What bugs me about OTR

Roadrunner, can you afford to have a terminal and massive fleet of trucks and trailers in every state? I think that is the main answer to your question.

I believe that if these companies had the funds and that if it was profitable enough then they would do so.

 

RR, I think you are living in a "dream world." Why in the world should any company pay more than it has to? They are in business to make money.

 

I enjoy getting out and away from this state's traffic (Florida) as much as I can. Perhaps if I resided in another state I wouldn't mind being local and staying home every night but residing in Florida, the last thing I want is to drive in this state's traffic all of the time. Thought I would prefer being local after coming back to the industry ... man, was I wrong.

 

Unfortunately Roadrunner that isn't the business model for these mega-carriers. They are not interested in the drivers whatsoever! In fact part of their business model is to keep a constant refresh of drivers or new drivers so that their labor costs are at the utmost minimum. If they have experienced drivers then they have to pay for them. They can move the same freight using a trainee for almost half the cost of an experienced driver. Once out of training they have to start to pay them more. By hiring fresh meat they now have someone to replace that trainee and haul the freight for trainee pay. The ultimate goal would be to convince all these new drivers to lease. That way they will really be making money! Not only do they pay these lease drivers absolutely nothing to the tune of $.80 a mile but they are also making money off the whole lease deal, while in turn significantly reducing their over head, fuel consumption and taxes. Its a win, win, win situation for the mega-carrier and a lose, lose, lost situation for the driver!

 

That's it. I'm done. I'm quitting otr, going on welfare and getting a part time job at burger king. At least i'll have my $800 monthly food stamps. $800 monthly cash assistance, and a $800 paycheck at burger king each month. Wait a minute-------------That's $2400 a month! Isn't that what i make now??????????????????????????????????????????????????

Except, i have to live in my truck for weeks and weeks at a time!

Oh well, at least i still have my pride.....



Wait another minute!!

Pride?


Where?


Oh yeah, found it. It was put away in my rear pocket.

 

First, you mention $60k per year. That is possible OTR, my co-driver made it last year. I made $50k only because the first two months I was working no more than 10 hours a week if I worked at all trying out our local side. If people choose to work somewhere that doesn't pay worth a crap for OTR it's their own fault. I'm sure someone will try to use the "have to put your time in" excuse but that was my first company that trained me and I was only six months in when that pay year started.

Second, not all LTL or linehaul companies do well. It's not like by running this type of company you'll magically be successful and everyone should do it. YRC almost filed bankruptcy in 2009 and posted a nice $976 million net loss in 2008. They had to dilute their stocks to escape bankruptcy in 2011 as well. Others aren't on the greatest footing currently and others have failed in the past. There are companies that are successful as well, I don't mean to make it sound like it's not possible for it to work. Plenty of OTR companies go under too and plenty do well. The point is both can fail and don't always work. If everyone was doing the same exact thing there would most likely be a higher rate of failure overall.

Fact of the matter is in any type of transportation industry, there will be different business models, forms and specialties. It's really the only way that all of the different types of customers can have their needs filled for their particular business on the receiving and shipping ends and for the transportation company to be successful filling those needs. Shuttling works well for some companies and the needs of their customers. For others it doesn't.

And you do have to setup a lot of terminals. You talk about swapping at say a truck stop or wherever. Where do you think that other driver came from? A different terminal. A company has to invest in infrastructure for that type of business model.

 

RoadRunner I see your points, however I think that these companies know of every way possible to maximize their profits and make money. There are a few companies that do something similar but not many.

 

I made $250 a day when driving all day. It was the other days you spend on the docks that drives the yearly down. That's why I like long haul, you have more days driving and less dock time.

Line haul is boring with the same ol' scenery and same ol' stops. Plus your boss knows exactly how long things take. Take more than a short break and they are like "Where were you"?

As far as relays many dispatchers hate trying to figure things out. It's hard for some to relay a driver home. Then you have perishables that have room for delays.