Freight Slowing?

No they don't, there are a few factors that come into play and fuel is one.

 

some factors that may have come into play 20 years ago may not have the same affect today. example, when I took my first load over 17 years ago fuel was right at $1.00 a gallon. give or take. freight was abundant. I had more loads than I could haul. every place I went to load or unload had a line 20 trucks long. but now if oil/ fuel drops significantly, it is a sign the economy is doing poorly thus less freight.

now this was mostly steel some lumber, but overall flatbed freight.

 

Container shipping into Chicago has slowed WAY the hell down this whole year + a LOT of trucks, very, VERY nice trucks pulling containers all this year!!!!!(just saw my first new Western Star the other day..... Pulling a container with a headache rack on I65....) custom Petes and KW's....the slowdown in freight this year along with the extra capacity from the oil fields has hit EVERYONE!!!!.....

Except for the super truckers with $10 per mile contract freight who started as owner ops with paid off trucks and 100k cash they saved as co. Drivers of course!!!! Lol..

 

How many loads have you ever booked from a load board?

I booked one Sunday at a rate of $1,000 that my buddy booked last week on a weekday rate of $800. Back in June I booked this very same run, also on a Sunday, for a rate of $1,350. I book repeat spot loads like that all the time. I can tell you based on real world facts, not *what I think it is like*, that a couple of years ago when fuel was $2 a gallon higher I would have consistently booked this load left and right all day every day for $1,000 and made good money on it. We were doing it consistently on similar freight and lanes. Back then even with $4 fuel the rate was good. Now with $2 fuel it is even better.

Low fuel prices or high played no role whatsoever in those rates. Those rates were paid based on need. As all rates are. I'll give you that truckers and brokers alike will race to the bottom when capacity gets loose and fuel gets cheap. But fuel does not and is not driving the rates. It's demand plain and simple.

 

It's only the contract, multiple load stuff that the drop in fuel price would drop someone's fuel surcharge to haul it. The load board stuff is generally the one off loads and they're looking for an all in price what you can do a particular load for at a particular time.

And if your profit line is suddenly barely visible because fuel is in the 2.50 range when before at 4.00 it was slim to none ... Then you aren't really making money in the first place.

 

@gokiddogo how is freight in Canada compared to last year? Is this slowdown just in the US?

 

Freight staying within Canada is no good. The rates are much the same, but there are fewer loads. They also like to pay in Canadian money, which is about 30% weaker than USD. Which is fine, the fuel cost is stable and is down maybe 10%, but when one looks at the cost of equipment it really hurts being paid in cdn $. Equipment is all priced in USD ... A new 389 is a hair over 200,000 - and that's before we add a warranty ... (Or sales tax - but the sales tax we get back 100% anyway)

 

I should add it still works out alright, most of my business I get paid in USD. My house and food costs have not shot up the same as the cost of new equipment has. I don't do much within Canada work anymore, almost all of it is Canada to USA and USA to Canada. The articles are correct in saying we are riding on the cost tails of a relatively strong us economy. Our oil sands also took a beating with the drop in oil price.

 

That will be record profit year for mega brokerages....

 

So? If there is so much fat on the land in the brokerage world then why not get into it yourself? I'm sure if the customer is paying 3.00 a mile and trucks are moving it for 1.50 then the customer would love to pay you 2.50 and the truck drivers would love to haul for you for 2.00.