How do the Owners do it?
 

I have been driving 16yrs, and my dream has always been to possibly own a rig. I did my time OTR, and then went local due to raising children. I have always kept that dream alive but it has died with the way the economy is now! At 37 there is no way i would attempt it in todays economy. How do you guys keep your rigs making money at todays fuel prices? The state taxes, the and all the BS overhead? How do you manage it?

Its not that tough... Know your costs and don't accept a load that is below your costs....

Exactly, always looking at ways of making more profit, cutting costs, etc..

And of course, if you look like Big Diesel's avatar, no one will ever mess with you or your money. Reminds me of Burgermeister Meisterburger. I swear, every time I see that thing I start laughing. Of course, if it was my grandpa, I'd run screaming from the room. :)

You MUST keep your overhead down. The owners who will be in trouble the most are those with high equipment payments who feel that they must haul whatever is offered and at whatever price. I have had some interesting discussions with brokers the last several days. Several admitted to me that they would not haul freight for what they offered me. That was after I expressed my opinion on their offerings. When the economy is off you need to work smarter. I turned down 2 loads today that paid $3/mile because I knew that I would not likely be able to find something that was profitable coming out of that area. I quoted one guy $4/mile to go to Oregon earlier today. I hope that he doesn't take me up on the rate. He initially offered $2/mile. I won't go to Oregon for $2/mile. There is little coming out right now and what there is doesn't pay enough. I can get over $2/mile going to good areas where I can get a similar rate without a lot of hassle. I see no reason to haul for the same rate or less going to an area where freight is cheap. There are a lot of owners who will continue to send their trucks to these areas. Those are the ones who will eventually fail. Just look at what happened to Jevic. They are closing their doors. That is a loss of more than 1,000 well paying driving jobs. Jevic was a good company at one time. They will not be the last. It will be a rough ride for the next year or so. Some people will prosper during the rough times to come. Much of it is your attitude. Another is knowing where to go and where to keep away. It is not a time to accumulate a lot of unnecessary debt. We go through rough economic times on a regular cycle. It is something you should expect if you study history. Keep in mind that everything runs in cycles. Good times don't last forever. Neither do rough times. Things are a little difficult right now, but they will improve. Tough times build character. It helps us learn how to deal with adversity. Most of the younger people living today have never experienced a down economy such as we are currently experiencing. We continue to repeat the mistakes that lead to this type of slow down so we continue to repeat the same cycle.

Besides Jevic, I mentioned a couple weeks ago about TRL trucking in PA sold out to Prime before they folded. They had over 1500 trucks. A friend I know bought several vans really cheap from them as they were liquidating all equipment.

Our Fuel in NY is now at and above the $5 dollar mark. You will see and hear about many more companies going out. Brokers will have more trouble finding trucks. Only haul expensive freight. Demand a higher rate. Do not haul cheap freight.

There are a number of carriers who are in trouble. I expect to hear of many others who are unable to make it. Believe it or not, I had a broker call and offer a rate just under $1/mile today. :shock: I had quite a bit to say to her. According to the broker that is all the shipper was willing to pay. I informed her that I hauled the same type of loads for $2.50-3/mile more than a year ago. Some brokers are playing games. So are some shippers. They don't seem to understand what is going on. These people may profit in the short term, but carriers and owner operator should remember them when things tighten up. These people will not be able to find the trucks they need to haul their products. Their greed put those whom they rely out of business. I expect to hear them cry about not being able to find enough trucks. These people will not have my sympathy. Don't be surprised if carriers started demanding $4+/mile in the near future. I am already hearing from brokers that many carriers are already demanding $3/mile. Some will pay, others may not. Carriers need to understand that they are the ones in control of the rates. Unfortunately, most do not. It is those who will accept only that which is offered them and who place no value on the service they provide you will not make it through the difficult times. We have had slow downs in the past. I think what we are seeing now is something which most have never experienced. Freight will still need to move. We have developed into such a transient society and purchase almost everything overseas that companies will be forced to truck in their products. At one time almost everything we used was made locally. That is no longer the case. I don't see how this country can survive without the trucking industry. Greed and our elected officials are allowing this country to falter and threaten the trucking industry.

Lots of people are wondering how o/o are making money.

I was talking to a guy today, and he asked if I was o/o and he said "ooh, I feel sorry for you". I told him I made 10 grand PROFIT in 8 days before I took my time off and not to cry the blues for me.

Its simple, raise your accpetable rate and stick to it. While I may be a leased o/o, United Van Lines has an aggressive fsc that is at 29%, and will go up this month. Fuel goes up, fsc goes up. What a novel idea!

I think a lot of people assume we will haul for the same pay when fuel was a buck a gallon. You don't see insurance companies keeping their premiums the same after having a horrible year prior with claims, do ya?

Keep your costs low.
Provide excellent, guaranteed, take it to the bank service
Be professional at all times
Know your costs and your worth.
Hire good people and keep them.
Go the extra mile.

None of these things will make a difference by themselves, but after a while you will get a reputation, your phone will ring and they will WANT to pay you. They EXPECT to pay you because you have declined cheap freight in he past. They called you knowing that. Don't disappoint them.

