Truck Load Rates Halt 8 Week Slide 2.0

We don't hate you Joe. We're just trying to improve our industry any way possible. I get it, you can afford to make a slim profit even at a buck per mile, and you would rather be making a little instead of nothing at all. But, there is strong evidence that shows running cheap freight keeps the rates deflated. I remember the presidential debate with Bill Clinton, Bush Sr and Ross Perot, who was kind of a wacky man, but he knew business and what worked. Clinton was talking about creating the NAFTA bill, and Perot said that it would be horrible for the US. I recall Perot coining the term "giant sucking sound" of jobs leaving the US and heading to Mexico. Perot was right on, but it was even worse than he predicted, especially for our industry. The competition from Mexican drivers severely depressed our rates north of the border, and they never really did recover to where they were before NAFTA. As we all know this business is about supply and demand. REO and I were talking about commercial fishermen a page or two back, and they provide an excellent example of manipulating their prices. Every year in early December, crab fishermen in my area earn nearly half of their annual income because people in northern California at some point in time decided they wanted a lot of fresh crab around Christmas. The seafood brokers do their best to keep the prices low, but the commercial fishermen all work in unison and refuse to catch any crab for the holiday until the price per pound reaches a point where it's profitable for them to go out and catch the crab. Of course I know there is no way to organize around 3 million drivers nationally, but imagine if we could and what we could accomplish. European drivers especially in France seem to be pretty good at organizing general work stoppages and getting their demands met. It's a pipe dream for us, but maybe some day we'll figure out how to organize somewhat and get the rates up.

 

Pretty sure you meant *NAFTA* not IFTA.

 

Hauling cheap freight will bite you on the butt sooner or later. It always has and it always will.
I'll spare everybody the "old timer rant" but I've watched trucking companies come and go for a lot of years.
Somebody whose answer to competitive rates is "I'll haul it cheaper" will get a lot of hauling and they'll be so busy that they won't notice that they're going broke. But go broke they will.
The problem is that there's no shortage of dreamers to take their place. "I can make it, I'll just run more miles and haul cheaper" is their mantra. There's nothing wrong with their work ethic, they're just dumber than a box of rocks about how a business...any business...really works.
We've lost some work over the years to the "haul it cheaper" crowd but eventually we usually get the business back again when the cheaper guy goes broke, breaks down loaded constantly, or over-promises his availability. Service failures.
We don't always get the business back....there are price shoppers that we quit hauling for....but we get enough of it back to be patient and wait.

 

I understand both sides of the argument. The reality is that you’ll never get enough drivers to unite. It just won’t happen.

I chose to run in April and it turned out better than expected. $17,554 on 11681 hub miles with a van on the spot. I also only spent $3290 in fuel/DEF.

I’d rather use $14k plus towards expenses and profit than sit at home and use savings to pay the bills, but that’s me. I choose to operate how I see best for myself, as everyone else should do what’s best for them.

 

Some brokers will be feeling the pinch also. I worked for a guy years ago that had a customer file bankruptcy owing over 30k. That put him out of business in about 8 months.
Anyone floating customers large dollar amounts have to be nervous about now.

 

Everybody wants to run for best rates.
Nobody chooses to haul cheap on a vain whim. They pay what they pay, however wise you are, you are not going to get 1.75 when they pay everyone 1.50. You either take it or leave it.
It is possible for some to make a better bargain here and there but generally it is more circumstantial than the result of bargaining skills.
I took a load to Columbus OH for $800 from Rockford IL. How would you convince them to pay you $1000?
How would you have done it differently from someone who is dumber than a sock of rocks to overcome supply and demand?

As far as I am concerned, I'd rather take this than nothing.

 

Joe, I'm not going to debate you on this. You obviously have your mind made up and since you haven't listened to the good advice you've received so far I doubt if you'll listen to me. That's okay. Lots of people don't listen to me.
The last sentence in the post I replied to says it all. I wish you good luck and since your success or failure doesn't affect me or my company I hope that you keep doing what you want to do.

 

Hey joe. Go to an industrial area that you live near or know well, park the trailer and bobtail around. spend a day or two soliciting direct customers. There has never been a cheaper price on vacation days for an owner op. If you get a direct customer you will be one less available truck on the load boards, and you will make more money. Itll make both teams here happy. A win win situation.

 

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