations and such, did in a lot of
good,hard working drivers and companies when private equity
buys a trucking company, then takes all the cream and leaves skim milk
to operate on. HVH Denver had an ad for 93 cpm for owner ops on craigslist ,While the national average was posted on dat/fleetowners and others as 1.80 cpm to break even. Where was the money going??
Hvh went bankrupt because of poor management
Terry–this wasn’t a trucking company, but a butcher shop…had a Mom & Pop butcher shop that did very well, and expanded into their own processing plant on the next block, as well as investing in at least one neighbourhood business.
Then Mom & Dad retired & turned it over to the kids….same story as GDS! Processing plant sold to another meat packer, butcher shop gone. My husband worked at the “new” owner’s plant & heard the stories of how the kids ran the biz….stroll in at about 10, check their messages, look at the mail….and…”going for lunch”…come back at about 2, check messages, look at mail…”going home”….working week-ends didn’t exist for Them!
Seemed they forgot all about the long hours their Mom & Dad put into the butcher shop….staying after store closing to clean up & restock for the next day, Mom doing the books either at home or in the back room (probably with the baby in a laundry basket under the table), coming on week-ends to tidy up for the next week. And I’d love to know where the kids’ $$ went–like Glenn said–big houses, new cars, boats, fancy vacations, etc.
Sad when even the Recruiting Manager Mike Cady who was so loyal to CDS has to say about “mismanagement at the top”
Hope all the CDS drivers find good jobs!
Like self we are better off than the drivers at Celadonnow that was a Fortune 500 company that had multiple lawsuits filed on them also
Seldom does a company survive when the children take over the reigns. Today’s kids have no clue how the real world works and absolutely no idea how to run a business.They are not familiar with hard work and dedication to success.
you hit it on the nailhead
Exactly. The person that starts the business usually takes very little from it. Someone inherits it, and sees hundreds of thousands, or millions in a bank account, and figures it’s mad money…… No, that money is there to pay the hundreds of thousands, or millions in bills due in a few weeks.
Especially if the owner is doing drugs, of course the company gonna crumble. I was with a company gulf coast back in the day and that’s what happened
DITTO Bin there done date. 4 mil profits to -400G four years later. squandering on fleet color change, chasing wrong type of clients and removal of driver bonuses to self bonuses.
BECAUSE THE SON STOLE FROM THE COMPANY AND RAN IT INTO THE GROUND!! It’s NOT the economy
Its the new ridiculous electronic log laws and all the other bulls hit laws that’s got companies going belly up. Fuel prices and overhead is cutting so deep into profits its no longer profitable.
The HOS rules didn’t change. The ability to lie did. A business model based on falsifying HOS is bound to fail
Mismanagement, plain and simple. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.
According to donny all is,good all is,well, let that a hole drive a,truck or get a,real job
How is the owners son running a company into the ground reflective of a poor economy?
Only stupid people settle for low paying jobs from dirtbag companies
GREED BROTHER , snot nosed lil brat kids whom have been sucking off Daddys hard work along w/ his drivers and employees… got the business handed to them and are now broke
It may seem like things are going well in the US but if you ever get a chance to look at the US National debt clock you may think otherwise. Especially if you compare it to say Russia or Germany. Those countries are actually making money and taking care of their debt while we continue to go in debt in staggering form. The most dumb thing is with all the so called smart people working Washington, their best resolution for making money and paying off debt is to fire up the ole printing press.
Didn’t you read the story? The new owners mismanagement caused the demise. Same thing happened to me, the company I was leased to shut their doors soon after the owner retired, son took over and eliminated our division as the company slowly imploded due to the kid’s lack of motivation. The kid, when he showed up, stayed locked in his office playing video games.
In the Shadows things are not well…remember the “tariffs war” ,look at all the companies that were affected by it and others.
“Unfortunately, through mismanagement from ownership, GDS is closing our doors.Seems pretty clear to me.
Nothing but a buncha poor working slobs…the rich stealing from the working man…history repeating itself
Amen PREACH IT brother!
We’re seeing this because no one in this country believes they no longer need to pay the realistic and proper costs to do business
#Winner
Another one..
UF you gonna comment Nathan, drop your balls and tell everybody the WHOLE truth about The WINNER #45!
Cutthroat carriers racing each other to the bottom.
