Is freight really the slowest in 20 years??

I'm booked until July 3rd.

Truck 2 is booked until July 9th.

Leaving only 38,000 other loads available on our board.

 

Is it not a good time to become an o/o?

 

Good question. The answer is complicated. It would depend on a few things. First, you should have PLENTY of money in reserve after you buy your truck, to stay on top of maintenance and repairs.

Second, you should know how to run a business, including having an actual business plan. Many a business has failed for lack of an effective plan.

Third, if you are going to lease your truck on with a company, make sure they are paying a high percentage of Revenue, NOT a fixed $/mile. THEN make sure they have high tariff freight, not running loads of dog food or lumber, but running loads of oil field equipment, hazmat, medicine, etc.

If you plan to get your own authority, then how are you planning to get your loads? You will need even more capital to be able to go unpaid for an average of 30-35 days from the day you invoice the broker or customer. That's a tad over a month of spending money for fuel and salary, etc.

 

You've already answered your own question, if you need ask.

 

Holy crap everyone should read this article word for word.

 

In addition to this I recommend everyone should watch The Big Short, the story of three sets of investors that saw the Great Recession coming and shorted the housing market. Watch that movie, then do a Google News search for "highly leveraged company debt". If that doesn't make you go "Hmmmm"...

...then watch The Inside Job. This is a documentary featuring interviews with a number of key players that either created the 2008 problem, failed to address it, or failed to get folks to listen to their warnings.

Educate yourselves. Movies are a start. Set up a Google News Alert to get emails any time your search term gets a hit on an article. I had to deactivate mine recently on this topic. My in box was getting flooded.

Last of all, inoculate yourself from false bravado. Eschew the term "fake news", unless you are talking about actual propaganda or "news" generated overseas by folks paid $300 a month to create articles designed to be read and shared by old Americans (and WHY IS IT that the Baby Boomers are so ###### gullible???). Recognize that journalism is a difficult job that requires research before publication. Learn to identify BS. There will be plenty of BS "news" generated in the coming months and years. Don't be a blithering idiot and read only "news" that makes you comfortable with your current bias.

My fear is that the upcoming economic downturn could be worse than 2008, largely because there is a significant percentage of the world's population that is incapable of identifying ACTUAL fake news. Spoiler alert: if you spend a lot of time spouting about "fake news" you are probably believing propaganda.

 

I read "The Big Short" before seeing the movie. The book is even more disturbing yet fascinating at the same time!

 

This topic is interests me. Which it seems like reading this thread really depends on location and type of freight. I was wondering about this because the shop is the slower than I’ve ever seen it.

 

Maybe its slow right in your region, but that doesn't mean that the industry has slowed overall. Look at different types of driving jobs.

 

The author of this article is a principal for Broughton Capitol and is based on numbers from the Cass Freight Index.

Cass Freight Index reports more shipment and expenditures declines in May