Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

Not unusual for grain hauling to slow down before harvest. Thought maybe you had a lot of rain.

 

Stupid diesel prices. I thought they were going down again and they went back up to 2.69 today. Supposedly the grain merchant said we were supposed to have a set price per mile. That set rate keeps going down.

What gets me the rate cutters knock the rates down. I get the privledge of hauling for these rates and the cutters are no where to be found. They must have found better loads somewhere else. Once rates are cut it's like pulling teeth to get them to raise them.

The grain companies would rather have the grain hauled for a longer time than pay a good rate and get the contract filled quickly.

 

Hard to say. I do know brokers from this area know what each other is paying their truckers. Course they probably ask truckers who haul for all of them what they are getting paid.

I think basically the rate cutters cut the rates when loads are scarce...when more loads are available they go to the best paying one. They have enough trucks to haul for all the companies. When times get rough they pull for the cheap loads instead of getting no loads.

I'm thinking maybe the grain companies call the cutters and say such and such is hauling for this much. Then they hope the rate cutters will haul for less. As a example on some recent loads...one trucking co. was going to get 32 cents a bushel. The cutter said they would do it for 5 cents less. So for anybody to haul, the going rate was 27 cents.

 

Had tranny looked at in May, not sure what they put in. Probably transmission oil. On a Freightliner I had synthetic in it.

 

Not a bad day. Hauled some screenings from a seed company today. Talked to another driver I haul with sometimes. He said Cargill told him all loads were covered. Heard that a lot last winter. Translation... we don't need you for quite a while. Loads start becoming scarce right before fall harvest, hopefully it picks up after harvest too.