Independent truckers see end of the road
 

Ya beat me to it !! Logged on to post that thread!! :shock:

The last line in that article says it all. I have watched the dump truck rates fall alot these past six months, some brokers are lowering rates as much as $11 per hour, and all we do is argue with each other about it. Unfortunatly it is true if the independents go away the J.B's and the Schneiders will only get stronger. Like I always said, "I should have been a drug dealer, I would make more money and get hasseled by the cops less."

Probably get more respect from the general population as well. They gotta have their dope.

Such is the business cycle for a cyclical segments like flatbeds and dirt.

Rates will stay low for a while; smaller and weaker players will exit. Once the economy picks up in 12-18 months rates will shoot up attracting new players to the game.

The O/O profiled would be better of parking the truck or giving it to the bank and asking "Venti or Grande?". He would get bennies, and have about the same take home with 200%+ better quality of life. But a lot of O/O are a stubborn lot who refuse to fold when dealt a weak hand.

I fully agree that things have become harder by a considerable level and i agree that the problems causing these difficulties are big and need to be dealt with to a certain extent.....but why do you only hear about the stories like this of people who are doing bad....how come you never see them print stories on those that have over come and adapted to these problems and are still doing good buisness to help teach others what can be done to suceed and not show people what can be done to fail. Is this story to help drive the point across that the economy is in bad shape and there is no hope? I just for once would like to see them print a story on the truckers that have adapted and figured it out with good business sense. I am sure that there are at least a few owners on here that agree its still possible to turn good profit right now...perhaps more difficult, but still possible. Am I off point here and completely wrong? I know things are harder than ever for the independent but stories like this make it out to be a 100% hopeless effort.

this is busness
there are people doing well
but why on earth would they share their secrets of success
it is important to the stronger independants
that the weaker ones give up
there are way too many trucks at this time


I understand this and am holding on as long as I can

As was posted on another board, his numbers don't jive. Maybe he don't know his numbers, maybe he is a poor business man, who knows. Things are bad all over get used to it, try to adapt and survive till it picks up. If he runs his business like he spends his personal money that could be a problem, 150.00 a week at the sushi bar???? No wonder he don't have any money, he's a glutton. :lol:

the sushi may be extravagant but
if you don't make as much as the highest paid teamster
bennies included
then you are just spinning your wheels as an independant
I am out here to live a suburban life
Cars, dogs,college, lawn etc
You should be able to own a truck and a trailer and make a "living"
not just feed the truck
The fuel price and the arrogance of the shippers has really screwed things
up.
In many cases its like starting over again.

X2

I just hope it happens sooner rather than later. And I refuse to give up my Sushi :D

I agree with your post Sonny but look here.........
and then.......
If we assume that "standard" is a dollar a mile (low side I know) and he's getting 2-3 more than that then he's at 3-4 dollars and he's still not making it? At 3 dollars a mile 75% of that is 2.25 for fuel and maintenance, somethings not adding up. Maybe they should have been a bit more specific with the "specialized" loads", I don't know. Maybe that's where some extra cost is.

Also if he's been out there 20 years and hasn't saved enough for the slow times I have to question his spending habits a bit. Don't get me wrong I feel for everyone that's slow right now but trucks aren't the only industry that's hurting.

Rosty's right, the guy's numbers simply don't add up. Along with what's already been posted, look at what he claims to have spent on fuel. $64,000 in the last 8 months; that means he drove how many miles? And at what rate? In my opinion we have yet another operator who doesn't have a clue about his true numbers and is just talking because somebody will listen.

There are a couple more revealing quotes:

Let's see, folks are on the verge of bankruptcy at their current rates and if they go out of business rates will rise. Does anybody else interpret this as operators being their own worst enemy? Sure, some of it would be due to decreased capacity, but these guys are obviously taking rates that don't support their business. One of the nice "perks" of being independent is that you don't have to take whatever's tossed out at you...those that don't realize that, well...

