One ??????

In my opionion it will get worse.
-The trucks become easier and more comfortable to drive (automatic trans./air cond/ect.) = more people willing to do it = less pay.
-more elec. leashes (qualcom, comp., cell phones) = more stress on driver (I would have liked to drive when a pay phone was the only chance of anyone bothering me).
-more state/federal regulations and states trying to profit off citing drivers (ex. - it's a moving violation to park on a ramp in Indiana, but for another $50 you can divert the ticket and keep it off your record)
-throw away trucks and throw away drivers (from company point of view)
-obvious fuel price concerns and environmentalists crying
-people pushing to let illegals haul our loads for less $
-more trucks on the road, providing the opurtunity for bad drivers (both 4-wheelers and professional) to cause issues
-shippers, recievers, and carriers still able to screw driver out of money, sleep, and time. (think about it- if the government wanted to stop all illegally moved freight that was on the road after hours of service, they would require carriers to use electronical monitoring- not a piece of paper you can throw away- they don't want to stop drivers from driving illegally- it would bring a HUGE economic imact on our country. Meanwhile shippers, recievers, carriers use this to their advantage to screw drivers out of valuable sleep).

What was proably once thought of as a tough/independent mans job is soon to become a taken for granted service we provide, as we are forced to put up with more and more crap.

That said, there were hard times to the good ol' days....I don't mind hard work though....take me back there.

 

The biggest reason things are as bad as the are and will stay that way is because of brokers. We have some that will not honor our contract rates, they have a # in their heads that some moron will haul the load for and it is either do it for that or leave me alone. If you ain't happey getting a $1.50/mile load and calling it a high dollar load it is hard to get anything to haul. Friday I got a call from dispatch saying that the load I was getting from long island on monday had a problem, after we took the load, found me a load to get there( a place I have no desire to go for only $2/mile) they found somebody to do it for less, I said how much less he said it went from $2.41/mile down to $1.78/ mile and on top of that there are $100 worth of tolls to pay. There is nothing we could do, the contract had not been signed and they found some idiot to do it for nothing, because I am turning my $2/mile freight into $1 /mile freight when I deadhead home tomorrow

 

I am not usually the most optimistic person when it comes to this industry but I have to say I think it will get better. #1) The industry is getting a shake up and companies are going out of business...only the well managed and strong will survive. #2) Crappy brokers are also heading for the hills because it's not as easy as it used to be. #3) America needs its trucks. Thats right freight has to be moved from one place to another and trucks are still the most practical way to get it there. Now, with that said, we may have some tuff times ahead but I think Trucking will come out stronger for them.

 

Gone is the brotherhood of truckers. Today there are too many steering wheel holders that think of nothing but themselves. The camaraderie is gone and has been replaced by "I don't give a ##### about you as long as I get what I want" radio rambos
The fuel prices are through the roof and the rules are getting tighter.

 

Truck manufacturers have formed alliances with engine companies, signaling the death of component spec’ing. We are growing ever closer to a monopoly of truck manufacturers controlled by foreign interests. The American truck purchaser is being left with fewer choices other than European designs.

 

the biggest reason it won't get better, like it "was" in the "old days"

has already been posted...

trucking companies are going broke and only the strongest and most effiecient will survive.

this says it all!!!!!!!

drivers are looking for things to get better for them personally...

trucking in general may continue, and likely will... but as things require trucking to be more efficient... that leaves less for the driver.

being gone from home requires a premium be paid. otr will never be a minimum wage position but for 95% it will also never be a "high income" job either.

driving requires a modest amount of dedication, you have to deliver the load.

driving requires a modest amount of commmon sense, don't wreck the truck.

driving used to require an above average amount of hand eye coordination, now automatics are eliminating this requirement.


efficient means utilizing your resources for the maximum benefit of the company.

don't fuel at the most expensive place in town, don't pay the best wages... pay just enough to get the load moved !!!


non-specialized independents will continue a slow decline to oblivion because they are in competition with a business model that favors the 10% paper pushers and stockholders over the 90% that actually do the actual work.

independent's can save a little by driving an older truck, easing into the throttle and basically being as efficient as they can be and getting to keep that extra money that would have been saved by a company. they can claim this extra as a supplement to their wages...

they won't however be driving non aero big stack chromed out pete's down the highway at 75mph and putting anything in their pockets or putting swift out of business.

the load only pays so much money period!!! and you have to do the job and make as much of that, finite resource, stick as possible.

now if there were a real union... that could say... all the drivers get paid 30 an hour or a $1 a mile after expenses or NO-freight gets moved period... well then we'd all be making better money.


you need to remember that capitalism exploits the people/labor.

socialism exploits the aristocracy.

well... its suposed to... lol most often the visionary leadership gets greedy stupid and it turns into an alternative socialized-slave labor-capitalist movement. kinda like china running sweatshops and paying workers in bowls of rice while the elite get rich... that's not true socialism...

but what do I know? I are juz a dumb trucker...

 

Please define "Old Days". You mean something like: no power steering, hard seats, hard suspension, engines that wouldn't pull a hill faster that 5 to 10 MPH, forget the hours of service......dispatchers were Gods.

One year of driving? I don't believe you begin to comprehend the definition of "Old Days".

 

Yep....I'd like to go back there. No qualcom, less people doing it, no cell phones, truly out on your own thru good/bad, .....less b.s., more hard work. I've always done jobs most guys can't/won't do (before trucking)....I think for some people it would be worth some of the trade-offs.

-But I realize the point your making....undoubtibly, most people proably don't realize how ruff it proably was.