Concerns with the future of flatbedding

So I've been doing a lot of thinking and I wanted to get some advice from the guys who've been in flatbedding for a while(10 years or more). With all these new rules and regulations coming into trucking, how profitable do you guys feel things will continue to be? Mandatory elogs, mandatory speed governors, automated trucks....are the profitable days ending?? I ask because I've been working towards my own truck for a while now...but honestly I'd hate to "buy in" right as the wrench hits the fan. Has the type of scare happened before? Or am I overthinking( or under thinking for that matter)

 

What makes you think these changes will mean the death knell of open deck work vs any other kind of trucking?

 

OP. This or any other time in history, trucking will always be in demand. Trucking will always be profitable, it is the only way to keep trucks on the road. Trucks are the only way to transport the majority of goods to market.

 

I don't think of it as more perilous towards one sector or the other, but this is the only sector I try to plan a future around is all. I'm looking 10 years down the road( as much as possible). The idea of automated trucks putting us out of work bothers me the more I see it in the media. I don't like the idea of the elogs because I feel rates will drop due to not being able to use the " I'll get it there faster" card. You won't have an edge over the next guy.I work for an owner operator so I can't imagine my life on an elog. I'm trying to see if I need to be looking at starting a back up plan or if I can leave all my energy on trucking as it is now

 

As xcetra said. Trucks will always be in demand.
You can't deliver by rail to stores. And many towns don't have railroads running through them anymore.
The technology for fully automated trucks is further than 10 years from realization and implementation. There is still too much testing to be done.
As for E-logs, that is a touchy subject. We have found them to be a good thing for our fleet (30 trucks). It has saved us an average of 20 minutes per trip, per truck, each day.
But, and this is a BIG BUT. I work for a primarily local hauler. Only a few of our runs even require the use of any type of logging method other than a time card.

 

They can make automated trucks all they want to it won't change a thing for us. We still have to secure the load. We still have to be there to check on it mid trip. We still have to be there to unsecure it. If anything this is the safest sector of the industry for long term.

 

That is true. I guess I will have to deal with the elog. I've heard quite a few people say they are ok with them so maybe it's not so bad. Will just take getting used to. I'm hoping the automated truck is just a peeing contest that will eventually fade away. I have wondered how could oversize loads work with that and I can't see it.

I HOPE Im just paranoid. I'd hate to be working in vain you know?

 

Let me see....Once upon a time, you didn't even need a CDL, then there was deregulation, fuel tax, toll roads, log books, IRP, ABS, EGR, 911, ACE, FDA prior notices, ULSD, DPF, UCR, CSA, CPAP, SCR, ACI......all this came before what you mentioned.

 

Lol I hear you. Not the first and not the last. Makes me feel better

 

When I first started driving OTR, I was in an old International cabover, spring ride and Armstrong steering. I remember how beaten up I use to feel at the end of the week when I got home. I remember doing the ol 14+10. 14 hours driving, and 10 hour break. I drove for a small company where EVERYONE ran a thousand miles a day.

Fast foward to 2012. My company went to ELOGs. A bunch of my friends quit. I was getting ready to pull my truck and go elsewhere, but 2 things stopped me from quitting. a.) A member of management asked me not to quit before trying ELOGs. b.) All the drivers on elogs were telling me that they couldn't get over 600 miles in 11 hours. Why not? They couldnt answer, they told me that it was impossible.

WHAT????

I had been accused by Safety for 'compressing my logs', because it was impossible for a driver to average 65-70 mph for 11 hours straight. The company got audited by the DOT in 09 and I was one of those guys that was under the microscope, because of the way I logged. So I decided to try the ELOGs, primary reason was to show the other drivers that it could be done. Guess what? Nothing changed for me. Absolutely no change in the way I run or my revenue. The thing that did change was the number of drivers that could continually crank out the miles.

In a nutshell, so far the ELOGs, the HOS and CSA garbage have only served to elevate the A-Game players from the rest of the pack. You have to be smarter about trip planning and fueling, and stay on top of your PMs, true, but if you do, and remain dilligent at doing so, it pays off much quicker in you selling your services and making a name for yourself. And if you were one of those drivers who could ride in the saddle all day non stop, nothing changes. It will however knock the slackers down quite a few notches.