Any one here self taught?

OK, well, the industry calls "washout" guys who get their CDL, quit and don't come back to the industry, thus, "washout".

You are talking about guys who for one reason or another don't "cut the mustard"!!!

I can see that too.

I think the days of self-taught truckers are about done. Unless you were born on a farm driving big equipment, and you were 12 driving Dad's grain truck through the fields, I don't think a self-trained trucker is a good idea.

But, with that said, some of driving has nothing to do with training. It is ambition, guts, ability to sense but control fear and good ole common sense. I'd bet a dollar to a dime, the majority of guys who didn't "cut the mustard" at your company just didn't have a whole lot of these things to begin with.

 

This is not how self insurance works. As i stated in a previous post. ALL carriers are required to have an insurance carrier to administer the policy. They don't set rates they are the ones that make the payouts etc etc. The carriers underwrite the policy. This means when that Swift driver does $100,000 worth of damage it is Swift actually paying the claim but the check will have the insurance carriers name on it. (Insert most any large mega carriers name in that example) People sometimes confuse insurance with underwriting. If the megas could not underwrite themselves the cost of insurance with the insurance carriers underwriting them would be so much money it might put most of them out of business.

 

Some folks are overwhelmed by all the gauges and switches and doo dads on the dash of big trucks, making them think the operation of vehicle is a challenging task.
. Early trucks usually had your basic gauges of any passenger vehicle plus a air guage and this was common well into the 80’s on Fords, GMC and IHC

 

Moose1958...I appreciate how you clarified that.

I disagree that if mega carriers had to buy their insurance the same way small carriers and single truck O/O do, that it would put them out of business.

They would simply have to increase their freight rates. The mega's are NOT going to take a loss or go under! I can assure you that, not without significant laws and changes in regulations.

What it WOULD do is level the playing field between them and us, make it so that we actually might make more PROFIT today than we did in 1980, taking into consideration inflation.

Forcing them to do that would be SWEET!

Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't want to see anyone get killed, hurt or suffer property loss due to idiots behind the wheel, and certainly don't want them running into you or me, but, with all these rookies driving more and more miles, nothing pleases me more than seeing them tear up the mega's equipment and cost them losses.

That is one payback for not paying fair insurance rates.

We also need to get them to pay fair wages to drivers. Not $0.23 a mile.

 

I’m guessing the subject just changed. I agree with some of what you’ve said. Pay should be increased enormously. JB Hunts actually states in a recent interview (non trade related) that they were expecting an additional 20% increase in driver pay by the end of 2019.

However, where I disagree with you. Is rates.

Having seen the internals of a mega. I can tell you they are not cheap. Do they haul cheap freight? Yes. But only to hold onto the high paying portion of the contract.

Regional drivers are their bread and butter. These guys run for a few cents less than the OTR. With promises of being home on the weekend. Never realizing the freight they pull, pays 2-5 times what a 1200 mile trip would pay OTR.

The really cheap rates I see. Are caused by people (shippers and receivers) still stuck in the West Coast turn around mode. Not drivers!! Not trucking companies.

85 cents a mile and less, 3 days before Christmas is the going rate for a lot of these dirtbag companies that don’t give a #### whether you’re home or not. So it’s take it or leave it. They’ll just tell their customer they couldn’t book a truck due to the holidays.

Does anyone believe there is a shortage of freight coming out of Cali? Hell no! With 4 major ports, they can’t get enough trucks. But they can get rail. And you can’t compete with rail for rates.

And Florida? What the hell is there to bring out of Key West? Local Miami companies are still paying OTR drivers 25 cents a mile. And there there are 100’s of them. That’s hard to compete with, even for the mega companies.

 

Yes, the subject did change a little, and I appreciate you bearing with it.

When I mentioned rates, what I meant was, the mega's will not take an increase in cost without increasing revenues too, their owners and shareholders aren't going to take a hit to their bottom line because of some govt mandated insurance cost increase or driver pay raise. They are going to bump their rates when and where they can if that happens, which would be beneficial to O/O like me.

Rates are all about supply and demand. You mentioned rates out of CA and FL in particular, TX used to be similar. It seems to have changed a bit, it is seasonal. Produce comes out of FL in the warmer months. I also used to get loads of cypress mulch out of there, but, it was heading INTO FL that I made my money. Same thing, used to be, with TX...the money was made going in, not out. In fact, I bob-tailed 4 years ago out of Brownsville TX back to Chicago because I made so darn much money coming down, I wanted to get back, spend it by going on vacation! Actually, the trip was planned, I just didn't count on having a TONU on a trailer out of Dallas from TQL, which cost me my relationship with them when I threatened to report them to DAT, OOIDA and I got my lawyer to write them a nasty-gram demanding TONU payment. Another driver took my trailer earlier in the day and, well, that one never did get resolved. I think it was the brokers fault, he wanted to blame it on the customer, and, I was the one who got screwed. I'll never do business with TQL again, their agents are almost all idiots.

I don't do CA because my truck doesn't meet CARB standards...frankly, I don't do the Rocky Mountains or anything west of it unless it pays so darn good it's worth the trouble.

