Current Health Of LTL Industry

Fedex freight road driver out of Des Moines, things picked up around April and have been holding pretty steady. I usually get canceled once a week, which is fine by me. Got 2 planning on retiring before winter which should help get threw January and February. If not we have the option to work the dock.

Haven't heard on raises this year. Got our bonus last month.

Here we usually stay steady till around Thanksgiving then it will slow down a bit. Then again in January, run wherever the weather is going to be bad. Places senior drivers dont want to go. Get good runs after a shutdown due to weather.

 

Buddy ex ODFL in Memphis - his wife is still there. Has a 500 mile round meet and turn. She gets cancelled 1 or 2 runs a month.

The big players like to keep capacity and drivers on hand to implement as needed, seniority and your needs dictate whether you keep running full schedule, or scale back.

 

Cross Country Freight out of Fargo, ND. We’re having a bit of a slow down, but not to much. I usually get every other Monday off.

My Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday runs are my busiest. Those are the days when I go to nursing homes, farms and outlying communities and such.

 

FedEx Freight linehaul, we seem to keep losing bid runs every few months, which so far is being offset by drivers quitting and retiring. Over the past year and a half we’ve lost about 20% of the bid runs at my barn.

Morale hasn’t been great with the news that FedEx is looking to get rid of their LTL division, and it’s only getting worse with drivers being written up for petty stuff and the trucks getting new crappy “features” turned on.

 

Northwest Terminal, one of the bigger LTLs, dont want to doxx myself since management is so trigger happy.

Only been at this place and in the ltl world for a handful of months.

Its really all over the place for us. Sister terminals are all over the place as well. Some are dramatically understaffed. Mostly due to cost of living. Typically out in Utah, Montana, Wyoming, etc. Some days we have inbound dock workers frantically running up until midnight. Some days the dock workers get cut and dont even come in. Sometimes P&D guys have to work the dock when they get back.

Linehaul is down to just 1-2 extra board guys i think. Some guys get cancelled but its not too bad.

From what i hear, everyone is afraid of the election and praying that the fed cuts rates soon. Our barn is slightly overstaffed. Theyre being kinda pedantic about any slight slipup but theyre only handing out write ups at the moment. Nobody has been fired yet here. Sister terminals i run line to have had guys get fired for goofy stuff and one or two for legit reasons.


Ultimately, being a greenhorn to the LTL world but not to trucking; i dont like it. Im making insane money but we work break neck speeds, always being pushed, its never enough, management breathes down your neck, you walk on eggshells, and they make it very clear constantly that youre replaceable and a million drivers would kill to have your job. And even if you do everything right, you can still be laid off no matter what seniority you have if a boss doesnt like you.

Im making good money but i dont dare buy my first home, get a nice car, or do anything other than dump the money into the bank/stocks because i know how quickly things can go under here. Plus im almost totally burning down a 70 hour clock most weeks and work 6 days a week and all holidays. Sometimes 7 days if we have a string of short runs. Along with my 2 hour commute each day. I absolutely hate LTL to be honest. In a way, im not super worried about getting fired. I know when im on my deathbed i wont be saying how much i regret not maxing out those last 2-3 hours of my 70. But the money is below none... Except UPS.

Golden handcuffs i guess.

 

I figured Id apply to one thats 3 miles from my home. It says we'll pay for you to get your tanker/hazmat within 90 days. I set up a interview and within 3 minutes the hiring manager says oh yeah we dont do that anymore people tend to prolong that past 120 days. Okay thank you and goodbye. oh no no no we can continue. ####### wasted another 30 mins of my time by me having an interview with corporate HR over the phone. Just appeasing corporate. Shady ####s.

 

Must be nice living somewhere with so many opportunities to get into LTL that you can afford to walk out of an interview over something that minor.