Big questions for all timers.

A huge difference between then and now is...

Two years prior to 2008 the trucking industry didn't see record breaking new authorities like it has the previous two years... Not to mention back then people weren't buying used freightliners with 500k miles for $100k either...

The herd is gonna be thinned quickly if and when the crash happens.

 

A lot of people were doing that. Companies we’re paying drivers stupid pay to. How do you talk a driver into taking a pay cut to save you from going under?

 

Mercer booted 200 under performing trucks in early 2009...

 

This is going to be a lot uglier than the last crash. The FED has printed 9 trillion dollars since 2009. And that is going to continue to drive inflation for the foreseeable future.

 

I sold all my trucks but one for a fat profit since I bought them when covid hit. Sold $25k over purchase price with 200k more miles. It was not worth the effort to hire drivers and the ones I could find didn’t want to work but like every other week. Purchased trailers as they are recession proof really. When market tanks I’ll buy more assets for pennies on the dollar again.

 

The one difference is that contract stuff didn’t shoot way up when the spot market was high. I can look back at loads I hauled over a year ago and ones I’ve hauled recently to the same places and the rate is exactly the same, just the surcharge is higher.

I’m sure a lot will want to negotiate rates because the spot market dropped, but larger customers also need to think about having trailers available when they need them, or even a trailer pool on site for drop and hook, and those are things a broker can’t provide.

And we see it here all the time, brokers aren’t dropping their rates to their customers, they’re simply taking more off the top.

 

2008 and 2009 were good times for me.
Cheap trucks and equipment for sale all over, and tons of work, because some people were holding out for a golden ticket ride or something, so I swooped in and just worked hard, and cleaned up.

 

Yes. Many guys took that stupid SBA $150k loans and jumped into trucking. Now they regret. To many new authorities opened last two years. Its time to take back cascadias that was purchased over $185k..

 

for me bad years were 2002-2003, 2007-2008, 2012-2013 ...but i survived because i know if 2-3 years are good for trucking, than bad years will come for sure.. just saved money for bad times.

 

For guys who took SBA EIDL loans and put them as a down payment for new $200k Cascadia you guys will go there from where you came into trucking. Its sad but next time be careful when buying new trucks and trailers.
SBA will start payments for EIDL loans from January 1.

 

I was hauling a lot of lumber back then, and had just updated my equipment and paid cash for it when housing went Downhill. So I just started looking for loads thru Landstar, Mercer, and a few others. I was hopping around. Back then, they had alot of military moves. Regardless, I always found work.