I'm exploring specialization right now.

If dry box is white bread trucking, perhaps one of the best ways to be profitable is to specialize. The company dry box driver is doing fine right now, as long as the work is there, rates and fuel prices are someone else's problem.

I was struggling as a dry box O/O.

The specializations are all very different experiences. Learning to drive the truck is the beginning of learning specialized trucking.

Personally, I'm trying chemical tankers. I say trying, but I'm only in training right now, and I'm on the hook for $7k in equipment. Chemical tankers is much unlike dry box, from what I can see. Guys still sound as though they are running quite profitably, though.

Bandit is making his fortune in HHG.

My Landstar buddy is saying he's doing better than the van guys now that he's switched to stepdeck.

The car haulers...

Reefers...

What else?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but specialization appears to be the trick right now. I say 'now' though, because if fuel prices force a new prioritizing and re-tooling of our economy, specialized trucking could suffer too during the transition.

To be honest, I have retired from HHG and moved into special products like medical equipment, tradeshows, and electronics. I still run for United Van Lines, just with a different trailer that has a tuck-under liftgate and milwaukee gear :) I did however, just pull a load of HHG from the midwest to denver since the o/o's at my new agent are whiney babies and won't touch it if speccom gets slow. 8)

As far as car haulers, my Dad did pretty well over at FedEx Custom Critical/Pasport Transport hauling Bentleys, stock cars, Lambos, etc.

I agree, specialization is where its at.

Thanks for the advice, Bandit. As I said, I just made the move myself.

Even so, medical equipment and tradeshows for a major moving company...Bentleys and Lambos...it doesn't get any better, does it!? 8)

who did you end up going with Cam?

Quality Carriers. I didn't know how to say anything to you and Carlo over at Superior.

Someone said they thought QC operates more like Landstar where you have more control over where you run, when you run, and if you run- I don't know if it's true or not.

I did fill out an app with Dana in Detroit last summer but the terminal manager never called back, and neither did I. I just decided to stick with what was working and not incur all of the change over costs, and that's even if I would have been offered a job.

Things have gotten so tight, I'm very much aware that the work you do has to be profitable, even if you don't work much and your revenue is low. I was just talking to a former O/O a couple of weeks ago who lost his truck trying to 'outrun' his bills. Doesn't work that way, does it?

Mike, if this works out, I owe you! That might not make you feel all that good, but it's the truth. It looks like O/O's really need to specialize. Now, let's see if this industry and this company were good choices.

Bandit

Are you friends with Bobby Chastain from Iowa??

Good! The more of you will "specialize", the more freight for me... :lol: :wink:

Yeah, the more freight for you, the sooner you can get back to driving your truck and stop pushing it... :lol:


I know better, Solo! How have you been!?

Well, not too bad, but I've seen a better times! Still with the same outfit, it's survival time, and i don't care what anybody else said! :wink:

It's definitely time to be paying attention. The economy is going to have a certain amount of momentum, but if fuel prices stay high, eventually shippers are going to have to figure out how to consolidate loads, and cut out some loads altogether. I was working for a company transporting machine parts all the way from Iowa to Detroit and back just for powder coating. These companies are going to figure out how to get that powder coating done closer if transportation costs get out of hand.

I've learned a little about peak oil, there isn't an endless supply of easily accessible light, sweet crude. On the other hand, I read that oil inventories are high which might indicate a slight drop in prices is at hand. I don't know, I don't follow the economy that closely.

Then there is the situation of O/O's and companies going out of business. If only the strong survive, does that means rates will go back up after they are gone? Again, I don't know, I've only had a truck for two years now. It's just a good time to be paying attention to what's going on and not try to make up for no profit margin by running your butt off. You know that, though. :wink: Have you ever seen a business cycle anything like this?

Yes! But never that bad! Actually, i only heard, that it was a bad time, but hardly ever notice it.
Like I've said, I'm not doing too bad now, but my truck is fairly new, and it's paid off, also, I've got some reserves...
What's worry me, that it's might be only the beginning, and s$it is gonna get dipper, before, and if it gets any better... :roll:

Maybe seen his face and the name is vague, but I'm leaning towards no. If he is a United driver, you must remember theres thousands of us :)

And cam, it has been a good ride so far is special products. I ran water to water for over 4 bucks a mile (my cut) already. Dad got tired of the tedious nature of cars and is actually doing HHG for Berger Allied again. I dunno why, but he is. I guess when you do something 30 years its in your blood. It would be like Gamn giving up trucing to be a WalMart greeter- he'd be back behind the wheel in 2 months tops!

Bobby owned a moving company I drove for last summer. He always talked about a friend of his that went to doing trade shows and I thought it may have been you.

Which moving company? Lint?

Funny, I can't imagine getting addicted to hide-a-beds, and you'd think 30 years would be plenty anyway!

I don't know if you could compare hauling Bentleys to greeting people at Walmart, but I don't thing Gman is that old! Solo maybe... :wink: :lol:

Heartland Moving and Storage

Is affliated with National