Getting Truck / Authority Beware - The Ship Has Sailed

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by Midwest Trucker, Oct 18, 2018.

  1. Musashi

    Musashi Light Load Member

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    You don't have to go into debt anymore to get a degree. There are hundreds of ways to get an accredited degree either free or on the cheap. It's just that kids and parents don't want to take the time to discover how to do it.

    A degree is a tool/option and it's one of the best to own, as long as you don't go into debt to do it. My cousin's son is in Germany going to school for free. Does he speak German? No! He's on an English program. Was he great in high school? No, average at best. Basically, his dad thought, "How can I get my kid a STEM degree for as little money as possible?" So with the help of the internet, his son is now in Germany getting a STEM degree.

    Those who research win every time....
     
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  3. Scooter Jones

    Scooter Jones Road Train Member

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    I FINALLY got my 30 day average for January over $2.00 a mile.

    Man, lemme tell ya, I haven't had to strategize that much in quite some time LOL.

    January is almost gone. February is already on an upswing as far as some of my normal contacts reaching out to me.

    Can we just fast forward to April? ;-)
     
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  4. Scooter Jones

    Scooter Jones Road Train Member

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    Last edited: Feb 16, 2019
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  5. Scooter Jones

    Scooter Jones Road Train Member

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    February is better for me on the rates. As I suspected, they would tick upward.

    However, I have been very picky and have been timing my loads so as to miss and stay out of the crappy weather as much as possible.

    I've only done $9,307 dollars of revenue this month so far (by choice). However, that's only on 3,392 ALL miles. Haven't been any farther than 325 miles away from home on any load I've run this month.

    To say that I've had a lot of home time would be an understatement ;-)
     
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  6. Midwest Trucker

    Midwest Trucker Road Train Member

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    I was looking at DAT yesterday and compared to a year ago there was 49% more truck posts and 34% less load posts. Yep, that’ll hurt rates!

    Other sources say freight volume is as good or better then the last two years meaning the economy is humming along nicely. As suspected, there are just too many people who went out and bought trucks and even with a good economy the supply and demand is out of wack.

    Feb has been pretty rough in the Midwest. The extreme cold helped the rates there for a couple weeks but it was hard runnin too. Now things are back to crap. It’s fully sunk in with everyone now too. Even shorter to short hauls are paying not so hot unless you have regular runs in place and the broker is sticking with you and not cutting your throat.

    We are still finding pockets of money here and there but it’s been pretty rough. If it’s your first year or two and you don’t know much I’d be worried. I see the spring ramp up as being more of a support level for rates vs an increase. Meaning rates won’t go up but will quit going down.

    Edit: One thing I have noticed is that recruiting is still extremely difficult but I have been getting some more calls. This tells me companies are starting to go broke or very least retract. It’s a sign of conditions for sure.
     
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  7. Midnightrider909

    Midnightrider909 Road Train Member

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    If I could I’d set up an operation hauling freight from Spokane to Seattle and back from May through October and take the rest of the year off.
     
  8. Scooter Jones

    Scooter Jones Road Train Member

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    The guy I used to work for is now hiring student drivers fresh out of school. He told me he cannot retain drivers. Hires 2 loses three, etc.

    I would never in a million years thought he'd do that. Used be a company with a minimum 2 year experience level and a waiting list of drivers wanting to work there.

    Guess it's a sign of the times?
     
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  9. Scooter Jones

    Scooter Jones Road Train Member

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    Then there's this from Glenn Beck (of all people) on a potential looming crisis in our economy because of changes in the trucking industry.

     
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  10. Midnightrider909

    Midnightrider909 Road Train Member

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    STEM degrees + room and board are virtually free in Germany. Who would’ve thunk it?
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2019
  11. Midwest Trucker

    Midwest Trucker Road Train Member

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    Now if they would just pay another 40 billion per year towards their share of the NATO costs, everything would be great!
     
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