Yep! You can’t haul cheap freight and stay in business!
True ,but Julio soylio Leroy Billy bobbi ,and Jacko all haul. Cheap, let em run go out of business, f em
It’s called negotiations. It’s always been here, always will be. Learn to stand your ground and stop blaming others for your failures
Sounds like piss poor management! This is what happens when you have business owners retire and turn there business over to one of there immature children
You are exactly right sir.. I see alot of comments and blaming the government when (if they knew anything about trucking ) would know your doing well one day and the next your broke..the report even said do. Anyway !! You obviously read it…lol. thanx !!!
So, you dont think the govts mission to redistribute wealth, by not only increasing wealth to the wealthy, but transferring wealth to historically poor red states, has anything to do with this? In addition, you might want to look at all the manufacturing companies going belly up, the numerous cutting of staff in numerous sectors, the “social” handouts to farmers, as well the govt buying debt and adding money to the system. All this while govt revenue is down and that target set for gdp, presented for the $1.7 trillion tax cuts, isnt what we were told. They only people “truly” doing well are the already wealthy and those in the market.
tesla makes its mod 3 in china. Go figure.
Have you seen the work ethic in the USA it not to great . That’s a factor just one . And it’s another way to keep the union’s out why pay a decent wage when you can pay pennies.
For the Chinese market… They produce the model 3 in California for North America.
Your wrong on this one. I’ve done few loads for Tesla model 3,and others. They’re in Fremont, CA. They may have other plants in China for other markets.
Not seeing what you’re seeing, isee a ton of help wanted signs everywhere. Next
So why aren’t you “in the market “?
Chuck, you need to stop watching CNN and MSNBC. Manufacturing has created 7.1 million jobs since, you know, TRUMP. Unemployment is at 3.5 percent. The lowest rate in 50 years. This company failure was strictly caused by the morons running it.
Your so good at this , I feel so stupid now
Well it is evident yer not a smart feller are ya? Don’t know where you get your numbers but they are waaaay off in the wrong direction. The very opening paragraph of the article said what happened in this case. Secondly, this country is better off now than it has been in over 60 years! You drive I assume every day up and down the same roads, do you not see all the trucks on the road now versus even 5 years ago? Better get your nose out of CNN news and just look around you. Because of new jobs, taxpayers have put 1.6 TRILLION dollars bac.
Now YOU are speaking The TRUTH brother…
Guys, don’t continue being deceived…
LOOK IT UP:
MOST of the eventual dictators who were dully elected FIRST neutralled The RICH Class with billions in UNEARNED funny money and TAX CUTS!
Second, eventual dictators set out to neutralized the TOP MILITARY BRASS with hyper-inflated wages and unnecessary spending budgets.
Third, they STACK the Federal courts and gain control of the JUDICIARY!
Fourth, they gain control of LOCAL police organizations with massive WEAPONIZATION and infiltration!
With that TIME-TESTED and PROVEN DICTATORSHIP PLAN in place, the last step is to be prepared to utterly DESTROY THE MASSES when they try to protest what’s happening to them!
For years and years, there were unfounded CLAIMS that Obama was coming for YOUR GUNS, right?
WATCH as more and more cities all across America are MILITARIZED to the point where no amount of personal weapons or ammo will prevail against them.
34 years in the trucking industry and one thing remains true. Too many upper management in trucking companies know nothing about trucking. Make too many mistakes, and treat their drivers like knuckle draggers. Take a close look at companies where drivers are treated well, payed well, and have almost no turnover. It never ceases to amaze me how many trucking companies are in business that clearly have no respect or care anything about the people who are doing all the work.
You couldn’t be more right I too saw this with over 50 years in the business.
