From the road...

Spot rates are down a little bit not terrible. All depends on where you want to go or haul.
Every time I hear about a large company closing up I smile, it usually means rates will increase slightly.

The less drivers and trucks out here the better the rates.

Don't get me started on the non-english speaking steering wheel holders. I've gotten to the point I joke to the dock recievers I can speak English and not wearing flip flops.

If you have a few yrs experience and clean driving and inspection record you can get a job anywhere you want to driving a truck. I don't make the best money or benefits but I'm happy where I'm at. And my boss is happy he doesn't have to worry about me going on a shopping spree at Walmart with the company credit card.

It's hard to find an honest person/employee these days...

 

I'm trying to get out of it as of this week. No shortage of jobs for cdl drivers.I just watched the Celadon story on the news.The news also finished up with a 1.1 million figure on a shortage of drivers this coming year.

 

If there were 1.1M more drivers, there’d be no freight, no room on the roadways, no fuel, even worse no parking, just worse of everything. I think, the numbers these analysts come up with are just arbitrary numbers pulled from their asses.

 

Car hauling rates as well as volume have been weak for the last few months I’ve noticed . If it wasn’t for direct customers I’d be hurting . Tons of new guys and transfers from other sectors of trucking seem to hop into car hauling with visions of sugarplums and buckets of $. It seems to be a a common theme they buy nice new equitment , can’t make the payments , can’t find the customers then drop their pants and haul cheap cheap freight just to break even .

 

There is no shortage of drivers, there is a shortage of freight paying a decent rate....

If it weren't for our regular clients we would be hurting.

One client that usually keeps me going as fast as I can turn laps between oct1 and late dec started using a broker for most of his loads. The broker is usually a few hundred dollars cheaper per load but he doesn't get the same drivers. I get so tired of hearing the drivers complain when I run into them I just walk away. Slinging Xmas trees ain't for the weak. The only loads I got out of him this year were a few regular runs that always ask for me or my boss to make the run.

 

I'm sure some of that number comes from driver's like myself getting out of the business, people quitting, projected new business. Freight,and what's paying this time of year is always poor.It will pick up just before spring.

 

Just found some pics from last summer when I had a chance to visit Spa, the F1 track in Belgium. Saw some cool trucks there.

 

So a bus driver runs off the PA turnpike at 03:30 (asleep?), a Fedex truck rams the overturned bus and people are upset at Fedex? 5 people killed, 30 injured, a real f*ck up.

 

Gotta’ blame the easiest to to recognize.

Our safety dept gets multiple calls per week with people claiming truck number “XXXX” did something to them and that truck number might be many states away, not even on the road, or not even our truck number at all. I hate scammers.

 

Someone posted this on the facetoobs, so you know it's true. Have you seen this kinda shit going on?

Can't seem to make my phone copy text from the facegore's. Screenshot :

 

When government closes the dining rooms, the trucker is left out.

Fastfood restaurant policies do require the person to be in/on a vehicle. Sucks, in this situation where management needs to figure out an alternate plan.

I used to stop at a 24hr Hardee’s, where I could park right beside the drive-through, and they’d take my order right at the window. I was in there a few nights per week, so they were familiar with me.

 

Company policies can be and sometimes are changed almost instantly.

This is one of those occasions.

 

What's the reasoning for that ? I don't understand that at all.

 

Liability probably. Nothing will cramp the bottom line like having a pedestrian run over in the drive thru line.

 

As an aside, I had a friend from India many years ago that ran a couple DQ franchises. He ended up moving to Bahrain. On a return visit to Raleigh he told stories of serving customers on camels in the drive thru.

 

If it ain’t the fucking lawyers, it’s the fucking insurance companies.

 

If it weren't for the lawyers, we wouldn't need so much insurance.

 

Mo’ money for hookers and blow.

 

Ah, I forgot about the lawyers.

 

My local Arby’s posted they’ll accept all EMT, refuse drivers, and other drivers walking up to their drive-thru window. Good on them!