I just spoke with a friend of mine who recently moved from Reno to Las Vegas. It is snowing like crazy in Vegas. He move from Reno to get away from the cold and snow. :roll2:

 

I came out of Vegas on Monday a.am. about 10 and it snowed from Vegas all the way down Cajon pass down 15s. Needless to say, it too a long time to get to Santa Fe Springs.

 

From what I was told they have closed some of the roads around the area. It still seems strange to me that there can be so much snow accumulation in the desert.

 

Yeah. Cajon was shut down here and there. By the time I got there we had police escorts taking us down the hill in groups of 10-20.

Those S. Californians are as confused as a hungry baby in a strip club when it comes to driving in snow lol

 

I pull a flat for Mercer, let's just say that I had to deadhead from El Paso, TX to Long Beach, CA (900 miles)to pick up a 40ft container going to Charlston, SC (1.16 a mile), then deadhead to Atlanta to get home for the Holidays. Not a happy camper!! Things have been really bad for us this month. All I can do is pray for better times.

 

Things have definitely slowed in the last three months. We pull trailers for a larger company for a percentage and about six or eight weeks ago the rates really started dropping. We’re still doing better than a lot of what I see posted here, but the miles are noticeably down. In September, loads were averaging $1.75 a mile and we were running about 5500 miles a week. The biggest thing that has hurt us is the drop in fuel price. At $4 a gallon the surcharge was almost completely paying for our fuel, now we have to shell about 20 cpm out of our pocket for fuel. Broker loads have been paying as low as $1/mile to the truck but the company freight (luckily accounts for about 85% of our loads) has been averaging $1.20 to $1.40 a mile still. Earlier in the year we could run 6500 miles a week if we wanted; now we’re lucky to average 4500 to 5k a week.

I spoke to the head of the company’s payroll a few weeks ago and she said they were no longer actively hiring company drivers or working very hard on retention, and had fleets on a waiting list to sign up since October. This company has a pretty strong customer base, so I’m hoping that they will be able to shrink their capacity as quickly as freight dries up to keep the rest of us busy.
I know in the past we could have been making more per mile running our own trailer and broker / customer freight, but it is now making up for it. We haven’t had to deadhead farther than 180 miles yet for a load (usually less than 50) and the loads usually average over 1800 miles. That would be hard to do with your own customers and brokers.

I heard on xm171 last week that 1000 trucking companies (I’m assuming mostly small ones) a week are going out of business. This has been in the making for a long time. The big carriers have been crying wolf about a capacity shortage for so long and putting anybody with a heartbeat in trucks for years. Now that volume has really dropped we’re left with tens or maybe hundreds of thousands of extra trucks and drivers out there. In the end it will be a boon for those who are left when things pick up. It’s a natural cycle, like pruning a tree as it grows to make it stronger and healthier.

We’re lucky in that things can get a good deal worse before we’d run into money troubles, but I do feel bad in a way for those who have not put themselves in a similar position.

 

deep dixie blue said:

The bottom is still much lower. Things will get worse before they get better. This summer was BEFORE the credit "freeze" on WALL Street. Companies cannot get credit to purchase raw materials for production. Other companies cannot get credit to BUY the finished product. Consumers can't get credit to buy products, so manufacturing and therefore shipping slows down. Thousands of retail outlets have shut down reducing the demand for products AND for shipping.

NO, they will have no trouble finding a hungry carrier or O/O to move them, so there is no need to "negotiate" shipping rates. The fall in diesel prices only gives them more reason to lower rates and put more burden on you/us.

There has always been MORE trucks than needed (more capacity,) but it was equalled out in a strong economy when much was being moved. Higher demand supported higher shipping rates for those who could move the product. With little demand (credit to buy) the product, shippers can pick and choose the slower but cheaper haulers.

I'm no expert in the shipping/trucking business. I stay OFF this forum out of respect for those who know much more than I. I am only here at this time to offer my opinions. I hope they will be accepted in the manner and with the respect they are offered.

Banditscousin, and all HHG carriers are suffering right now due to the lack of home sales. People aren't moving because people aren't buying homes...new or existing. The numbers are at all time lows. People can't get credit to buy a house, and in many cases, jobs are not there to impell them to move.

