Rates in the toilet?

your personal home and the thing you make your income with ie: truck are generally protected .
the days of them selling all your stuff off are long gone history.
I filed in 80's and again in 2000. In 2000 I didn't have to just wanted rid of a wrongful death suit and some large hospital bills.

 

My wife and I have our own authority, she does the dispatching and books, while I drive the truck. Since October 1, 2014 rates have gone down almost 50%, which coincides with the collapse of the oil market. We pull a flat bed and have seen not only the rates go down (as low as 75 cents a mile for a 48,000 tarped load), but freight decline over all. Listening to trucking news by Mark Willis on SiriusXM's Roaddog Trucking News, freight is way down. Chinese exports are down 40% from a year ago, container traffic is down 13% from last year, and other commodities have dropped also. Since oil collapsed, oil pipe is almost non existent except for hauling pipe from closed pipe yards to wholesalers. Steel isn't moving, because pipe isn't in demand, nor oil rigs and all the stuff that goes to support those rigs. There are some large construction projects on going, but that is generally local stuff and concrete.

Worse is that all those drivers that were working the oil fields have now been thrust into the general freight market. There was already a shortage of profitable loads, but now there is also an over capacity of trucks. I met some drivers last week that had been doing strictly oil field pipe and sand supply, but their boss had leased the trucks to Universal. But even that company wasn't keeping them moving.

The bottom line is that we are heading into a depression and quietly so. I don't know how many of us will be around this time next year if rates don't inch a little bit north. I usually take from the middle of December to the middle of January off, but won't be able to this year. What once took my wife only a couple of hours of work to book me for a week to ten days is now taking her all day to book me for the next day or two. Even this year it will be a struggle to take the week of Thanksgiving off, but will have to make do as there is very little freight moving that week.

I can only praise God that we haven't lost money on any loads and that He provides our daily needs. I am confident that He will see us through, it just won't be easy.

 

It's not like that for everyone. There are folks like Scooter Jones & myself that run in markets that are holding up fairly well. I just did my third quarter numbers- rates are down about .10 but my fuel cost is down .19 per mile over last year. Miles are steady, so I'm feeling pretty good.

 

Right on

 

I'm leased on with schnieder. Freight is down, but I'm doing ok. My average is about the same, but my miles are down. Contract freight is holding up, better than spot market.

 

Well this place hasn't changed.... LOL!!!!

 

Im running a small hot shot flatbet, 24 footer. I run it with a ford f350 , and for the year I average about $1.40 mile including all miles , which is pretty good for me profit wise. Im on pace to put on 100k-110k miles on the truck for the year. That said, the last few months, there have been times where I cant find anything decent looking at the load boards all day, for a day or two. The good loads that pop up are gone so fast now. Im just trying to scrap thru like many of us now. You have to keep moving though even if you have the vehicle paid off..The cost for my auto and cargo is close to 10k/year and Im running a pickup truck.I have to imagine that it is the same or worse for big trucks.

 

Must be progressive insurance. They robbed me for a couple years till I switched companies no their new quote for next year is lots less.

 

Are you hauling cars? 10k for that set up seems high unless you are running cars which are considered hazmat...

 

I've had progressive for years. Every time I'm up for renewal they beat all other offers by $8k-12k.

All the places that have approached me are more expensive; and all the places I've approached based on their low cost don't serve customers located where I am based.