Negotiating skills are overvalued in this business. A broker wants to start negotiating, he's just wasting my time. I don't ask for a rate far in excess of what I want, knowing that I'll come down. Our service has a price, that's what it is. Not close? No problem, please move on. If I say $8,000 and the broker says, "I can do $7,900" I'll probably say ok. Some may call that negotiating...I don't quibble over pennies.

 

Don't we all?

 

Both are possible. $5/gal diesel is squeezing the bunsines model of low margin huge volume van & reefer carriers.

I'm liking Covenant to go belly up 1st. They have NO intermodal presence and in a good year they had an operating ratio in the mid to high 90s.

Swift is hard to say...they are no longer a public company so it is difficult. They have some intermodal presence but are anemic compared to JB Hunt or Schneider.