Economy and trucking jobs

Yeah , the fuel prices are is killing our economy , and it seems everybody is trying to pass the cost ON !!!! down to the next person OR CONSUMER , i.e. food price= GROCERIES , DIAPERS, MILK going up , airline ticket up , fuel up , cost of eating out up ......iF WE KEEP PASSING IT ON EVENTUALLY WHO WILL BE ABLE TO PAY ? = RECESSION OR WORSE ...

 

I don't think driver churn/turnover ever changes in the OTR segment regardless what the economy does. I'm not seeing less of the glossy ads and there's plenty to look thru in the driver section of my local calssifieds. You shouldn't have a problem getting an OTR job. Getting steady miles might be a challenge though. Good LTL and union carriers are probably impossible to get on with right now.

 

I think we've been in a recession for many months now, and the only reason the guv't-media are not admitting it?, well think about it.

As far as grocery etc going up it's not entirely about fuel costs rising, altho the propoganda the system floats is what they want us to believe that(it's always easier to hit-blame the larger and silent target).

Think about it, a load of freight cost was even an extra few hundred dollars, over the coarse of many thousands of dollars worth of groceries on that load and if you cost average the extra fuel surchage, it would only add peanuts to the retail cost of each item(tens of thousands of items per trailer) if that.

It's greed, plain and simple and their just using fuel as the target(the defenseless target). Notice too, ya rarley hear a peep out of the oil companies outside of what their price tags demand, yet their profits are thru the roof!

As far as what trucking companies are doing in the payscale arena for drivers, they're just turning down the trucks as a way to cut pay-expenses.

Take Schneider for example, getting ready to cut their rigs back to 60mph from 65. Do the math over the course of a year, per driver, per truck that may run say 100,000+ miles per year. This alone saves a tad over 8% per year no matter how many miles the truck-driver runs.

Don't believe everything the media want's ya to believe, as they really have no clue and are just a megaphone-mouthpiece for you know who.

 

The term "recession" is a technical one with a very specific qualifier: two or more quarters of negative GDP growth.

Our economy is still growing at a very slow pace. We are not in a recession. People are less likely to be spending money as a result of the "recession" coverage in the media. This actually has a very good chance of spawning the recession that has not yet happened.

However, if there is a bright side, it could very well be that people are getting their finances in order after years of being irresponsible, assuming that their growing home value will cover their excessive spending.

It took us over 10 years to figure out that we were spending more than we made, no matter how many loopholes and tricks we devised to "beat the creditors at their own game". Dave Ramsey helped us to figure things out, and we no longer use credit cards for purchases (unless it's for my truck, expensed to the owner). I've found that much of the heartland already runs on this basic premise and that each coast is having a hard time with this concept. As a result, I'm noticing a very obvious trend that consumer item loads to the middle of the country haven't slowed down like I figured they would (and like they have on the east & west coasts).

 

Good point!
Many consumers played this game and now the banks have over corrected and have finally raised the bar forcing folks to jump even higher if they want credit. There were way too many people in this country that should not have been able to finance a pack of gum, much less a property mortgage. The end result, foreclosure city.

Call me old fashioned, but I haven't owned a credit card in 20 years, and have only borrowed money when I needed to. In other words, if I didn't have the money, and the situation was not an emergency, we go without until we get have the money to pay for it. Thus I have a minute % of debt the last 2 decades, unlike so many other folks that are just buried behind the 8ball of debt that will take them decades to get out from under, if ever.

I can't imagine owing several tens of thousands of dollars to just a credit card company, although I know many people who do. 99% of junkmail in my mailbox is from credit card companies though. I guess they think I'll take the plunge into the sea of debt, like so many others have. No thanks!

 

Wow this one went way off topic but I have to say Dave Ramsey is a great fellow. Been listening to the guy for years and doing what he teaches i.e. (lol) I don't borrow money, if I can't pay for it I can't afford it, I don't participate in recessions, recession?? what recession?? Now the price to fill up my personal ride is a pain but not really all things considered everything I own is paid for and there's money in the bank. The best thing I ever did was cut up the credit cards, pay them off, and never again... This country would be amazing if everyone followed these principles and a lot less susceptable to economic downturns imo...

 

at one point, a few years ago, I had about 60K in unsecured debt. On the other hand, I was using that to finance getting my company off the ground (no angel / investments )

Now, I have essentially zero debt (except for the house). Once I'm employed again, we go back to overpaying the mortgage.

I have no credit cards (unless you count green-dot)

I check each C/C offer I get in the mail.. if somebody were to offer me something like an 8.5% apr, I might do it. But the lowest offer I've seen has been over 17% (base).. the highest base rate was an ungodly 32% APR!!!
I didn't even bother to check what these guys wanted in the event of a missed payment.

Yeah, Credit cards are evil.. "Pure concentrated evil!". Once upon a time, if used properly, they were moderately good things to have.. but with the advent of debit cards.. why bother?

 

New guy here. What r LTL's and what compaines r union. Thanks.

 

Credit cards are pure money makers for folks who know how to use them. I float EVERY purchase on a credit card....fuel, food, big-ticket items...everything. At the end of the month I pay them all, carry no balance on the cards. I know I float over $60K a year with an average float of 20 days. I carry no cash - can't spend what you don't have. You'd be amazed at how much a cup of coffee a day at a couple of bucks turns into in a year invested. I can get my hands on over $30K with my credit cards...that is serious money if you need it quickly.