Anyone else being “starved out” of trucking?

You can only cut the driver’s pay and things so much. At some point they’ll just stay home. Driver pay has become the least of the expenses of running a truck anymore and in this current environment, once you let them go or lose them, it’s not easy to replace them. Even the best companies out there struggle with recruiting.

 

That may be the point. Your carrier may be hoping you quit. There is no need for a bunch of drivers anymore. There are too many. Demand is down. That is why guys are getting laid off or running less miles. Companies are not purposefully going to run out of business running cheap freight at a 60-70 cpm driver, high fuel, and equipment costs.

 

Don't take it personally. Most companies have it bad right now. The recent crazy weather in Cali has upended the produce market. Some fields are under water and crops can't be planted. Other types of produce have rotted. Right now just be grateful that you are working. If you look for something else, how much better will it actually be if almost everyone is in the same boat? "Be careful what you wish for."

As for owner-ops, the key now is to stay LEAN. Pay down debt and don't live above your means.

 

To the OP: It sounds like you landed with the right place, overall. There’s no possible way I’d be looking around for other opportunities. When things are good, you’ll struggle to ever match what you have. You just gotta’ stick with them, through good times and bad. Thinking there’s a magic opportunity, during bad times, is a false hope. Once people start getting out, ball practice gets going, vacations start, and so forth, things will pick up. Despite the media’s agenda, the trend in the automotive industry is upward, which is a tougher personal expenditure than food.

I’ve no idea how your dept is structured. But, if you have a driver/fleet manager or even an accessible owner, I’d suggest going in and sitting down with them. Just talking to them about how you’re feeling and giving them an opportunity to respond can do wonders for your morale. I went to one of the owners of my employer, twice, within the first 6wks of working here. I felt so much better, afterward, each time.

Dedicated is contractual. My contract is up, end of month. Two of us are out of work, because dedicated is all this company does. We’re hoping there is enough fill-in work to keep us going, until other contracts become available.

 

Well, this goes back to what was talked about last Summer and that there is going to be a huge shakeout in the industry.

Up to now, anybody who has a truck has been doing good. Now let's see what happens when the going gets tough..

Let's see which companies have their act together and can survive a deep recession possibly depression.

A lot of Chicago companies emerged right after the 2008-9 period and its been straight up since then. Basically if you had a truck you made money. I'm curious to see what's going to happen now with these 1099 outfits and how 'resilient' they really are..

 

All of a sudden I'm glad to be hired at 46 CPM! I guess they will keep me on!

 

That's why I believe that alcohol is about as close to recession-proof as freight can possibly get.

My cousin's husband works at the Budweiser brewery in Houston, and he put it like this: "Alcohol is a great business to be in. When times are good, people want to celebrate by drinking beer. When times are bad, people want to drown their sorrows by drinking beer."

 

I really don't think this year (at this time of year) is any worse than past years.

I had 2300 miles last week, which is a good average for me being a regional driver. This week is starting out a bit slower, but I really can't tell what the week will be like yet.

Every year at this time I read comments about the slow freight or how it is time to move on because of it. But that is the nature of the business.

Stick it out for a few years and the company will be trying to keep you happy during these times.

Jump ship to a new place during the slow time and see how many miles you get at the new place, being the new person.
The grass is not always greener on the other side, but it tends to get greener when you stick around long enough to water the field.

 

If their getting you back home when it's slow instead of leaving you out on the road l would definitely stay there. A lot of companies start running their guys all over the place and end up sitting on the road waiting for nonexistent loads. Imo enjoy your hometime

 

On the upside, you are getting to do all the sitting and unpaid waiting at the house, right? How big is the company you work for? I listen to AM radio sometimes and have heard in several different areas while listening, some trucking companies talking about how bad it is and actually planning about when they will have to close down cause they won't make it further than that. The real bonehead companies won't give you any warning of their closing until its done. Real coward ones won't let you know until you go to fuel up the truck and the fuel card won't work anymore.