[scania]

Heard several times now that the long haul solo trucker days are almost gone now,heard most solo drivers are regional now and any coast to coast driving is done by teams,any comments on this?

[terrylamar]

Originally Posted by scania

Heard several times now that the long haul solo trucker days are almost gone now,heard most solo drivers are regional now and any coast to coast driving is done by teams,any comments on this?

Not so with TMC, I cannot comment any other company.

[Uturn2001]

I would not say that, but many companies are expanding regional opportunities and using the rail lines to ship trailers cross country and/or giving the long runs to teams.

There are many reasons behind this.

Drivers wanting to be home more.
Can be cheaper to ship by rail, especially with rising fuel costs.

[GMAN]

There sure seems to be a lot of solo drivers on the road, no matter where I go. Some of the large carriers are pushing for more teams to do cross country runs. It is usually more profitable to run regionally.

Originally Posted by scania

Heard several times now that the long haul solo trucker days are almost gone now

Rule of thumb is:

75% of truckload freight is under 500 miles
15% is 500 to 1000 miles
10% is over 1000 miles.

The water-to-water runs of yore are pretty-much over. The majority of that stuff rides the rails and whatever's left goes to teams. Either that, or some happy O/O type who will move it for $1.25 per mile.

heard most solo drivers are regional now and any coast to coast driving is done by teams,any comments on this?

Yes. And whenever the Mexican cross-border thing gets going, you'll see even shorter runs for American drivers. That's because alot of loads that formerly went down to Eagle Pass, Laredo, Calexico, etc to be cartaged will be backhauled by a Mexican driver straight into Mexico.