But, I get what you say about the megas needing more money here to make up for the losses they take over there, but, that is because they are doing long-term contracts and "per mile" rates. The Spot Market resolves all this. It takes into consideration the laws of supply and demand. Frankly, you'd need to put a gun to my head to get me to commit to doing anything for a fixed price for more than a month or two. I know fuel surcharges takes care of the bulk of your expenses, but, you just never know, better to be safe than sorry.

I do appreciate your insights on rates, knowing what you know. I just see it from the outside. I know what they are offering because their recruiters are relentless in trying to bring me on board as a captive O/O. Their brokerages, for the most part, offer rates that are peanuts....unless they REALLY need that load to move. And, they will LIE through their teeth to get you on their loads, give you references of other drivers that, well, I don't know what their end game is.

I ran a load for JB Hunt last year about this time...they were recruiting hot and heavy to run Family Dollar loads, telling me I could make up to $1,500 a day making 3 - 4 stop loads, be back that night and out the next day, 6 days a week until Christmas.

What they DIDN'T say was, you better have a real young, strong helper with you, or maybe 2 so you can unload the truck and make it back and not be DEAD tired the next day.

I ran that crap 1 day...that was all I needed to say "Bye bye".

Anyway, that is all we see, from the outside looking in. That amazes me what you say, because, from a brokerage standpoint, the shorter runs usually don't pay a whole lot. I like to take the ones that are between 100 mi and 300 mi. I can generally find something coming back and, even if I can't get unloaded all in 1 day, I can generally make it back home and sleep in my own bed.

OK, I appreciate everyone's, well, at least the positive takes on this, I need to hit the sack for tonight!

Thank you!!!

 

I leave this for you. So you can cry over coffee

Insurance cost, and investor profits are killing everyone. I certainly agree with that point.

But

I see 100-300 mile loads paying $2-$4 per mile. And obviously I’m not looking at the same load board you are.

But it’s always about the lane.

I can’t steal a load where I live. But I can take a cheap one up the road 500 miles. And run in circles for 2 weeks. That’s why I stay out 3 weeks. Otherwise, I’d be home every other day.

 

I am fortunate, I live in Chicago, so, I have my pick of those $2-$4 mi loads I can take.

To be honest with you, I don't think that running 100-300 mi for $2 a mi is all that great.

I try to keep my average above $2.50 and lately, since fuel prices just keep inching up, above $3.

The rates vary too depending on the type of equipment you run. I have 3 trailers, dump, van and flatbed. I am trying to sell the dump, although, I wouldn't mind having a longer wheel base dump, I could get some pretty good paying loads that are local/regional. And, even though they are dump, don't need to be done by a Teamster operator. My short wheel base dump used to be that way, but then, the goons got greedy and, well, I couldn't afford the $800 week expense to be in it anymore.

Flatbed rates are better in the summer when equipment is being moved...it still isn't bad...I just don't like to tarp, especially if it is outdoors in winter. I used to have a conestoga...and, I am thinking of getting another one now that rates are back up.

I haven't looked in a few months, but, rates for flatbeds were $3-$4 a mi no matter where you went...300 mi run or 3,000 mi. I saw stuff going CA to NY and NY back to CA for $3-$4 a mi over the summer....which prompted me to go buy one again!

Winter months, if I can afford to take off, I do...since having lost 2 months almost due to the knee, I will probably have to work more this winter than I'd like, but, I'll likely just do dry van loads.

I used to run reefers and make pretty good $...I see the rates are back up for them as well, but, I really hate grocery warehouses, I hate food processing plants, and I HATE WalMart. The typical hours you have to do on those runs, I just don't like it. And, the appointments are SO touchy, and, sometimes they get screwed no fault of your own, someone doesn't right something down right...and, you are standing at some gate entrance in the middle of the night arguing with an $8 hr Barney Fife wanna-be about the HOS limits and why you need to spend the night at his facility instead of driving 50 miles away to the nearest truck stop. Of course, I run without an ELD, so, it's really BS on my part, I just don't want to drive that far away just to sleep, and then have to return. That is 10 or 20 extra gallons of diesel plus un-needed wear! It isn't that it happens all that often, but, when it does, well, it is one reason why I don't conceal carry.

Yes, it all depends on where the freight goes, I like to look for things that are HOT and need to get there no matter what, so, I let that dictate more on where I go, this time of year, I do also keep an eye on weather so I am not driving off into a bad winter storm...and I try not to run the MI lake front, there is NOTHING worse than getting caught up in a relentless "lake effect" storm. The snow is extremely icy due to winds and temps...plus MI just doesn't have a lot of plows on the western half compared to the miles of roads. And, IN plow drivers will simply go home when their shift is up...IL will usually at least stick around and suck up the OT. It is really the difference of simple country living versus the rat race that is a major city. Plus, being on THIS side of the lake, we don't get quite the amount of snow that NW IN and western MI see.

 

Yes, you are correct.

However there is still someone who works in/with the insurance administration who sets driver qualification standards. That person (s) determines who is an acceptable risk, and who isn't - just like a small carrier's insurance agent/underwriter . For the smaller carrier it's "this is what it will cost you to hire that driver". For the self insuranced it is more "this is the level of risk we are prepared to accept".

 

Absolutely. In most cases this is done by company policy and is enforced by both human resources and safety. Remember it is the underwriter that sets who they will underwrite and why. Because these carriers don't have access to the information these insurance companies have in most cases the insurance company will look at them.