[Utahtrucker]

Unsure of local or otr driving, for the past 4 years I have been working in the oilfields as an O/O. As I see the oilfields dwindling down. I have been hired by local companies in the salt lake area, and by O/O companies for otr. I have a good truck 2000 classic with recent inframe(will pass a dot),verifiable work and experience, no tickets or arrests. Have spent the past 4 years from my family putting work first. Working between the Utah oilfields and North Dakota. Just unsure of what to do next,?

[mndriver]

Get your own authority and enjoy some home time.

[justsaying]

Originally Posted by Utahtrucker

Unsure of local or otr driving, for the past 4 years I have been working in the oilfields as an O/O. As I see the oilfields dwindling down. I have been hired by local companies in the salt lake area, and by O/O companies for otr. I have a good truck 2000 classic with recent inframe(will pass a dot),verifiable work and experience, no tickets or arrests. Have spent the past 4 years from my family putting work first. Working between the Utah oilfields and North Dakota. Just unsure of what to do next,?

I would NOT agree with the idea of getting your own authority. It is very expensive in that you have costs that must be paid wither you work or not. I haven't had enough work to pay my costs it's draining my personal resources. Resources not made in trucking. If you don't have my resources it will kill you. I'm just hanging on to see what happens after Memorial Day. My hope could be dashed just as my hope has been dashed by this quarter. (I believe the market is taking a big dump. The 1 st quarter was horrible & now the 2 nd is proving to be just about as bad). As YOU have experienced, yourself, there is a big drop off in work in your area, oilfields. This does not limit its self to the oil fields.

I believe it's having a ripple effect through out the trucking industry. But I can't tell until I (we) get more reports from other drivers.

Side note: [When I called Roaddog Radios Kevin Rutherford, and asked him to have drivers call in with a report he "put me down". Probably because he sells things and ideas to truckers getting into business. In general I like his program, except his failure to confront the extent of a drop in the market. Also his failure to study the problems with newer engine's. He says, "I want to help truck drivers. Call in with any question", and he says, "do the hard work" all the time. Yet he doesn't want to do the hard work himself when it comes to examining each of the emissions components on the newer trucks that are causing problems. Since he doesn't want to "do the Hard Work" himself it puts into question what he says. Now a days it appears all he wants to do is drive around in his old truck and refuses to help drivers with newer emission trucks]. Newer trucks would open up the CA market offering some relief. Problem is that the newer trucks have many problems, at huge costs of repairs. To make things worse it would appear that the truck repair shops throw very expensive parts at the trucks to solve problems only to have problems continue to plague.

I have tried to consider a way around this by changing over to dry vans. When I checked the load boards for dry van loads it didn't look good out of Vegas or Phoenix. (My idea was to put on the max miles, each day, at a much lower rate than flatbed, and I would make much better money than flatbed even though Flatbed pays from $2 to $4 a mile, because of the lack of loads at the other end, that is so much deadhead.

I haul flatbed out of Vegas area, to UT, NV, NM, El Paso, So CO. You might want to read my posts as of recent. Flatbed is basically regional and there is way to much time spent picking up & dropping off loads rather than running the miles. You only get paid for miles! The big rate does not make up for miles that can be run each day hauling cross country. If it takes up 3 days, 1 day to pick-up a drive off 400-600 miles, 10 hrs off duty, one day to drop and run to the next load. This another reason I was looking at dry van).

You might want to continue to post your attempts and experiences to find work along with anyone else running into problems so we can try and find out how extensive this problem is.

Please let me know if there is something wrong with my evaluation of the trucking industry. I hope I'm wrong. I can't see how I am but I'm open to constructive criticism.

[mndriver]

KR has a wonderful marketing program.


I also have my own authority. Got it back in 2013. Best move I ever made.


The woo's you are describing are not unique to trucking. It's economics. Macro and micro. How well have you set yourself up, to include a piece of equipment that is highly maintained to allow you to weather these times. Not just cash. Minimum overheard. No fancy house or vehicle payments etc all both for the company and personal side of live.

[justsaying]

Originally Posted by mndriver

KR has a wonderful marketing program.


I also have my own authority. Got it back in 2013. Best move I ever made.


The woo's you are describing are not unique to trucking. It's economics. Macro and micro. How well have you set yourself up, to include a piece of equipment that is highly maintained to allow you to weather these times. Not just cash. Minimum overheard. No fancy house or vehicle payments etc all both for the company and personal side of live.

I am very well set up. I have no costs at all. Except fixed costs Reg, insurance, fuel, maintenance.

Your verbiage sounds like a politicians.

All things are economic, micor or macro. This is an empty statement.

