Another one bites the dust.

They also bought out Millis Transfer fairly recently.

Whole trucking landscape is changing these days.

 

I don't get it. It seems to me the bigger a carrier gets, the higher their operating costs get due to EVERYBODY digging into the piggy bank. So they start cutting corners to save money while at the same time paying out to CEOs and shareholders.

Maybe I'm off base, but my little one truck operation seems to run a lot leaner and more efficiently than a big time P&S or Swift. Of course, I'm not also constantly paying out for accident settlements due to driver error and I spend far, FAR more on preventative maintenance than they do. I prefer to fix little things before they become big things. Little things cost less.

And I'm not on the hunt for another carrier to buy. Too many of these carriers are locked into the "Growth at all costs" mentality that was popular in the Eighties. I'm into the "Steady Profit" mentality, preferring to maximize my income while keeping an eagle eye on my expenses.

Could it be we small single owner operators are smarter than those big time mega carriers?

 

You and me both, brother! Truck costs less sitting still than it does chasing cheap freight.

 

What's a "regular paycheck"?

After expenses and paying the house, some weeks I'm lucky to be able to buy a Big Mac.

I'm just starting out (less than two months in), so I'm still paying myself back for all the start up costs (plates, insurance, equipment, and so on). I'm not actually hungry, I just joke a bit. But I'm still at the low end point of net profit. I just hit the point of self sustaining. I'm figuring another month or so (barring any major market fluctuations or breakdowns) before I start seeing regular net profit.

 

Oh! I remember those!

I don't miss them, though. MUCH happier running my own thing in my truck. And my house is seeing far better money now than it did when I was a company driver.

I pick my freight and lanes, my customers, and get to decide whether or not my truck is moving today. I get to say "No" and back it up. Don't have dispatch saying to me "This is the only load going, so you gotta take it no matter what."

I add my house expenses in to my truck expenses. Truck gets paid first, obviously. Then the house. I get what's left. And I'm finally back to actually enjoying what I do again.