Rates are crashing and fuel to the moon!

We seem to be sitting a lot waiting on our turns home. We have LOTS of south bound and even Canada only freight going out at pretty good rates, all $4+, but it's taking days to get back, or you just go home on your dime. Dont that twice now. .....
So......
I'm looking at local container work. A friend dispatches trucks for them. They have 1 dedicated store they do all the deliveries for, suppose to have 16 trucks to service the account, has 8 currently.
They also have a lot of regular freight off the docks and train..
The nice part is, no company trucks, all O/O.
Rates aren't great but its light, mty return, and short miles. Its mileage based with hourly as soon as your on site, or hourly if it's in the immediate area.
They seem to have lots of work and she showed me a couple other truck statements, (blacked out owners info and permission first) and they seem to be doing pretty good. Monday to Friday, weekends if you want more, and most nights home if you want.
I'm almost 60 and looking at my second hip replacement coming up by the feel of it, at that point my truck gets sold and I'm done. I may make a switch and see how it goes. We dont owe a cent to the world, and my truck is paid for so it wont hurt to have a look see. I'll stow my headache rack and gear just in case.
Lol.

 

That sounds like a good opportunity.

 

On paper it does, next time home I really need to drill down and see what ot is all about.

 

Truck prices are just insane. Bad time to be an owner op

 

the higher the up the harder the crash…

I do think once it all settles averages will be a little higher then in the past, even the megas are paying more for drivers now and with the cost of equipment/parts what it is it’s costing everyone more, it’s just going to be a blood bath in the mean time

 

Im not sure about new prices . but the used auction market has crashed .. 2019's with 350k miles going for 30k.. Dealerships are buying those trucks and trying to flip them for 50k+

 

Rates aren't good
Has 8 out if 16
I'd, not be interested.
But, good wishes.

 

And the meek shall inherit the earth....................

 

Just want to put in a disclaimer that I do recommend LTL to anybody wanting to get into the business, I'm pretty sure experiences vary terminal to terminal.

But, in regards to what you just wrote and how it relates to local work, this what the bosses at my terminal a year and a half ago didn't seem to understand - They had a slave labor mentality of being able to mandate that they can run out your 14 hour clock every single day if they wanted to and you had better be there on time to work the next day. They tried to pull this on me one week. I kid you not, I was just below 40 hours when I finished my shift one Wednesday. 3 days of work, almost at 40. And keep in mind at Estes it was no overtime until the 52nd hour (lol). That Wednesday when I finished my shift (bone dead tired) I told the night clerk to send the P&D boss an email/message saying that I would be arriving to work 1 hour past what was my scheduled start time because I was absolutely exhausted (I had a 35-40 minute commute each way, on top of pulling almost 14 hour days for 3 days straight)......

The next day I came in 1 hour late as I said I would. The P&D boss, the head dispatcher under the P&D boss and another guy (he might've been safety or in management, I can't remember his job title but he was at the same level as the P&D Boss, Linehaul Boss and Dock Boss, only the top boss of the whole terminal was above those 4 guys) wanted to talk to me.

So anyways they pull me into the office and asked me why I came in 1 hour late. I told them because I was at almost 40 hours after 3 days of working and that I decided I needed an extra hour of sleep the 4th day because I was so tired. They said I couldn't do that and stated they could work me 14 hours every single day if they wanted to and that I HAD to come in on time. To which I replied to all 3 of them, with a straight face and proper and to the point:

"Correct. And per the DOT regulations and the DOT handbook, if a driver deems themselves too fatigued to work then they cannot be forced to work if they cannot safely do so due to fatigue. And after you guys worked me almost 40 hours in a 3 day period when I did not want to do that, I think I have a very legal case for being fatigued."