You hit the nail right on the head. I haul a fuel tanker for a company in Tenn and not one of our supervisors or dispatchers can even drive a semi let alone know the hell we endeavor each day in these trucks. We just got some new trucks in that they ordered. The person that ordered them paired a nice powerful motor with a final gear ratio fit for the desert out west. These new trucks fall flat on their faces soon as they see a hill on the horizon. A person with any trucking experience would of known that we travel mostly in a mountainous region and a high gear ratio is not what we needed for our area of operation. Just a total waste in these new trucks when all they would of had to do is ask for some driver input before putting the order together. But hey we’re just truck drivers, what the hell do we know right…lol
I went into the OO business in the early 60s. I have experienced all of these syndromes. David Ratcliff fighting with ICC and Teamster bosses, until they busted up his many companies. He payed the drivers a good living wage, had some of the best equipment and routes. What happened? In the 80s I was leased to two different companies, ETV out of Grand Rapids Michigan, doing great until the sons took control. They sucked it up their noses, fast women and hot cars, took care of that. Then went to Burcold in Brownsville Texas. When Gene retired and have to the lazy sons, did not take them long to destroy things. Speaking from experience, my sons got me out of trucking, same-same. I’m 82 still driving, but not my truck. I have been blessed to live so long and watch the games people play. Good luck boys
Oops there goes another victim of the Donnie economy.
Sorry MORON !!!. WRONG. If you could read the story 2 to 3 times you may see it’s faults.
Jazzman, I don’t think reading it 2 or 3 times will help Scott.
I don’t think anything can help Scott. LOL
Still better than o’s by 2 generations, if you can count that high
Try reading the article, fool
How is D.T. to blame for this company’s downfall? Our economy is marching along pretty well from what I can see.
I’m glad it keep happening.
I would have driven the truck home and sold the trailer to a rancher or farmer to use as storage or used it myself!! At least keep it until they pay you in cash for what they owed you
Good way to get served for theft
no you would not ….unless you wanted to go to jail …the law is on the companies side
Then they could of had you thrown in jail for stealing or holding their equipment for ransom. It’s a damn shame but they could easily do that.
If the company owes you money, there is a legal way to handle it. You need to contact your local sheriff or police department first. Then you need to arrange for the rig to be safely stored where it cannot be accessed. Then you go to the courthouse and file a lien against the truck for money owed you. If the company does not respond in a set time period the rig becomes yours to do with as you please.
Most important, make sure you have all your ducks in a row before you do any of this. You need documentation before you can file the lien. I have seen this done three times since 1982 where the drivers followed procedure and were awarded ownership of the rigs by the court.
Be smart about it.
Anyone who doesn’t see the story on this company’s mismanaged finances after the GM clearly stated that the son ran it into the ground, deserves to be working for the next one in line to be bankrupt. Ignorant SOB’s…it’s always the rich man or the POTUS fault for everything. Numbnuts.
They called me several times, cheap rates, piss poor fuel discounts. Told the guy i couldn’t afford to work that cheap.
I wish you all would read the story first before blaming the government for this companies failure the old man left the co.to the kid and he drove it to bankruptcy
Lol they took my post down. I guess when you mention the largest non asset based 3pl in the country and how they drive rates down it strikes a nerve. What a joke!
In 2019 hundreds of trucking companies went out of business and thousands of drivers lost their jobs. This is the same thing that happened during the 2008 economic recession.
Greed, along with company owners children not having the heart that the original owners have for the industry. I know a few more that’ll happen to in the future when the owners retire and step down.
P.S. You can find more details on this story over at Freight Waves…
Ohio-based GDS Express abruptly ceases operations (UPDATED)
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ohio-based-gds-express-abruptly-ceases-operations
But there are plenty of jobs being rotated. Look at the wanted ads.
Driver always looking for greener grass.
True ,but Julio soylio Leroy Billy bobbi ,and Jacko all haul. Cheap, let em run go out of business, f em
Son saw dollars not company investments. I am sorry to hear that the Drivers are in such a sad situation now. You just can’t plan for the future. It’s day by day now a days.
Especially for the smaller trucking business. If your having good fortunes you better never think that gives you the right blow money. In the trucking business it can do a total 180 in no time flat and it will happen. It’s just a matter of when and you better prepare for that day, day in and day out.
There are many ignorant comments below. Some people have it right or at least partially right. Others are just so far off the mark it is obvious you are very ignorant and have no clue what you are talking about. And frankly, as a truck driver I would appreciate those of you who act so ignorant to just keep your comments to yourself because you give the rest of us a bad name. Companies who are not managing the debt they have and who are relying on 2018 rates. That year was an outlier. Not the norm. Rates are really not terrible right now. People think they are because of 2018. They have just come back down to earth, but companies and independents who are not managing the debt and finances well are going to suffer. Instead of going on spending sprees during good times, they should be saving and being thrifty. It is during recessions that you go on spending sprees because that is when you find the good deals! It is during good times as we are having right now that you should pay down debt and save!
