Have you / Will you diversify to stay in business?

And expand your abilities.
Tarp vs no tarp
8' tarp vs 6' tarp
TWIC vs no twic
2 forms ID vs 1
Pipe stakes vs no
20 ratchets vs 10
12 pcs dunnage vs 8

Just a few i see mentioned often.

 

Boy I hope things don't get that bad !
I'm in the meatpatch and have seen inbound loads get slim and dirt cheap .
Don't know what I would do cause food production is about all that goes on around me .

 

Yep, become a jack of all trades, I can haul an end dump, flatbed step deck or van, being a jack of all trades used to be frowned upon, but being versatile will get you through alot of bs like what is going on now.

 

Meh i carry some tarps
No way im throwing 6 or 8
No twic has never been a problem
2 ids?
I have pipe stakes but never carry them except if i already booked a load
Extra Ratchets/ straps... always have tons, at worst you can sell even a used one to guys in a truckstop that need em for 20$, near doubles your money
8 peices, bah, i carry 3 long, 4 short, the worthwhile stuff will provide more or not need that much.

Its like the question of alum vs combo, 48 vs 53, i pulled a combo 53 that made me 35 k empty, but despite constantly losing load opportunities for not being able to scale 47 or 48, he INSISTED the 53 was absolutely neccessary. Went to an all alum flat and can almost legally pull 50k, missed maybe 2 good loads for not having a 53.

 

Yeah it's Twinkies like you with that stupid thought process ruin everything.. You jump in to a different market.
Don't have a clue what's going on in that market at that moment other than you think.you can make some coin.. then you help trash that market because your a simple minded pawn for brokers and shippers to play against the established carriers in that market
Basically your the bug that crawls in the barrel of ripe apples and bores a hole in all the apples in the barrel
Your just a follower..
Iuckly you didn't mention jumping in to my fields

 

That's a lot of trailers to buy.

 

I have a dump, a flat, and a reefer, luckily dump up here is seasonal because I’m about burnt out, going to have to pick and choose next year, or buy another truck….

 

or rent, or lease..

then space needed to park all of it, (if the owner buys).

plus taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc,etc.

i think if an o/o has the financial resources to do so, then he has blessings from everyone.

but can the average o/o struggling now, get into such an endeavor..???

 

It’s funny how having multiple trailers these days seems like an issue for a lot of people for various reasons. When dad and grandpa were around they had flatbeds, grain trailers, cattle trailers, a van, and a gas tank. Grandpa was the only one that pulled the tank and would have to trip lease to a different company to haul gas back to a local station. Authority was hard to get back then, you had your one area and you hauled whatever you were allowed to haul. Now it’s expected for people to just do one thing and when it gets slow you take your one trailer and find a different area to run in.

If I wanted to live up home again I would need a cattle trailer and a step deck for sure, and a van would make life a little bit easier in slow times also.

 

I just don’t see how OTR can go away altogether. I mean as OTR company drivers if that’s what you’re referring to, we might have slow weeks here and there but there’s always gonna be a demand for freight. Even if we slipped into a depression. If we slipped into a economic depression you might find yourself driving just to have a place to stay and make enough money to eat, but hey better than starving to death and having no job at all. I just don’t see it getting that bad.
I’ve already made up my mind if things get really super slow at my company, I’ll just take more time for myself and work on projects around my home and stuff. It always picks back up eventually.