Anybody whose weekly profit margin is the cost of a new tire...well, need I say more?

One driver makes a nice quote about the importance of truckers and then finishes with...Self-important ignorance never won many allies. This whole notion of "Without trucks America stops" only applies to the actual trucks. Unless every truck driver suddenly disappeared, we can and would be replaced. If independents ceased to exist, things would keep right on rolling with just a few bumps in the road.

Big companies are surviving and the independents rely more and more on brokers. I'm sure there's no correlation between these two items and the lack of actual business being conducted by independents. Buying a truck, scouring a loadboard, and hauling cheap freight hardly constitutes "business".

Does anyone else find it ironic that these "fiercely independent businesspeople" are clamoring more and more for government protection and a union boss to lead them? :roll:

The headline should have read, "Quick, somebody protect us from ourselves!" :lol:

There is a line in there that a 800 mile trip pays $1000. The guy is hauling too cheap. If the guy would have saved money during the good times he could turn down loads like that.

Everyone of those so-called " Independants " portrayed in that article are idiots :lol: They would not know their azz from a paper sack in how to run a business.... They deserve to go down the the tubes.

150.00 per week on Sushi ??? :lol: :lol:

Quit beating around the bush, tell us what you think. :lol: :lol:

I bet that isn't the only thing they spend $$$ :shock: :shock: on during the week!!! :?

What Happened and What's Wrong
 

First of all, regarding SUSHI.

The article states that this was a FAMILY NIGHT OUT for Mr. Griffith, during the good times when he felt he could well afford $150.00 for a night out. Since he is on the road so much and his wife and kids don't see a lot of him, this is something a man likes to do - throw the money around to make up for the fact that Dad isn't around much. Sound familiar, guys?

It's just so predictable now to read these postings by people who feel good about trashing others.

Yup, it's a jungle out there, just barely moderated by those wiggly yellow lines, late at night.

"What Happened and What's Wrong" with this industry (my title) is that people have no respect and Christian love for one another, being willing to give the other fellow the benefit of the doubt, and ONLY LOOKING at his own pocketbook, ONLY LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE. So if somebody goes broke, loses his truck, loses his home, goes berserk, takes too many prescription drugs to help his depression, and ends up killing himself, his wife, and his children -- well, he's just a loser -- he's not a good businessman -- the industry is better off without the dead weight.

Trucking Companies have no monopoly on this problem. LEASING AGENTS, DISPATCHERS, RECRUITERS, and COMPANY ACCOUNTANTS/ LAWYERS/INSURERS - will conspire to double-cross and lie to the driver.
They have no scruples.

But FELLOW-DRIVERS will do the same thing today.

Any cursory look at the Avatars on this messageboard, let alone the macho outfits worn by men and women in the truckstops, show that virtually everyone has 'bought into' the savage, brutal, crude, tatooed, metal/rap culture which has been marketed across America to deliberately destroy the soul of this country.

What you reap you will sow.

Re: What Happened and What's Wrong
 

ROFL :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

What about 'his hood?'

I would bet it has cost him at least A MILLION in 'wasted fuel' in those 20-odd years.

The hoods will disapear faster than the fuel-efficient aeros.

The writing is on the wall. Even shippers and brokers will shun them to be on the good side of the EPA.

Then, they WILL be CLASSICS!

First of all, $150 for family night on Sushi? I like sushi! I eat Sushi! But I have 3 people in my family and $150 is really cheap Sushi! I would be scared to eat cheap Sushi! I hope that is not including a tip!

Re: What Happened and What's Wrong
 

Hit the nail on the head there Cabhappy!

In my case it was a Japanese steak house with knives flying through the air, warm Saki then off to Fun Land with no spending limit for my 2 boys!!!

I'm thinking this guys truck probably gets 4mpg,...he heavy hauls right?, I'd bet he doesn't believe in APU's or any other device to help save on fuel. I'm not knocking him,..he's been in this way longer than I have,...but like said before,...maybe he should just park it, I know I would.