Truth be told…
CHEAP DEBT coming from LOW INTEREST rates, which ARE set by the CURRENT governments are what got most of the WORLD’S businesses in TROUBLE these days.
CHECK IT OUT!
Since 2008 the entire WORLD’S debt load has grown by at least 500%!
So, most of this so-called USA and world economic recovery has been fueled nearly 100% by CHEAP CREDIT and absolutely not by economic GROWTH!
Here’s some undeniable PROOF:
http://www.usdebtclock.org
(CHECK OUT the amount WE ALL have in unfunded liabilities in the lower right corner. Those figures are so HUGE, all of the money in the entire WORLD can’t pay them OFF!)
SO FAR, most companies and most countries are managing it all…BUT, when the economy naturally turns DOWNWARD…WATCH OUT!
Chris……Why is it that those who do not see “your” side of your theory are ignorant. This article give no indication of how the mismanagement was carried out. You are guessing the same as the other commenters on this discussion.
20 yrs OTR” almost died” on the job! Been permanently disabled! This kind of garbage” makes me feel” kinda lucky” that I’m out” of trucking! Sad but true.
If it looks like a duck, walk like a duck, talk like a duck, then it’s probably Donald Duck… ALL WE DO IS WIN WIN WIN!!!
Expand to quickly, spend to much and take cheap freight to keep all the balls in the air. Happens alot then a bit of a slowdown and that’s it.
Yes READ the STORY dad builds a succesful businus, remember through good and bad times. Hands down to kid, kid loses businus. Partly dads fault, he raised the kid. I have been trucking over 50 years through good and bad times. One thing I have learned some will make it and some won’t while doing the same kind of thing. I can talk to you for 5 or 10 minutes and pick which you will be. Again pay attention thats the first step to success.
It’s really hard for some people to stay on topic. MISMANAGEMENT by the son created this. The chief of operations and the head of recruiting were left holding the mess to clean up. The father saved his money built a business retires and what ever the reason gave it to his son who obviously had no clue how to run a business. Now because of the poor decisions by the son 100’s of people are affected by this, but nobody takes the time to think it through. Remember the office workers, other management, drivers, shippers, consignees are affected by this including the consignees customers waiting for their orders which now are either delayed, missing and etc.
I bet ELD was part of the problem
i like you hate my eld,but i run the eld and i don’t let the box run me. when i’m tired i take a nap’ if i don’t want to deal with traffic i stop,when i want to eat ,in eat!! whatever time is left for work ,i work and the company i work for doesn’t say crap about it ,because they can’t!! they wanted the box now they got the box!!! since i installed the box at their request they leave me alone and don’t say nothing. i just smile when i tell the shipper or reciever that they are’nt getting their product first thing in the morning because of the eld! they don’t say crap about it either because you know what? they can’t!!!!!!!!!!!
Glancing at some of these posts makes me shake my head. As usual, no one is LISTENING or READING. As the story stated, the closure is primarily due MISMANAGEMENT. The dad builds the company and the kid takes over, blows through the money. Look at Walmart, VERY driver friendly and when Sam passed, kids took over and look at it now. It’s NOTHING compared to when Sam was in charge. Economy has a lot to do with it, BUT you STILL have to manage your funds smartly.
Is the way of the world, my father told me we were headed in this direction, as far back as the mid eighties.
OTR for 54 years I have been left stranded five times. Three were by small, three or four rig companies. Most freight companies the size of GDS, give lots of warning signs. One of the first signs of a company in trouble is late paychecks. Fuel denial at the pumps is usually the next indication.
For the old timers; remember the days of carrying wads of cash (lots of times your own) to pay for fuel. I have even pulled into a few farmers yards looking for fuel and paying a premium rate for gas or diesel fuel. In all those years, I never got stiffed by whomever I was driving for.
I have said it a thousand times , whatever your paying per gallon for fuel you need to match that in $ per mile , Period ! Say You average $3.00 per gal for fuel well you need to average $3.00 per mile minimum . Because by the time you get done calculating your annual cost of doing business ie; fuel , maintenance, food , motel , tolls , parking , truck / trailer payment , insurance, depreciation and Taxes I guarantee you will not have had enough money left over for a Salary of at least $1000.00 a week net , (because you need that just to survive today ) and if you did it probably means your equipment is suffering or will in the future and your bank account is empty or will be in the future . So if you keep justifying the hauling of freight at a loss for WHATEVER reason ( because anyone can always come up with a reason ) you will eventually go out of business . And that is simply the bottom line. Because hauling freight at a cheap rate will only accomplish one thing — BANKRUPTCY !