I supported my statement by identifying what's going on in the territory I run, and have looked at.

I don't see any support for your post. Lets here support for your statement.

[mndriver]

then run scared. It will be in the end how much risk are you willing to accept.

Cass Truckload Linehaul Index

I don't see a good market ahead, but I see no reason to run scared.

If you want to understand our trends on the spot and contract markets, you also need to follow other industries and markets. But hey, you know better than me.

[justsaying]

Originally Posted by mndriver

then run scared. It will be in the end how much risk are you willing to accept.

Cass Truckload Linehaul Index

I don't see a good market ahead, but I see no reason to run scared.

If you want to understand our trends on the spot and contract markets, you also need to follow other industries and markets. But hey, you know better than me.

Running scared as you call it isn't the issue. I've responded to Utahtrucker and offered up practical, real experience, information. Being realistic. I haven't heard anything of much value from you, except that o'l power of positive thinking. In the end it won't feed you.

I say be realistic. Deal with the facts as they are, and as I have posted.

If you have something you should offer it Utahtrucker. Tell him what he might consider doing or where to go or where he shouldn't go. Say something other than what you've said, because I haven't seen anything you've said as being helpful. I could have just missed it.

You said one meaningful thing to this post/subject, "I don't see a good market ahead".

I follow other industries and markets. Uthatruckers market, oil industry, is just one of them. I've mentioned my territory and territories I'm looking at as well. I follow load board research also, but you can't really trust what they say. They don't want to really keep drivers to informed. They work for brokers. Read their stuff. It is veg. They say the price trucks are getting paid, but the load boards and brokers say something else.

Trends in the spot market

[mndriver]

What is a good market for you can be a junk market for me.

Each of us will have our own lanes we like or prefer to run. That's why you won't get me to say something specific.

The ag market in the sw is going to suck from the lack of water. Other areas as well. You need to see what you want to do and go and how you can make it to your benefit.

Dealing with the reality you have to consider the California market isn't going to make things better or easier. Because now you'll need carb compliant equipment. Enjoy that head ache on your own.

If you are going to be an owner operator, then be a businessman and not a driver.

You want direction on where or what to haul. Get a reefer. It let's you haul dry and frozen/fresh/ produce. Besides, no matter how bad the economy gets, food will always move.

[justsaying]

Originally Posted by mndriver

What is a good market for you can be a junk market for me.

Each of us will have our own lanes we like or prefer to run. That's why you won't get me to say something specific.

The ag market in the sw is going to suck from the lack of water. Other areas as well. You need to see what you want to do and go and how you can make it to your benefit.

Dealing with the reality you have to consider the California market isn't going to make things better or easier. Because now you'll need carb compliant equipment. Enjoy that head ache on your own.

If you are going to be an owner operator, then be a businessman and not a driver.

You want direction on where or what to haul. Get a reefer. It let's you haul dry and frozen/fresh/ produce. Besides, no matter how bad the economy gets, food will always move.

Well just listen to this.

What is a good market for you can be a junk market for me. This is called relativism! This is pervasive in your comments.

Each of us will have our own lanes we like or prefer to run. That's why you won't get me to say something specific. This clearly has no value. It doesn't matter where we want to run. this isn't in the question.

You might be saying something worth hearing when you offer up the idea of reefer. I question your thinking.

Lets go over it:

1) You say you don't see things getting better

2) You say market in the SW is going to suck; CA's got a water problem. My words "do to OVERPOPULATION of Mexs let in by CA, 50% of the population now, thanks to the Mexican Invasion.

On 1, we all agree. It took a little writing to get you to say it.

On 2, I could be wrong but I think you fail to see the severity of the situation as it pertains to CA water supply and the food supply. If this is as bad as it seems to be, especially when you take into consideration the massive over population draining the water and food supply, it will have WIDE RANGING effect on the WHOLE country. It could be the rain will solve the problem temporarily, but they still have over population which will continue to drain water, and they will eat the food.

This will cut reefer demand, and move more reefer drivers to your area, which will drive down your reefer rates.

Enough of all this. You've done the best you could.

[mndriver]

And I also look at the secondary and tirchiary markets as well.

But I guess you'll want that fully and totally explained as well.


Your oil market dropped out. So that means all the pipe fitting supply demands fell off as well. Meaning the demand for tooling and equipment fell apart. Leading to the market for supply and material handling.

So now all those folks are out of work as well looking to move to other hot spots.

Thank your speculators for that fiasco and what's to come.


No one market is good right now. But reefers will be for those established and with good repore with brokers/shippers and receivers.

Have a nice day. This has been brought to you by the letters q and t. And the number 6.