Gman,

I agree with you. I don't think owner operators drive the freight prices down, but much rather the larger companies. Case in point,I work with an established broker and he was complaining to me how us express undercut his rate at something like 90 cents per mile,compared to 1.60 ,the rate he was getting out of this shipper. If these huge megacarriers will fall out(I hope they will),I think the supply of trucks will be just fine fine for the current demand. And. I think its a matter of time,not if, for this to happen.

It seems that it is almost like they have their heads stuck in the sand not wanting to admit that there isn't enough business to go around. I think they want to see if they can drive prices down to a point where they will drive their competitors out of business and then they can make a killing when the economy turns around. They are positioning themselves where they can take advantage of the situation when it does turn. It is a crap shoot to see who will be the last standing when the dust settles. We are seeing a number of mergers and acquisitions among those who are in difficulties. It will be interesting to see who will be left when this is over. I have been expecting at least one of the major carriers to bite the dust. This country does much better economically when we have more smaller to mid size companies rather than a handful of mega companies, and I am not just talking about motor carriers. Smaller companies have greater flexibility. Most large companies have much bureaucracy with which to deal. I remember a guy who had over 100 trucks telling me once that he never thought he would be hauling some of the cheap freight he was hauling. At the time I was thinking about buying several more trucks and trailers. He said that the bigger you become the more willing you are to haul cheaper freight just to keep the trucks moving and your drivers happy. In retrospect I think he is correct. When you only have one truck you can be more selective with which loads you take. When you have several hundred or thousand trucks you will compromise just to keep the wheels moving. These large carriers have a lot of overhead with which to deal. Many of them lease or finance their equipment. They must make those payments at any cost.