Re: What Happened and What's Wrong
 

Excuse me?
THAT is a rebuttle to the well thought out observations of such benign business men as no-worries, etc? It seems, I believe, that you go off on contemporary culture, and supposed character flaws of the trucker populous and don't speak to any of the points.

o.k. those who have read my post over times know my story well. talk about history repeating itself... i ran into sooo many o/o in 2000-2001 that had a lot of the same problems. but as soon as they beg,borrow & steal their way thu, they dont learn. theyre right back into looking cool in a heavy big chromed out truck with a $1000 c.b. sys. getting 4-5m.p.g. they do o.k. for a while & then back to reality. my idea of a low mileage inexpensive truck.($15,000) & a cabover at that! had all the o/o laughing at me from day one. 10 years later & still driving same truck. i have the last laugh. hate to be redundant here, but for those who may just be tuning in for the 1st time here..... champane taste on a beer budjet will get you where that driver is today. sooner than later. but it will happen.

most men remember their first car... was it new? was it expensive ? no.. it was a beater. just something to get the job done. tranport you & your family. then over the years you trade up getting something nicer as your circumstance & financial ability allows. but with trucks & truck drivers it's different. but should not be. why start out in a truck with high payments & other high expensis ? why ? i dont care about keeping up with the jones's or anyone else. i dont have any chrome, i dont have a real nice looking truck, my truck dont ride real nice, but what i do have is peace of mind... wich is priceless!!!! and... i'm not embarrassed or insecure going down the road in my ole walmart cabover. at the end of the work week i have enough money to buy myself more than just a peanut butter sanwich...

i will say i feel sorry for any driver that had fallen on hard times weather or not it's his fault or not. it's just my nature. but please learn from your mistakes. a mistake is not a mistake if you learn from it,,, if you learn from it , then i consider it a lesson, not a mistake. take care all of you... my best & prayers to all

i bought a truck with a hood, and i'm doing just fine. i think aeros suck, especially these newer ones. 90% of aeros = disposable pos plastic trash cans. everything under the hood is crammed together and difficult to work on. they're designed to go 300k miles with a fleet, then get sold and fall the eff apart. no thank you.

i dont think the problems with "trucking" today have anything to do with hoods, fuel or rates ... they have a more to do with the simple fact that there a bunch of gaping vaginal wounds running around calling themselves "truck drivers." like the guy i met at freightliner the other day who politely explained to me why it wasn't a good time for young people to be getting into the trucking industry - while he was getting a 200$ dash valve replaced at 110$ an hour for labor (on an aero).

i compensate for my hood by not being a total effin idiot. i take apart dash valves and replace the o-rings. i buy parts at the wrecking yard. dissemble clean, reassemble. put a kit in it if i have to. if a customer or shipper doesn't want me to haul their freight because my truck has a hood, then they can go get bent.

I'm not saying a hood in & of itself is bad at all. is'ts more of what can you afford. & what are you going to make. when i bought my 95' intl i paid $15,000 for it. at the same time the big kw's & pete's were going for $30- $35,000. with higher mileage than mine. i could not see the justification for the double price tag. i get 7 m.p.g driving 60-62 m.p.h & 6.2 ave driving the speed limit. you take a big heavy hood getting 4-5 m.p.g. & a hefty truck pymt & it can & will take o/o's out of the business. to each his own. it's just like folks buying homes that they can only afford for a while & then lose it. there are a lot of o/o's who buy & do well with expensive rigs. those folks are not at all who i'm talking about. it's the ones who get tied up in the looks & have no business plan or cash reserves to get them thru tough times. my advice is dont go for the most elaborate expensive setup if your starting out, or have limited reserves. my post are usually for the ones who are thinking about making the same mistakes that others have made & to educate themselves before sticking their necks out. the ones that make it & know how to do it, well i have no advive to give them, maybe i will learn from them... i will say that fuel & rates have a lot to do with drivers making it though...