Truck Load Rates Halt 8 Week Slide 2.0

There is a lot of risks involved when you post numbers on a down side. The last year of mine was poor, and I dared to show it in one of the FB group. After a few hours, being accused almost of the enemy of the state, I decided to remove the post and never log back in to that group. LOL

 

Even though financially, the last year has been my best so far in trucking, I find myself kind of burning out and itching to try something new. At 60. my mind is as sharp as it ever was, but my body is screaming at me to do something different. The physical demands aren't that great, but sitting behind the wheel all day every day is making me soft. My hips and knees are not liking the lifestyle, and it takes 2-3 days at home to get back in the mood to drive again. For the last month I've been getting a lot of loads that keep me up all night, and that's wreaking more havoc on my brain than anything else I do. Night driving especially in the rain really strains my eyes from the glare. I'm thinking of starting my old internet sales web site back up and see how it goes for a few months while I drive to see if I can do both at the same time. If the sales do as well as I expect, I'll phase out of trucking entirely. My parents are elderly and going down hill fast, so when they pass on the wife and I will be leaving California and probably moving to coastal Oregon for our retirement.

I don't mean to sound like a whiner, but the state of the country and all of the constant factional whining on TTR has me looking for a change in my life so I have things to look forward to.

 

Rates are only a number. What is success? Money, security, stability, home time? Numbers, stats, all of them. Success is more difficult to define.

For example, I sent my truck on the first run this week at a whopping $2.30 a mile -- we are a private carrier, and that's not what we do. We don't want the distraction. Don't need the hassle. But a customer and a supplier are in dire straits because of this Covidiocy, and I can help them both out of a bad spot. The rate sucks, but there will be "goodwill". Impossible to put a number on, but it will stabilize both my supplier and my customer, and therefore stabilize our own business. What is success? Whatever it is, stability is part of it. A pretty big part, really.

 

About 3 year ago I swore I needed a new(er) truck with an automatic transmission. My lower back was giving me a lot of problems hurting all the time. And my knees too sometimes.

Turned out my old seat was just worn out junk and all I really needed was a good new one along with a good chiropractor to get my back problems worked out. It worked. Haven't been back to the chiropractor in well over a year. Probably should go just for a routine adjustment again at some point soon.

But yeah I get it on the other hand being burned out from the road too. I get that way all the time. My solution is to kick back for a few weeks at a time to the point im actually looking forward to getting back on the road again. Rinse and repeat.

As far as this forum goes it's good to ignore and avoid it sometimes for days or even weeks at a time. That goes for any social media. During covid shutdowns when freight really sucked we would leave the phones in the car and go hiking. It was sure nice to get a break with no calls, no texts, no emails.

 

Let's not get too serious about the cyberspace. Reality is what matters.
....my wife summoned me to have a walk with her. Now, I am back so I'll finish my thought.

Time spent here is staggering. All the posts, and reading combined.
Even my wife sometimes complains that I seat here and type something instead of joining her to watch a show. Who's there more important than me, she asked sometimes. She's right. This internet social media is too addictive and it is easy to lose balance. We like it here but we must not allow this to get to our minds to the point of making a decision about our real life.

 

So many people stopped posting, even though they had been posting a lot. They must have liked it here too. Yet something stopped them. Did they overcome the addiction or something pissed them off...hopefully they did not pass away? This is my 4 928th post....in 4 and 1/2 years. How many more? I mean, is my life lacking something that I am here so often? What about those people who are on FB virtually 24/7?
That's not good for a human nature, in my honest opinion.

 

I think Facebook groups took it over. You post something in there and you get like 20 instant responses, especially when it comes to technical questions

 

I got a phone call from long time member whoopNride's wife back in September that he had passed away. She was going through his contacts because she knew he had a lot of friends on here who might not hear anything otherwise. It was sad, he was a good guy.

 

I’ve never had FB but sometimes wish I had access to some of the groups. It sounds like there is a ton of information out there.