RANK says brokers aren't posting their loads. Of course not. If loads are scarce, they will hoard them for the carriers that offer them more than just a few trucks. This is one disadvantage to being an O/O or a small fleet operator. You should have known this going in.

Which is why HeavyHaulers is absolutely correct that O/O's.... especially NEW ones who are not well established... should get by on the least expensive equipment they can. The truck is not an asset as much as it is an employee. Get it as cheap as you can, and pay it as little as you can. When times are good, and the truck is still working, WORK it... and save your money for the downtimes if you want to survive. This is certainly no time for chicken lights and chrome!

Lowrange mentioned the "ease" of bankruptcy. Not anymore! New laws have made it more difficult to qualify, AND protected creditors more than ever before. It is no longer a "fresh start" as much as it is "buying time" to repay what you owe and dig yourself out. Of course that is hard to do when freight is slow and hauling freight is your ONLY "product" or "service."

BigDiesel, of course, jumps in with his usual condemnation of anyone who works off the boards and not by contract. But, if you put all your eggs in that one contract basket, where are you today? Let's see.... maybe BigD's "nursery" businesses are all indoors, and won't be frozen out by the current weather conditions in the N.W. (where he has limited himself to.) Maybe, they won't be affected by the housing/real estate crisis that has reduced the demand for landscaping products. I would not have liked to be an orange hauler during a few freezes in Florida that I remember.

Solo379 has planned ahead and has his equipment paid off. As well, I expect his house and cars. SOME on here are sporting late model SUV's as if they were growing on trees. Payments must be high... and insurance. I hope the market doesn't "catch a frosty cold."

Lowrange suggests he/she will "follow the harvest." Does anyone else see the similarity of this to the movie "grapes of wrath?" Sure, it is honorable to do what must be done, but it does sound as if the basic tenets of "ownership" and independence are being sacrificed, along with hometime. (Although, it does sound as if lowrange can afford to take time off to work on the house.)

Walking Eagle, too, seems to have taken the route of paying off equipment and housing so that he can weather the snows. He is a wise man. Most here seem to be, and I applaud you all. But, there are many who live beyond their means, based on contracts and projections and historical events. This will no longer work in the trucking business.... at least for the short term.

I heard an analyst explain it as a type of sine wave, where there have always been dips, but countered by rebounds. THIS TIME, the second and deepest dip occurred before the rebound had reached the median level above the previous dip. Plunging DEEPER than ever before without the restorative high. In this scenario, those who were just "hanging" on, no longer had the salvation of a good phase. If they weren't prepared, they were plunged into lows they had never imagined nor planned for, and it was the death of many of them.

Someone said they thought pulling reefers would save them, as people had to eat. Not necessarily so. MANY O/O's or small fleets bought reefer trailers but preferred to haul dry freight to cut diesel and maintenance costs (and perhaps got higher rates.) Now that those loads are drying up, they are in a postion to haul reefer loads for the brokers they are in good with.

Someone else prayed for enough cheap freight to keep them moving. But, I can't help believing that it is cheap freight that gets some people in the "Just in TIme" position they are in with truck payments, house payments, car payments, etc. Living beyond our means is the problem.

The common theme in this thread is that times can get tough, even due simply to weather. A successful O/O must plan ahead for this and know that in good times, one must be making the money to carry them through the bad times. If that means a smaller house or an older vehicle, these are "investments" of ..... yes.... conservative nature, that will see one through the trying times, and ensure one's success.

Like I said. I didn't come here to preach. I have alot of respect for this subforum and those who post here. I have learned MUCH from these threads, and I only wanted to offer an overview and opinion. Perhaps, when times are better, and I have worked my way into a postion to give it a try, I will have something of value to say. But, if I do, I will know that I learned it HERE.

My best wishes for a successful New Year to all who have embarked on this strident and noble course of life. I sincerely hope that MY candidate of choice is able to make a difference soon enough to protect your way of life and to increase your bounty.... and mine. You are the backbone not only of our economy, but also our industry. It would be my highest honor to SOMEDAY join your rank and file.

Hang in there y'all! And Merry Christmas.

Hobo

 

well said!!!!