The State of the Trucking Economy Thread

Tariffs + higher inflation + higher interest rates + too many foreigners invaded trucking = things still sucking for long time and going strong with the suckiness

 

Imo looking at their stats.

Average truck age of 10+ years old.

24% of a 50 truck fleet OOS. 7 decades in the game.

That's not a freight market issue, that's a poorly run company issue.

 

neglecting maintenance is usually the last straw at trying to stay afloat before going bankrupt

 

I disagree. When things are circling the drain that's how it goes for a company that's been around a while. A slow bleed out. I remember 20 years ago they had some nice trucks.

 

Dum, de we wee,,( somber music) well, I'll tell ya', as an old timer, THIS is the downside of your so-called, "modern society". This is a culmination of several factors. Over regulation, lack of qualified drivers, and a general shift from truckloads of freight made in Pittsburg, to containers of small products from overseas, going on package delivery vans, which is huge, by the way. We, as a country, simply aren't consuming products that used to take a fleet of trucks to deliver. Obviously, there are many things that still require a fleet of trucks, but again, one mega company can do a lot more than 20 smaller companies, and "Flo" is helping kill the small guys. These mega pileups that we just turn a blind eye to, really must have lasting effects, and these smaller companies just can't afford the premiums. Can you imagine the spike in that after a couple pileups? Many of the things I used to haul in the 80s, don't exist anymore. Cardboard, paper, batteries or car parts, plywood, paneling, stuff that made a trucking company work, all gone. Whenever I see a trucking company fold today, it hits me below the belt, because, in my time, work was NEVER an issue. Today, these drivers livelihoods and families are at risk. Can't say we didn't see it coming, I got out 20 years ago as I saw it beginning to slide. One thing is crystal clear, and I won't see it, luckily, but it's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better, if ever.

 

And with a lot of smaller companies the second generation doesn’t want to be in the business.

 

Southeast and some of our Texas terminals.