7 signs that the trucking company you work for could be closing

The entire industry is changing. As someone who’s just at a year into this industry, even I can see that. Everything about it is about to change. Kind of similar to the way Uber has changed taxi service transportation. You’re going to Gabe high tech electric trucks soon. Like it or not, they’re coming. No I personally don’t think fully self driving trucks are gonna happen for at least 15 to 20 years. Hell they can’t even get the monitoring equipment they have on trucks now calibrated correctly. That said, eventually it’s going to happen.

but what you’re seeing now is the way loads are brokered and distributed are changing. All it takes is for a trucking company to lose a major contract and they can be done. On the spot. You’ve got Amazon taking over everything and trying to run their own trucks. Walmart, etc. many major distributors going to bidders and others doing their own trucking. It’s changed and will continue to change, trucking companies are being forced to bid on loads on the open market much the same way an owner operator does. This takes time, costs money and means far less revenue for loads. I suspect most of the smaller trucking companies to be gone in a decade or less.

The only good news in this is, but overall there’s no shortage of a need for drivers out there. The economy is heating up, and people are buying stuff everywhere and trucking is still very much in demand. That said, yes, cash those paychecks as soon as you get them! Lol

 

The electric trucks are a long way off unless they raise the max weight on those trucks. The batteries alone probably weight over 10,000 lbs and will require significant upgrades to infrastructure to even consider supporting even a small percentage of the industry going electric.

 

amazon is sub contracting them day cabs. 1099. walmart is starting take over almost all of its dc's. outside help cost them more money then walmart drivers them self

 

Huh ? Pay checks dont cash ? And fuel cards dont work ?
I never would have made the connection!

 

I hate to use this line but here goes:
Now listen here you young whippersnapper, just you settle down a minute and lets this 43 year veteran tell you what's about to happen:
I don't know.
Your first statement above is absolutely earth shattering in it's insight. No kidding. EVERYTHING is changing. It is the nature of things.
The Apple Iphone was introduced by Steve Jobs in June of 2007. Combined with the buildout of the networks to support it, which really didn't happen until 5 years later, the changes made to every facet of culture world wide won't even be understood for years. It's impacts on supply chain logistics, click, click, click and the free shipping fairy drops goods at your door instead of going to K-Mart(yes K-Mart, one of the casualties)are just beginning.
As far as your 2nd statement about small trucking companies, the trend is exactly the opposite. Larger inefficient firms are going out of business to be replaced by hundreds of thousands of new entrants who can get all the data they need via the smart phone cited above. No need for big terminals, back office sales and operations personnel, and other overhead.
Here is a great book on the topic. A fun read, the folly of predicting the future.
https://www.amazon.com/Your-Flying-...Your+flying+car+awaits.&qid=1581850903&sr=8-1

 

Um, what about maintenance neglected, nobody answers the phone, 3rd dispatcher in a month, boss taking a lot of vacations in a new Caddy. Had all those things happen and the company never went under,,,

 

7. Your CB is replaced with 2 soup cans and a roll of string.
6. Your XM radio is now a fat guy riding shotgun "who knows most of the words to a lot of songs"
5. A truck wash is considered "driving really close to the truck in front of you during a hurricane"
4. Your com data card is an I O U printed on a dinner napkin in crayon.
3. Your sleeper has been subletted through Air b&b to a nice Polish family from Warsaw wanting to see America
2. Your company uniform has more ads than Kevin Harvicks fire suit.
1. You check can only be cashed in Vegas through a guy named Louie Gambino

 

You forgot you get your truck back from the shop and it has singles and they’re not super!!

 

Chill out dude.
The day you see a driverless truck sitting in line
Waiting to get to the guard Shack just like you,
Then open its doors and back into a dock next
To you, then you can claim the sky is falling.
Until then just keep on trucking.