I agree with your post Sonny but look here.........
and then.......
If we assume that "standard" is a dollar a mile (low side I know) and he's getting 2-3 more than that then he's at 3-4 dollars and he's still not making it? At 3 dollars a mile 75% of that is 2.25 for fuel and maintenance, somethings not adding up. Maybe they should have been a bit more specific with the "specialized" loads", I don't know. Maybe that's where some extra cost is.

Also if he's been out there 20 years and hasn't saved enough for the slow times I have to question his spending habits a bit. Don't get me wrong I feel for everyone that's slow right now but trucks aren't the only industry that's hurting.

 

Rosty's right, the guy's numbers simply don't add up. Along with what's already been posted, look at what he claims to have spent on fuel. $64,000 in the last 8 months; that means he drove how many miles? And at what rate? In my opinion we have yet another operator who doesn't have a clue about his true numbers and is just talking because somebody will listen.

There are a couple more revealing quotes:

Let's see, folks are on the verge of bankruptcy at their current rates and if they go out of business rates will rise. Does anybody else interpret this as operators being their own worst enemy? Sure, some of it would be due to decreased capacity, but these guys are obviously taking rates that don't support their business. One of the nice "perks" of being independent is that you don't have to take whatever's tossed out at you...those that don't realize that, well...

Anybody whose weekly profit margin is the cost of a new tire...well, need I say more?

One driver makes a nice quote about the importance of truckers and then finishes with...Self-important ignorance never won many allies. This whole notion of "Without trucks America stops" only applies to the actual trucks. Unless every truck driver suddenly disappeared, we can and would be replaced. If independents ceased to exist, things would keep right on rolling with just a few bumps in the road.

Big companies are surviving and the independents rely more and more on brokers. I'm sure there's no correlation between these two items and the lack of actual business being conducted by independents. Buying a truck, scouring a loadboard, and hauling cheap freight hardly constitutes "business".

Does anyone else find it ironic that these "fiercely independent businesspeople" are clamoring more and more for government protection and a union boss to lead them? :roll:

The headline should have read, "Quick, somebody protect us from ourselves!" :lol:

 

There is a line in there that a 800 mile trip pays $1000. The guy is hauling too cheap. If the guy would have saved money during the good times he could turn down loads like that.

 

Quit beating around the bush, tell us what you think. :lol: :lol:

 

I bet that isn't the only thing they spend $$$ :shock: :shock: on during the week!!! :?

 

First of all, regarding SUSHI.

The article states that this was a FAMILY NIGHT OUT for Mr. Griffith, during the good times when he felt he could well afford $150.00 for a night out. Since he is on the road so much and his wife and kids don't see a lot of him, this is something a man likes to do - throw the money around to make up for the fact that Dad isn't around much. Sound familiar, guys?

It's just so predictable now to read these postings by people who feel good about trashing others.

Yup, it's a jungle out there, just barely moderated by those wiggly yellow lines, late at night.

"What Happened and What's Wrong" with this industry (my title) is that people have no respect and Christian love for one another, being willing to give the other fellow the benefit of the doubt, and ONLY LOOKING at his own pocketbook, ONLY LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE. So if somebody goes broke, loses his truck, loses his home, goes berserk, takes too many prescription drugs to help his depression, and ends up killing himself, his wife, and his children -- well, he's just a loser -- he's not a good businessman -- the industry is better off without the dead weight.

Trucking Companies have no monopoly on this problem. LEASING AGENTS, DISPATCHERS, RECRUITERS, and COMPANY ACCOUNTANTS/ LAWYERS/INSURERS - will conspire to double-cross and lie to the driver.
They have no scruples.

But FELLOW-DRIVERS will do the same thing today.

Any cursory look at the Avatars on this messageboard, let alone the macho outfits worn by men and women in the truckstops, show that virtually everyone has 'bought into' the savage, brutal, crude, tatooed, metal/rap culture which has been marketed across America to deliberately destroy the soul of this country.

What you reap you will sow.

 

What about 'his hood?'

I would bet it has cost him at least A MILLION in 'wasted fuel' in those 20-odd years.

The hoods will disapear faster than the fuel-efficient aeros.

The writing is on the wall. Even shippers and brokers will shun them to be on the good side of the EPA.

Then, they WILL be CLASSICS!

 

First of all, $150 for family night on Sushi? I like sushi! I eat Sushi! But I have 3 people in my family and $150 is really cheap Sushi! I would be scared to eat cheap Sushi! I hope that is not including a tip!