my truck stop adventure
 

i went to the truck stop to chill and talk to some drivers a couple days ago and most of the guys i talked to gave me the impression that the trucking industry will be non existent in about 5 yrs or so...i was just asking general questions about trucking some was like its a good time to start because when the economy start back up i will be in a good posotion and the others was like "DONT DO IT KID trucking is not what it used to be...i pearsonally dont want to believe that but what do you experienced think about that??

Until somebody comes up with a "teleporter"...trucking/transportation will be around. People need "stuff" and trucks are how the "stuff" gets to where they need it to be. The need for "stuff" may slow down but it will pick up again.

I expect the industry to go through some changes over the next few years but it will still exist. Trucks are the only way most products can get from one part of the country to another in a timely manner. Rail works to some extent, but cannot meet the shorter time sensitive delivery schedules of trucks and cannot offer door to door service. Rail is already nearly at peak capacity. It is much less expensive to put more trucks on the road than rail. Trucks will be around for some time. There will be changes, but trucks will still be around.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with this part. Rail is the most efficient means of moving freight across solid land, in terms of energy. However, the time factor works against them. I once had a broker tell me that he could get a load across the country for much less then the cost of trucking, but could not meet the time deadline. Two days by truck, and seven to ten days by rail. And, because of the amount of tracks that they've discontinued over the last twenty five years, it now requires trucks to move the freight between the rail head and the customer. Where it might take a train 15 days to get a load from the northeast to southern California, it only takes a truck 5 days to deliver that same freight. The "JUST-IN-TIME" factor will keep trucks running for a long time to come. Companies can reduce their stock inventory, thus reducing their taxes, and other costs, and still keep their production going. Instead of maintaining stock for 15 days, they can reduce it to 5 days worth of stock inventory. It means lower investment in warehousing, property tax, maintenance, and at the end of the fiscal year, the amount of inventory on hand also affects the amount of taxes they pay. Inventory is also one of the major reasons freight slows down. When they are working on inventory for taxes, they want as little as possible, so they pay as little taxes as possible. Keeping 15 days worth of inventory as opposed to 5 days would increase their taxes considerably. The rest of the year tends to be more normal.

There are also some commodities that do not keep well over that period of time. Some foods, and especially flowers would not survive well at all.

The highways have improved, equipment has improved, safety has improved. Yes, trucking is not what it use to be. But trucks are not about to disappear over the horizon in the near future. Someone going into trucking today can expect to see trucks on the road long after retirement. Will they look the same? Not if California has anything to say about it.

Almost every industry is not what it used to be. As peoples morals, ethics, etc. change so does they way business is done.

GMAN is correct in his assertion that it is cheaper to put more trucks on the road than to add rail capacity. Think of the cost and time to add more tracks to the rail system or rehab the miles of track that have been mothballed, as well as the cost of new locomotives, engineers, maintenance personnel, etc.. Consider also the cost of downsizing these assets when freight slows. It is much, much easier and quicker to purchase 1000 trucks and hire drivers to run them on existing roads than it is to purchase and maintain 20 new locomotives and 500 cars, as well as hire all the required personnel to run and manage them AND build additional track.

I agree with you however, that rail is many times more efficient where amount of fuel required to move a ton of freight is concerned.

There are really only four methods of getting product from point "A" to point "B"; Barge,Rail,Air, and Truck.
Barge obviously only works on our navigable waterways. Rail is limited as well, confined to railyards which aren't that numerous and Air isn't even worth talking about due to the limitations.
One barge can hold 125 loaded 53' trailers. One boat on the Upper Mississippi can carry the equivalent of 1875 tractor-trailers. But when the boat stops the product has to get distributed somehow...Trucks.
The industry will adapt to the needs of their customers, but the notion of trucking disappearing or even slowing down in any meaningful way is not even in the realm of reality. The thing that can hurt the transportation industry as a whole and trucking specifically, is if the rescession continues to become more widespread and commerce slows to a crawl. No buyers=no shippers=no truckers=unemployed lot lizards.

I drove past two HUGE trains, atleast a mile long maybe longer. BNSF cars and everyone loaded with trailers. Now i know the mega-carrier is partly to blame for the lower rates for freight, but come on.....instead of getting all butt-hurt and being all upset ONLY with them....start blaming the shipper for sending trailers over rail. Besides....the trailer has to get from the railyard to the drop. least 100% of the miles arent being taken.

But my real reason i wanted to post here tonight...what is proper etiquette when two drivers want the same parking spot, but both are 3-4 truck lengths away from it?? Heres what happened to me. I pulled into a Pilot off I-40 exit 42 just outside memphis. I didnt see any signs saying "exit only", but i knew the fuel islands were down the street. There was an 'enterance' closer to my end of the road i was on....so i went in. I happened to glance at what might have been an open spot, in the first row. I might just be able to pull right in. So i swung wide....didnt cut anybody off or anything...but i did notice another truck, a skateboard, pulling down the noses of trucks in the 2nd row. I continued my momentum, and started to turn right to pull thru to the parking spot. I had my CB on, and heard just as i got half way into the turn the other driver saying, "Swift....you park there, you're gonna get your ass whooped". I parked it...set my brakes and shut the engine off. Then listened to him whine for the next 2-3 minutes, and kept saying "i should kick your ass"....and a couple other drivers pitched in, trying to get him worked up more...and said, "yeah, i'd kick his ass". HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAH.....i couldnt do anything but laugh my ass off. I didnt do it to piss him off, he didnt have a turn signal on or anything...so how was i to know he wanted that spot?? Someone told him there were more spots in the back, and actually 5 minutes after i parked, the guy next to me pulled out. But he said "nah i'm already down to mile marker 43."

was i 'wrong'? the way i look at it....first come, first serve. you want a good parking spot...you better get there a minute before another guy takes it.

Did he have his 4-ways on? If he did then it was wrong.

he did not. he had NO 4-ways, no signal of anykind. the only lights he had on were his headlights, and trailer lights. I pulled around the corner, i saw him....i swung a bit wide to the left...and he moved a little bit to his right...as if he wanted to go around me. I am sure he was swinging wide to pull straight into the spot like i was....but, too bad. I mean if i was 30 seconds later...he wuold have turned left in front of me...cutting me off, and 'boxing me out' of position for that spot, then i would have been the one who would have got a bit annoyed. I probably would have got on the CB and said, "Thanks ****", but i would have just moved to another parking spot.