I spent 39 years on the road, 30 of them as an owner operator leased to some good companies that are now a part of history. I can name two of those companies that were destroyed after Dad retired and handed the company to the oldest son.
In the first case the son waited until dear old Dad passed away, then sold the company to a competitor so he had money to travel the world. 250 employees screwed. In the second case, Dad handed the company to Junior, who promptly had Dad arrested for trespassing and ran the company from a top-ten refrigerated hauler to nothing more than junk equipment and worthless steering wheel holders that another company gladly bought for pennies on the dollar and got rid of all the deadwood.
Like the article says, Dad builds a great company from scratch, then trusts his heirs to keep it going when all the heirs care about is money.
That’s progress. Not.
54 years left stranded 5 times, not good. As I said pay attention. I ran with an Arrow driver in January before they went under the following December and he told me some of the things they were doing to cut corners such as not getting truck washes run another load before fixing lights, tires etc. I told him run run away as fast as you can. Arrow hauled cheap, you can get by doing that in good times but it will leave no reserve for bad times. I personally won’t haul cheap in good or bad times. I just don’t get to haul as much in bad times. But that’s me. I don’t tell others what to do. We live in AMERICA. But if you drive for a cheap carrier and they start cutting all corners RUN AWAY. As I said I’ve been at it over 50 years. I Know what has worked for me. No such thing as a back haul meaning every load has to pay its own way with some bank money at the end. Sometimes have to wait a while to find a PAYING load. But it got me into semi retirement with assets and a bank account and no bills. And I’ve seen a lot of truckers go under big and small some huge carriers to big to fail. Some said I was doing it wrong, you have to keep moving they said. But here I am.
Some of these comments are hilarious! Drivers think if a company fails it has to be cheap rates or the economy sux…poor management will destroy a good company faster than anything else.
True John T , and continuous hauling of cheap freight is the epitome of poor management!
ELD and All that BS rules and regulations..Killing the industry..
How many of these companies that are closing are a 1 or 2 man operation? Probably a lot more than anyone realizes, creating panic among a lot within the industry…plenty more of them popping up each day..no worries here since I am in a specialized industry…cheers
Bad management of a company of any size has warning signs. It seems like nobody rang the alarm this time. Or the boss didn’t know what to do when the alarm rang. Either way, It’s not easy running a business.
Hauling cheap is bad management in my book.
What about ab 5 law in California effective Jan 1st 2020, which prohibits o/o living in California and who are leased to a company from picking up loads in California ?? However out of state commerce can go on as before, nothing like taking a paycheck away from your taxpayers!!
NWO considers control over the transportation grid as a top priority. Have an eye for NWO operatives having stake/holding stock directly within the transportation sector. Jeff Bezos/Amazon immediately comes to mind.
It’s a good life, if you love it, you can’t leave it, trucking gets into your blood and you can’t get it out.
It appalled me when I read Mark Cady’s remarks. He had the nerve to refer to the drivers as “family”, claiming, “we have accomplished much.”
While drivers are being dropped like yesterday’s garbage Cady wants to ease out gently. I bet he got his pay.
Family is not treated that way. The 12 drivers that could not be located could have been cold, broke with no money and hungry, while Cady spoke of accomplishments. I wonder how empty and down trodden those drivers felt. They needed money! Money they earned, so they could get to their respective homes and pour out their loss to their family. Perhaps explaining to their kids there would be no gifts under the tree. But according to Cady they accomplished much. If that’s the case and they are truly “family” as Cady claimed, why are they broke and their checks frozen?
The office personnel get 40 hour work week and salary sucking off the cream . The drivers produce the revanu and take the risk and get the leavings.
Nothing to do with the economy- read the article again- greed and mismanagement
Wow, some of you guys are just brilliant. Did you (or can’t you) read the article? “Bad management at the top” is the reason they bellied up. You can have a supernatural economy and still fail if you don’t make the right choices or decisions at the top echelon of any business. Quit blaming the stock market and Wall Street you ignorant fools.