I talked to a friend of mine at CHR today...
 

He told me rates are up, but not to hold my breath. The coming economy is in a downturn... In other words, capacity, "trucks", are down sharper than freight is up... If you get my drift.

For the uninformed, trucking companies are folding faster then you can whistle Dixie...

For what it is worth...

Hold on to your bippy, because we ain't seen nothing yet.

On Edit: Freight is projected to shrink as demand is down for all goods. We have seen a quick uptick, but it will be very short lived.

Last week my phone rang off the hook and I had to turn down a load (end of the month). I could pretty much name my price. This week it's dead as a door nail again.

I received several good offers this week. Rates seem to be up for the last few days. It may also have something to do with where I am sitting.

last week. did 8 loads in 4 days. this week will not even do 1/2 of that. I will be lucky to make 40 % of what I did last week. 1 week o.k. next week nothing. back & forth for me. unless I go where I don't want to go.

That seems to be the way things are with quite a few people with whom I talk. There is one broker that nearly always has good paying freight. Much of this year their business has been up and down. They may do very well this week and nothing next. It is a very strange market.

Cheap and Heavy is the last place I would pay any attention to, regarding the economic outlook... Or the self-annoited oracle of trucking.....

Do the words "friend" and "CHR" even belong in the same sentence?

CHR must have freaked if they had to raise their rates from 73 cents per mile to 74 cents per mile!

"C.H. Robinson 3Q Profit Up 2% On Higher Margins As Rev Falls "

"Improved margins have helped C.H. Robinson offset falling revenue over the past few quarters, helped by its ability to buy cheap transport capacity on spot markets and reselling it at higher contract rates. But concerns have risen as the eventual economic recovery could allow truckers and other transport providers greater pricing power. "

What that means is that by taking more off the top they can still make money off cheap rates.

The article C.H. Robinson 3Q Profit Up 2% On Higher Margins As Rev Falls - WSJ.com

Also, Sitton out of Joplin is shutting down .

You are right heavyduty,

They sure know to make their money,even in a downturn while squezzing the poor trucker.Last year they made a profit in q3 while the trucking industry was decimated. I absolutely refuse their loads unless I have no choice,even drive empty miles,position myself in a better area for freight.

This week it seemed that van rates went up. A friend did really good,who pulled reefer before. Reefer rates for produce are still in the low side. Other reefer rates seem a little better. Right now was able to pull a $2 mile load up here in the midwest. Something that I haven't seeen in a long time.