Truck Load Rates Halt 8 Week Slide 2.0

Drivers are mostly just pawns in the whole thing. Shippers and receivers are pushing the rates down. They're not clueless that they have the upper hand on rates right now. Everyone always wants to save a buck when paying for anything. It's unrealistic to expect everyone to park their truck and not move. In the real world people have bills to pay and the freight will always move.

 

It's also unrealistic to haul loads where you take a loss but we all know people out here doing that anyway.

In my dream fantasy land all drivers would agree on a minimum rate per mile to haul for industry wide and never go below it.
Kind of like a minimum wage.
With no floor set there is no bottom the cheap freight haulers can push this market down.

I know that won't happen.
What will happen is many will go out of business and eventually things will pick up and we will hear the bs "oh no truck driver shortage" again.

 

That's the point I made above it's not entirely on the freight haulers that the rates are going lower. In a world where there's a minimum rate what would be the solution for all the extra trucks that have bills to pay but there's no freight for them to haul? Guess there'd have to be some way to pick who gets to be a winner and who gets to lose?

 

There’s so many bubbles that still need to burst. Trucking went down first as always. We’re going to suffer till all the fluff is taken out of Trucking, and every other Industry. Mainly the credit and money markets, their actions will affect all Businesses. The recent Start up Capital Banking crash is similar to what started the 2000 recession. No more easy money, till the real Banks are confident in their own survival. They’re only going to service the Public as much as needed under the regulations. They’re real money sources are in jeopardy. Investors are spooked. The sooner everything crashes the better for all of Us. I have to constantly remind myself not to panic. Its only natural to double down and try to scramble to get ahead, or at least not fall behind, when threatened. It can lead to drastic decisions that sometimes make things worse.The fact is no matter what happens financially, it’s never the end of the world. I learned that first hand in 09. If your happiness is tied to money, you’re doomed. When the worse case scenario happens, life still goes on, the key is being able to make adjustments in lifestyle. It’s really not as hard or terrible as it seems. Brings everything back down to earth. Including Us. The good news is, we’re in an Industry that’s always needed. I met so many folks in 08-09 that were in distress. I had my own troubles myself. The difference was, I was still working, they weren’t. Many were migrating to other States, having lost everything. The worst cases were those at retirement age, without time left to recover. When it all shakes out, rates will go up. Maybe only pennies at a time. But it will be real based on solid demand. Slow and steady growth always wins out over boom and bust. Despite Truckings boom and bust cycles it always survives, it never completely disappears.

 

Define loss. Hauling a load for $1.60 p.m. Making $1.00 p.m. after fuel? Not hauling at all, making Equipment payments, insurance payments while parked, is that not a loss? Having no income will drain savings quicker than anything else. Even if everything’s paid off, and the bank accounts fat. Won’t be for very long. Still have housing expenses, and at least some insurance costs on equipment. It’s better to work as smart as possible, and not drain savings.

 

Yep, cdl is and always has been a meal ticket no matter what. Tightening up the easy money was long overdue. Hopefully they hold course on that and keep pushing rates higher. It'll suck for a little while but we'll all be better for it later.

 

What if you have a truck driver employee you're paying .70 cpm and also have new truck and trailer you're making payments. What about spare money for maintenance and breakdowns etc.
Everything can disappear real fast when moving for peanuts per mile.

 

If you have a driver you're paying 70 cents a mile in a new truck and trailer you're probably not dependent on loadboards. If you are I feel sorry for you. Why should there be an artificial floor to support rates for what was obviously a bad business decision? How does that benefit the smart people who are having no problems paying drivers 70 cents a mile in new equipment and keeping them busy? And if there's a floor for rates then we need to have a conversation about putting a cap on them too. But #### that almost seems like being an employee.

 

Might as well hang it up, ASAP. Cut losses. That’s the only real option. Best case scenario, you break even. More likely end up owing money on equipment still after selling it. Maybe end up being sued for balance owed if repossessed or voluntarily turned it. Might end in Bankruptcy if the judgement can’t be paid. Pick your misery. Meanwhile those with paid off equipment, or even old junky equipment and a set of tools will be working. The high overhead is the killer.

 

I’m still waiting for someone to define cheap. I’ve yet to see a definitive answer on that. A few weeks ago I had a mild emergency at home and had to get back here for a couple days. It was a Friday and I was in MN. I couldn’t get home in time to do anything about it before the weekend so we threw a quick round together while I was at the office to get me home on Monday.

It was one of our loads south, loaded right out of the customer I unloaded at going to Denver, and then picked up a partial (38ft) out of Denver coming back to within 50 miles of my house. 1503 miles from MN back around to home. All in with the cheap partial out of Denver my average to my truck after lease and trailer was $2.42 all miles. If I would’ve bounced home from Denver the average to my truck after lease and trailer would’ve been $2.12 all miles. In my book $2.42 is a bigger number but maybe I do my math wrong.