Too Many Trucks Not Enough Freight....

People have dialed back their spending. That's part of the problem too. I don't know how folks keep saying the economy is growing. The measuring stick must be the super wealthy.

 

Post-pandemic, people have shifted their discretionary spending from stuff (that moves on trucks) to experiences like travel, entertainment, and dining out. Air and road travel over Memorial Day weekend broke all kinds of records. Maybe time to get that P endorsement and drive a tour bus.

 

Probably won't be until 2026 that things balance out and rate average $2.50 to $3 a mile again.

 

I’m already seeing those rates on dry van spot. On top of that, fuel prices going below $3.00.

Through out everything, I think $1.78 was the cheapest I ran for on a long distance run.

All in all I’m starting to like what I see..hoping that the worst is behind.

I won’t say that I agree with the op other than still too many trucks out here. I didn’t run any loads that weren’t profitable but I paid for it by sitting a lot.

Been starting to dump some money into the truck. Stuff I really could put off but prefer to keep everything 100%.

My problem now is that I just want out before one of the morons takes me out.

 

I'm sure there's plenty of jobs in the tour bus industry running illegals from the border to New York, Massachusetts Chicago Atlanta name your big city.

 

Pretty much. Also doesnt help you have a flood of people who see cheap trucks and posts about how busy things got during covid just due to everything being ordered. And then think THEY will be the next swift as well as a lot of illegals and such not paying taxes or flying by night able to operate at those prices. While they admitidly dont make up the lions share of freight on the road they are enough that its dragging the industry down.

Throw on the extra capacity many megas had to expand into to keep up during covid and being able to bump smaller companys off loads just by rates or capacity and its a nightmare for anyone without a dedicated customer atm.

Granted as @Jamie01 pointed out a lot of spending has also shifted from stuff to experinces but if you add on the dent in the economy and even when people CAN afford stuff its not nearly as much and its just kinda a perfect storm for a huge slump.

With luck it will bounce back soon, but a lot is going to depend on the elections and who takes charge and how they handle things afterwards as towards if it will be soon or "soon tm"

 

My company that I currently work with has the problem of having a super abundance of freight to move but not enough trucks to move it. They can't get replacement trucks fast enough to replace their aging fleet of trucks that are still roadworthy, many of which are on their last leg. The two trucks I've alternated driving regularly have one problem or another and they're always a headache to deal with, today one of them blew out a coolant line and I've been stuck at a Kenworth dealer for the past few hours getting everything fixed. Same thing on the other truck a few months ago.

 

I'm judging it by the hotel occupancy and how long it takes to get a table in Green Bay. Not to mention how full the big box hardware stores are every weekend. Houses still getting listed on Monday and are contingent by the following Tuesday.

By every traditional measure, the economy is doing well. The problem is the economy is designed to funnel wealth, not to create broad growth, so those on the lower ends don't feel like things are coming up them. Plus all the media shouting "the economy sucks".

 

I can tell you that people stopped getting the ''i want '' to ''i have to'' things . I used to get several kitchen and bathroom upgrade calls a month to where im lucky to get 1 . Now everything is repair and only replace if absolutely necessary . With that said ill be out of it soon enough .