Rates are crashing and fuel to the moon!

Calling out bad news sources and the parroting of it is necessary, because not every source is referencing actual news. Too many people are unable to tell the difference between the ideological news commentary from the actual news facts. That's the failure of the education system to create critical thinkers rather than feel good emoticons. Only one source has been calling out this nonsense from the beginning, and it took the rest of the country 10 years to realize it was right. The others are dying and are desparately seeking relevance again.

The mainstream news media is no longer mainstream, nor news media. They have become what we used to term 'yellow journalism', which essentially went for sensationalism, and was scant on facts. That's been the current state of information from the 'trusted' sources of a delusional ideology that is bringing us to this state of politics and distrust of media. So to call out the innuendo and untruths for what they are, is a duty of fair-minded and informed people, even if it makes some feel uncomfortable. Yes, they were bold faced lies, all but the part of him being white. This kind of discussion of facts is what Charlie was talking about. Thinking for oneself, not parrotting the party/news media line.

 

I couldn’t agree with you more except for one thing. Everybody talks trash about educators these days, mostly because of the bad examples we see in mainstream media.

My question, not for you, but for everyone, is whose job is it to educate a child? The parents or the school system? If you’ve got a bad teacher then work with the principal and get the problem solved. If you live in a bad school system, why would you not move? What could be more important while raising kids than keeping them in a good school system? This is all grade school stuff though. A lot of the bad ‘educators’ in the news, especially those dumb enough to air their grievances on social media, our college professors and kids should be able to think for themselves by then.

I’d say one out of 10 teachers is a bad one and probably one out of 10 school systems.
We just hear about the bad ones. Most teachers are doing all they can to educate children walking a fine line because of some of the nut job parents they think they are wrong no matter what they do.

Most teachers, especially those in rural America, haven’t changed in generations. They are still doing a great job. albeit a thankless one.

 

Sooo…. How about that moon fuel?

 

This is not a hate on you @86scotty, but here's my take.....
Just read an article where a second grade teacher had students who couldn't tie their shoes. Couldn't understand how an apple worked unless it was cut up.
My point is this:
It is not the failure of the public school system that can't teach second graders to tie their shoes; it is the failure of the parents to do so.
My goodness. When my daughter went to school she could tie her own laces and do her ABC's and 123's. It's because we thought it was important and we weren't dependent on other folks to teach her.
It's easy enough to blame the next guy down the line, but if you can't simply teach your child to tie their own shoes, you suck and you shouldn't have children.

 

Well said ! My wife retired 3 years ago, she was a paraprofessional for 26 years. Mainly for kindergarten but a few years first grade. She said most kids could tie shoes , knew most of the ABC's and some could write their name. But there was always a few that the parents would send to school in a diaper and didn't know anything. It's pitiful.

 

I think it's less excessive pride and more lack of perspective.

I bought my first house when I was 24. I thought I was doing the smart, responsible thing - "owning is better than renting" was drummed into me from every angle while I was growing up. It was one of the dumber decisions I've made in life. Shortly after buying the house I was faced with needing to find a new job - I could have stayed where I was, but I could see I was in an untenable situation. My options were limited by the house - selling so soon would have cost me more than my down payment in realtor fees/closing costs. More correctly I perceived my options were limited by the house. I could have gone after some very nice job openings and just taken the loss, but that went against everything I'd been told my entire life.

It's the same in trucking. "Megas are low paying and will micro manage you". "Small companies treat and pay drivers better". "Owning your own truck is better than being a company schlub -even if it pays less at least you have your freedom."

Very few Esteemed Members believed me when I posted my pay from Schneider - they couldn't comprehend that a mega driver was making more than they were AND getting home every week. There's an particular Esteemed Member who insists that running out his clocks every day and then taking a restart should make him more money - if only the office idiots would run him hard. Yet for the last month or so he's been running recaps and has had his best weeks since returning to his mega. From his perspective, running hard and resetting should result in more miles, and more miles is more money. In theory, he's right - in practice it doesn't work with that company's freight.

A lot of the guys who get into L/P are buying into larger societal talking points about "entrepreneurship", "self reliance", and "private enterprise". They feel good about themselves while getting punched in the face repeatedly, until they're forced to face reality. Think about how many long term posters have recently transitioned from owners to company drivers and found they were making making more and working less? From their perspective, they were fighting the good fight, and long term it would pay off - until it didn't.

More broadly, this is a big part of the reason rates are crap - too many little fish snapping up whatever tidbits they can.

 

Basically , you already gave up . You believe that this is the way it’s supposed to be. ( megas -corporations) You MUST work for megas . Let megas run the show . Let megas dictate your life and the economy . Be dependable from megas .
What about when those big companies , megas , corporations start monopolizing this industry ? Do you really think your life will get better,? your pay check will get better? What about when they decide to cut your benefits because their shareholders demand more revenue ??? What about when they closed doors and file bankruptcy, whee is your retirement ???
A neighbor and friend of mine , he is 89 years old . He was sed to work for CAT in Utah as cashier . He worked for the same company for 44 years . With his salary , he bought a house , he put his 3 children through college , his wife dedicated her life to her children 100% of her time .both are alive and he and his wife live a decent life with his retirement .
Can you do that now days ??? course you or me nor our children can do that .. so what is wrong with this picture???
I’m 100% independent o/o and you are absolutely correct . There is not fkn way I can compete against big companies . because , this is my opinion . If you are honest and do the right thing for this industry and for America , you are fkd . You will never succeed economically.
If you cheat , lie exploit , get federal subsidies, get your connections, political leverage, bring cheap labor from other countries , course you will succeed .
So , we all know what is going on here in America , but most of us are very ignorant and uneducated. Most of us greedy and we don’t give ## about anyone. Everyone is chasing money and will do anything for it. Unfortunately this type of behavior is beneficial to corporations and we are fkn dmb that we are allowing them to buy politician, create rules and regulations to protect their money , make abuse and exploitation legally in America .
,

 

You can’t compete with a mega because you can’t offer what they do when you only have one truck, regardless of rates. You don’t have a 3 to 1 trailer to truck ratio so that warehouse don’t have to slow down.

My question is why do you view megas as your competition? Your competition is everyone else on the load boards fighting for what’s left. Get rid of the reefer and get into something specialized that will get you higher rates.

 

My post was about how perspective skews decision making - not about large companies being better or worse.

There are small companies that are better than large, and large that are better than small. Its about objectively weighing the pros and cons and making informed choices WITHOUT cultural bias.

There are cultural incentives that allow individuals to act against their own self interest. Some of those lead to buying a truck and some others lead to groveling at the feet of a corporate master. Neither is necessarily better or worse, its just important to recognize that those incentives exist to understand why the world is the way it is.

 

have you seen low bed or dump rates? There’s a reason my hydro tank is sitting off in the weeds and I have a brand new stainless reefer on the pin,

Most megas want places with large volume that can toss any clown on and can afford to #### up, it becomes a totally different thing when you are loading a couple pallets at a hole in the wall place and know that if you #### this load up on them they might not make payroll next month, megas don’t want to deal with it,

hell we get a couple posts a week about guys crying they aren’t making money but they have a laundry list of stuff they won’t do,