You would think but perhaps there's still just too many trucks and not enough freight. There's been some smaller outfits fall as well, one recently in Maine. In the article the company stated that it cost them 1.50 to operate per mile and they were getting 1.42. They weren't able to change the contracts they had so they closed the doors.

Maybe if a few other big companies fell it would make a difference. I personally have been all over the place in my strategy to stay ahead but still struggling. It all comes to the simple fact there's just not enough freight yet.

I read an article the other day that stated freight should start to outnumber trucks about mid 2010, but who really knows. The talking heads say the economy is improving but everyone I know, myself included, is falling further behind. So they can kma. :moon:

I am going back to these...... :thumbsdown:

cause now I can't shut the hell up! :rofl:

 

Arrow had a lot of trucks, but when you consider the total number of trucks we have in this country, it is still a drop in the bucket. The last count I heard is that we have somewhere between 3-5 million trucks in this country. If 20% of them are flats you have somewhere between 600,000 to 1 million flats. When you take 1,000 out of the picture it doesn't make much of a difference with so many trucks. If one or two other of the larger carriers fell it would begin to make a difference. There is no telling how many carriers have actually closed their doors. I don't believe they track any carriers who have fewer than 5 trucks. My guess is that it will number in the thousands who have closed their doors. Many of those will go to work for larger carriers so the capacity has essentially remained the same. Until either more fail or freight increases I don't see things changing very much. I am seeing more freight, but not much increase in rates. We still have an over capacity situation. I don't see much changing throughout this year, no matter what the talking heads say.

 

Anyone have any updates? I have been hearing that there are some capacity issues

 

It is picking up like a wild fire in GA.Those blood sucker brokers will now be at our mercy.The CHR,Landstar,TQL,Choptank,Allenlund and those blood sucking Freight Quote brokers.I posted my whereabouts last week and my phone was constantly ringing.I never picked up because I was not ready to head out.I just posted again, and I will see who will be at my mercy this friday.I will wait for them to call.We have suffered enough, now let them suffer.I am doing 2 local runs today and they were all willing to negotiate.This wasn't the case 3 weeks ago.

 

Wow! Keep us posted. I've been down for over four weeks getting my motor redone, should be back out next week. I know the local stuff is picking up around here but I'm curious about other areas.

 

I will make sure I get every last expense on deadheading from Austin back to GA 6 weeks ago.From Ga to Austin, then Dh to houston and every load I callecd about was already covered.Sat for 5 days and on the last day I found something going 800 miles away.I quickly faxed in my stuff and apparently, the broker was waiting for whomever faxed in their paperwork first was the one who goit the load.Guess what ?I was never told that.I sat for about 3 hrs thinking I had the load but I was never called.Houston was bad 6 weeks ago.I am heading back out friday, I will let you know.Fix that motor quickly beofre you miss the action.

 

I am careful as to where I run. There are some areas, such as Texas, that is pretty dead for flatbed freight. Brokers and shippers don't want to pay a decent rate going in and you take a cheaper load coming out. Neither of those are acceptable from my standpoint. Rates are still sporadic and there is still too much capacity for the available loads. I thought that I had a load last Friday and apparently someone else either took it or the load was postponed. I got a call Monday morning and the load was again available so I took it. I was in the process of dead heading back to the house for some personal business when I got the call. It picked up 25 miles from where I was sitting and dropped about 100 miles from the house. It is still a very strange market.

 

I did good in Houston last month. Delivered Mon, had a full trailer loaded by Wed and gone for over $2/mi using Transcore board. It was slim pickings though. I was just the hungriest wolf at the carcass.

 

flat bed freight is slow for me. steady at times. 1 week I make good, the next not. never have 2 weeks in a row that are good for me. $2200 1 week $800 the next. I guess my dispatchers are trying to keep all the drivers happy. I noticed yesterday at Nucor steel in Decatur there was only 5 trucks loading. last week the line was 25 trucks long just to get in.

 

I have had some good offers this week. I only wish that I could have taken advantage of them. With the rates that I have been offered, I think that freight is picking up or capacity is shrinking. It is difficult to tell which at this point.