$5+ fuel rates are soaring

I am so irritated with fuel costs that I parked my truck at 930 this morning to hang by the pool to try and calm down. Lol
I did start at 0230 so I still worked almost a full day. I am currently on a wildcat strike (Actual weekend that I don’t normally take) until early Monday morning. It has been a very productive week, netting nearly $7,000 after running expenses for 2 nights on the road working nearly 4 and 3/4 days in 55 hours. While my week was definitely more productive than most of my weeks, by netting over $1,000 more in 10-15 less hours, it was still possible by working more efficiently. I could have easily netted $2,000 less, but I chose efficiency over easy. Currently some owner ops are experiencing crazy spot market freight are making double of what I make in a normal week. Those include Carhaul, specialized and even some van lanes.

I really don’t wish I was hauling spot market freight because I like my predictable schedule, normal pay, regular routes and awesome home time more than the opportunity to make the crazy money currently experienced by some. Some specialized open deck freight is currently paying way more money than I make, but that doesn’t mean I want to jump in to it. The price of equipment alone makes that a bad decision and long term general freight will come back to reality. Those that own equipment are making a killing, but I feel that new entrants paying $200,000 for a used tractor because they see the opportunity for crazy rates are going to see their bubble burst. We are in unprecedented times and some will still thrive while others fail partially by the decisions made.

To your point that some current rates suck. If someone is hauling that cheap freight they deserve exactly what they get. There may be guys doing exactly what I do maybe netting substantially less than I do because of various reasons with productivity being just one reason. We don’t have to be like the less fortunate guys, but just have to be more efficient and profitable than them by doing whatever it takes. I don’t have to haul cheap freight just because others may. If my current situation was to change for the worse, I would change whatever it takes including my freight if necessary. For now I will suck it up and find out how to thrive with $5 fuel because I don’t see it getting much cheaper in the near future. There was a time when I would consider netting nearly $7,000 in one week amazing, but not today with the cost of everything being through the roof. It is still good money for someone who is debt free, but it isn’t going to change any of my habits regarding saving for a rainy day, spending wisely or working hard to be prepared for hard times that eventually likely will come.

 

Beautiful place you got there

 

Thank you.

 

The $18k week and off for 3 doesn’t sound like a bad plan to me.

 

Why dont you guys do a different type of trucking

 

Been there and done that over the last 35 years. I make a very good living hauling cars, set my schedule and don’t plan to do anything else. I have no desire to go sit at some grocery dock or job site waiting on someone else to unload or load me even if I am getting a reasonable detention. I like being in control of the time of day I start working, end working and where I spend the night. Very few segments of trucking give you this flexibility.

 

My friend Banker pretty much summed it up...If I never bump another dock it would be too soon been there done that for over 20 years.

The only other segment of trucking I would consider venturing into would be moving heavy equipment.