Truck Load Rates Halt 8 Week Slide 2.0

Yes it's like all the brokers got together and implemented a price fixing strategy lol. This isn't the Covid era where there was only like 20-30 loads available at anytime. Volume is still there.

I go pick-up my new Utility trailer in a couple of weeks which I paid $94.5K for. Salesman had some more of the same spec trailer come available for Q3 delivery and the price was $125K. He reached out a couple of weeks ago and I passed because of the cost but he told me yesterday he sold them all. So I bet there's a lot of customers with buyer's regret right now.

Yes it's sad to say you hope people go under quickly but it's a business and nothing personal. If people didn't save from the past 18 months or assume rates would stay elevated like this I can't find sympathy for them. We are just going to hit the reset button where people leave the industry as they aren't getting the miles as a company driver to justify staying out 2-3 weeks at a time or the hassle of dealing with brokers/breakdowns/regulations.

It's going to be interesting to see what auction prices look like in the coming weeks as these truck and trailer manufacturers aren't going to cut their prices anytime soon. These individuals trying to sell their new truck and trailer for a quick 20% gain might as well tag it and get the wheels a turning as I suspect a lot of build slots will open up in Q3 and Q4 with buyers backing out.

I have 389 scheduled to built in July and will be happy to get it. People can say what they want regarding fuel mileage on a 389 but it holds it resale better than any other truck and I'm not concerned paying an inflated price (total cost will be close to ~$200K). Additionally with next year being the last year the 389 is built I think value will hold pretty steady.

 

Since I retired again I've been playing around with the brokerage side of our little company. We've always brokered but it was very low key and mostly among people we already knew. It's more like calling an old friend and letting them know that so and so has a couple of loads if they're interested. In return, they call us when they're busy. I doubt that we've ever used a stranger or charged a fee. Flat bed and open deck only.
I had lunch with the shipping manager for a local lumber company and he said his phone has been ringing off the wall with flatbed operators looking for work. The rates that they're willing to haul for would make you break down and cry.
The funny thing is, the flatbed companies aren't local. Some are from the L.A. area and a couple are from the midwest but the return on their phones shows an Eastern European exchange.
All of the lumber going out of my friend's mill goes on carriers they've been using for years and it's all fairly local. The stuff going back east usually goes by rail. It's not a big company and when he explains that to the cold callers their next question is who else can they call.
He said that there are accents involved, both European and Indian. They have no idea who they're calling but whatever it is they'll haul it cheaper.
Right now I'd hate to be trying to be competitive with people like that. They'll haul for cash flow and when the creditors lower the boom they'll just abandon everything and disappear.
You've seen all this before.

 

The worst competition is the competition thats about to go out of business; whether or not they know it.

 

Most of them have no idea they are going bankrupt. When they do, it's never their fault. Always point the finger at someone else. Watched many owner operators try to run their truck like they were a company driver. Turn down $5 a mile freight to haul a longer load at $2 so they can stretch their legs. This is a business. Treat it like one and an owner operator may have a chance out here. Rant over....followed a super ego and an Amazon prime tonight. Makes a brand new Swift driver look like a 3 million mile driver.

 

Had to stop at the shop and get a light replaced yesterday and I saw them. Wabash. No stainless on them. No extra lights. Steel wheels. I think they bought 12 or 13 of them because they were all they could find. But then I got the news. I probably won’t have to pull one much because they only have logistic posts every 4 feet.

 

Seeing what's happening to the spot market and freight in general is sad. Had I not retired in October, I would have shut down by now just because things have gotten so bad with high fuel/equipment costs and low rates.

I bought a 20-acre spread on the Oregon coast a couple weeks ago, and I'm in the process of getting the interior of the house remodeled right now and hope to move in by late summer. The wife and I are taking her mom and my dad with us to the new house when it's done, where we can all live out of lives in peace and quiet away from the cities. Looking for a boat right now so I can spend my retirement fishing the coast for salmon, crab and rock cod. No more traffic jams, water rationing and yearly forest fires in California. I can't wait.

 

Congratulations

 

Glad to see you left Comiefornia.

 

What's wrong with the country called California? Best thing I saw when I left was the welcome to Arizona sign.

 

There will be a bunch of boats and permits for sale next winter if the whale entanglement laws go into affect for crabbers. It won't be just California. Oregon and Washington will have to comply also.
This guy just sold his boat and salmon permits for 60 grand. He ties up across the dock from my cousin. You could buy a crab permit and make enough to justify keeping the boat. You couldn't make a good living though.

TR22-002 | Dock Street Brokers, Serving Northwest Fishermen since 1976