And then the P&D boss started to argue with me (he had a college degree so that's how he got his upper management job as the P&D boss, no CDL license, never driven a truck in his life, he was older than me but younger than 90% of the P&D drivers, worked only 9-10 hours per day but expected his drivers to work 12-14 hours per day, you know the deal lol). The safety guy (or whatever his title was) then cut the P&D guy off. The safety guy knew that I was right and he knew that I knew my workers rights as a CDL holder. The safety guy didn't try to argue with me, instead he started his whole spiel about how important safety was and how Estes was all about safety, lol lol lol.

So AFTER I let management know that I knew my legal workers rights as a CDL holder, THEN the safety guy told me that next time if I'm too fatigued to drive, then to call them in the morning instead of letting them know the night before. Which I even brought to their attention that if I would have woken up before my scheduled start time and told them I was too fatigued to drive (because they worked me almost 40 hours in a 3 day period, mind you), then I would have come in even LATER than just the 1 hour late that I came in, because then I would have had to fall back asleep after I woke up and called them.

But safety guy (or whatever his job title was) said that's what I had to do.

Keep in mind, this terminal had a turnover rate through the roof. They couldn't keep guys. Upper management couldn't understand why.

"It's a good job. $26.15 per hour to start out. Back in my day, blah blah blah blah blah."

You're absolutely right about the slave labor mentality. I'm a young single man, I have no family, no wife or expensive divorce(s), no kids. Kids will come along when I have proper F U money because I'll be ###### if I ever put myself in a financial situation where I let some LTL company work me 12 - 14 hour days like a dog for $26.15 per hour and OT after 52 hours because I need the money that bad. Nope. Not going to happen.

And while I may not yet have F U money for myself, a wife and kid(s) at this point in my life, I certainly have the F U money as a single man that I won't put up with that. And I didn't.

Not for $26.15 per hour and OT after 52. Lol.

 

I left being an owner operator a while ago. Recently , I thought about it again . I have some contacts with direct work that pays very well. I had a truck in mind that I liked and sat in it and looked at my family in my pick up waiting for me . I said to myself “ Would I ever risk their financial security on the reliability of this truck , and always worrying about it , and being responsible for all the paperwork, and legal bs that goes with it today “and said no .
We were supposed to take that truck home that night. It was a beautiful W900 , studio sleeper with a rebuilt 600 Cat . It had some miles on it , but was well taken care of. A true old school large car . A truck I always wanted , knew the owner and was getting a great deal on it .He had another guy begging to buy it , but he gave me first option on it. He was even holding the note on it with no money down and no interest! Lol ( He’s a wealthy guy ). I was so excited to take that truck home that night , so were my kids. But reality set in and I remembered all the things I hated and had to worry about being an owner operator. When it’s good it’s good , when it’s bad , it’s a nitemare.
They were shocked when I turned the truck off and got back in my pick up and left . They asked me why we weren’t taking the truck home and I told them , they were more important to me than that cool looking truck and I explained it to them.
I actually work for that rich guy hauling containers in a new fullly loaded double bunk Volvo hauling containers as a company driver. I make $500-$550 a day for a 10-14 hour day 5 days a week , doing 1 , 400 to 500 mile load a day loaded one way , empty coming back. home every night if I want , sometimes sleep in the truck because I’m tired and want to get an early start on the day. Full medical and dental paid for by the company and after 36 years driving actually found a job I love and look forward to going to work everyday. Yes , hauling containers to the port in NJ which everyone says pays no money , “pier rats “ with broken down trucks ( yeah, there is a bunch of those , some actually some of the nicest drivers I ever met , they do drive crazy though …lol)
I was going to give that up to “ live the dream” ,
Be my own boss! ( we all work for someone) and risk my families security to drive a cool old school truck , I had to worry about every second of the day. No , not me , if I was 25 again with no family to worry about , and not been an owner operator before , I would have jumped all over that truck , and not looked back . Driving isn’t my only source of income , we have a small farm , I have investment real estate and also liquidate equipment . I could survive a catastrophic mechanical failure with that truck , but don’t want to ever have to . I’ll let someone else worry about the truck and legal hassles of the truck I drive and make a good living being a “ company driver” . Lol.