This May Be A Dumb Question....

There is always someone new and uneducated on trucking that will do something cheap. Whether it is to get a foot in the door somwhere or to try to drive someone else out of a certain shipper. Especially right now with things slow, it's a big mess all around.

 

People just love to complain. If they truly weren't satisfied with the take home pay they will eventually move to another job field. It rates sink low enough I would not continue operating. To me there is little sense in whining. Need to make own situation better. Nobody is going to do it for me, regardless of how much I whine. So why waste the energy?

 

It's been a common complaint forever. Best to find a niche that you can cater to and provide stellar service, therefor making yourself more valuable to certain shippers.

 

One truck owner operators have destroyed the rates. There is no barrier to entry thanks to deregulation, so it's basically the Wild West. A large amount of them make less than company drivers. Brokers prey on the ignorance and lack of business sense.

 

I have seen the backs of truck that have the "Say No to Cheap Freight", but what is cheap freight? That term is relative. For someone who is driving a $200k decked out large car, with more lights than the Vegas strip, and more chrome than should be legal because it can blind someone if the sun is up. And who likes to be the fastest truck on the road, MPG be ######, then for him (or her) $2.50-$3 per mile might be cheap, but for someone out here in a generic truck, running for fuel mileage, and running their business efficiently, then they can make a profit on $1.25-$1.50 per mile. The mega's out here run their business efficiently, so they can under bid many independents because they make their millions on volume, but they didn't become a mega overnight, they ran their business smart and grew it a piece at a time. Then they can afford to absorb freight rate drops and still make a profit. Kevin Rutherford has a saying, run smarter, not harder(or had a saying, I don't subscribe to Sirius/XM, so I don't know if he is even still on the radio)

 

Seen that a lot here on TTR.

I've read people post here on TTR that say they bought a truck, paid to have someone do their authority paperwork,.. they are ready to go. Then drop the bomb and ask,.. how much should they charge or what should they expect to be paid? No clue as to what they are hauling, who they would be hauling for,.. absolutely no business aspect at all. Really makes you wonder what they were thinking and who gave them the money to do this?

In reality,.. truckers are each others worst enemy. We will undercut each other in order to get work. Its done all the time. I've done and still do loads that I know should pay more,.. I do it anyway. I know this aggravates many long time old school O/O here on TTR. It nothing personal,.. its just business. If I can get out of an area to a better freight lane and still profit from the load,.. then yeah,.. sorry,.. I'll do it for a little less. And its not just me,.. its thousands of guys like me doing exactly the same thing. It keeps the brokers who thrive on selling low rates in business. I'd love to say no every single time. But the truck sitting is not earning. I'll sit for a day or 2 at the time and try to wait it out. I do try to hold out. But I'm not going to starve myself just so someone else can come in and take whats left.

As for finding direct shippers. Its great when you live in an area where there are many shippers. Thats not the case where I live. And I have no intention of moving. I like where I live. So I do what works for me. Its not the best business model,.. but it is consistent and it does keep money in the bank. I am not broke.

So while many guys complain that they cant get the $5 - $7 mi easy loads like they used to get all the time because guys like me are doing the same loads for $2.5 - $3 mi. Now they have to run 2 or 3 loads a week to make the same money they made doing just 1 or 2 loads a week. This is trucking. Tighten up the belt,.. its going to get worse before it gets better.


Hurst