Some numbers for new O/O

Those are Facts, explained well.you missed one thing.That truck gets older.Those repairs increase..You take your truck to wrong shop or dealer your done.If you wreck that truck no matter who's fault.You better call a lawyer.And do due diligence to recover lost funds.They don't pay for money you lost because of that.Meaning enough liquid to here another truck..Now leta and about hiring a driver.That is a big learning curve.An entire web site would be needed.You going to charge them for not checking air pressure blowing tires,or hitting a pole backing in ,ripping of mirrors.Or smile and realize you have to fix it.Right now.Definetly not making a claim.Oh running out of fuel with a fuel card..Or just ripping the airlines and electric completely off.i run my guys home daily weekends off.There Is no way ,in a band new truck that won't happen.You can't fire them.They make the truck payment.You can back charge them and they quit.I treat my guys like family.And I know #### happens.i drove.Get out your little tool bag. Fix your screw up. Turn In parts receipts.For minor stuff .Nope,they don't have a screw driver or crescent wrench.Fortunaly I have a pretty good squad.That weak link always there.I hate trucking

 

Yep.Unless you got true grit.if your so fat you can't get under your truck.you will lose.

 

StandWithTrucking | I have a questions about this.
Do you know how much money brokers keep?
How much better off would trucks be financially if there were no brokers?
How long would brokers last if trucks all of a sudden refused to haul for them?
How much better would the industry be?
The reason that this post is true and sad at the same time lies in brokers.

 

If brokers were removed from the equation and there was no one to push down on the rate to trucks, then there can be no race to the bottom. If there was a single location for available loads and that location operated in a PRO Trucking manner then rates would stabilize organically.

I have quite a few trucks and over the years, I have found that I've had to compete against brokers with shippers. In January, I participated in a bid for a large manufacturer. I got beat out by 2 brokers and one lease based carrier (broker with no trucks of its own). Brokers can not do what we do but I have to price point against them? Nope. We have gotten some of that business but when the broker fails. Right now, they are failing a lot. Personally, I laugh at the business strategy of the manufacturer because they have no idea what they are really giving up with a broker relationship.

I think that if there was one place that shippers posted their freight and the rate that they are paying, most of the freight would get gobbled up immediately because the rates are great. Don not allow any downward negotiation. Shippers would have 2 choices, 1. pay the rate necessary to move in the market (Most already are, but for the brokers) 2. Reach out directly to a trucking company, which is the way that it SHOULD be.

If there are no brokers, there would not be a race to the bottom. But, if there was a chance to ride the country of them, which side would you be on?

 

Companies don’t care about relationships.
The loser they hired in the office wants to play in their phone, so they get someone they can make 1 maybe 2 phone calls and they take care of everything.

Faster they get it taken care of, faster their back on phone playing games

 

Point of order: rates are dictated by the law of supply and demand. We aren't pushing the rates down any more than you guys are. The rates are dictated by the available supply of trucks in a given area versus the demand for the trucks' services. Shippers will pay what the market bears; if there's a glut of available trucks versus demand, the rates are necessarily lower. This is why some areas (Denver, the Dakotas, Wyoming, etc) have lower rates in general. The issue isn't brokers. As I've said before, there's precisely *no* benefit to us driving down rates. 15% of 2000 is less than 15% of 3000. It's also a much more difficult sell during a down cycle to onboard new customers.

Bottom line, until the capacity self-corrects (and this is both brokerages and carriers), the rates will be low. When enough of that excess capacity has exited the market, the rates will level out, and eventually begin swinging the other way. This is a very cyclical market.

 

How is the market for O/O guys? I'm still a company guy and the Yellow Department actually did affect us. We've seen a dip in work, but I'm still working. It went from mandatory 6 days to being able to volunteer to not work in certain cases.

 

Depends on the O/O and how they've built their operation to this point. It's not pleasant for guys running spot freight that got in over-leveraged during the up-cycle as a result of COVID. The market has executed a 180. As far as the guys who have been at it a while with paid equipment and a war chest? I suspect they're doing okay. And if they've got themselves a nice little niche carved out (looking at you @Ruthless), they're probably doing the ###### thing just fine.

The market will eventually correct, and the cycle will begin anew. When that'll be? Anybody's guess.

 

Pretty much.