Thread: Are they trying to drive the final nail into the trucking industry? [Rant]

[rant]

I have worked in the trucking industry in one fashion or another for over a decade now. Since the rescission began the entire industry has taken a huge blow and thousands of companies have gone under. The company I work for is struggling big-time and my job security is non existent. The industry is riddled with many problems the biggest (imo) are freight brokers which are middlemen whose services really are not necessarily (I have been a freight broker) yet they take most of the profit before a truck ever loads the product.

Now the government may greatly compound the problem with Senate Bill S-1813. This bill will require freight brokers to carry a $100K surety bond, currently only a $10k bond is required. Now you may be asking why this would be a bad thing, I feel brokers are strangling the industry after all. A majority of loads (70%+) are set up using freight brokers. In the brokering industry most are small time businesses made up of a few people at most but like in any industry you also have your big boys. In my pretty extensive experience it is the small guys who take less of the money leaving more to go toward the trucking company. It is the big giants that take every last dime possible and will leave many loads paying less then it actually takes to haul them. (if you wonder why or how a truck company would haul a load for a loss just ask me).

As a result of S-1813 an estimated 75% of brokers will be pushed out of business. Who is this 75% going to be? It will be all the little brokers that cannot afford that $100K surety bond which will only leave the giant companies who leave nothing for the truck. I believe this will result in many more truck companies and owner operators going under. The trucking industry is one of Americas most important services, without it the entire US economy would grind to a halt in a matter of days/weeks so why dont we take better care of it?
[/rant]

Does anyone else here work in the industry (or not) that would like to give me your thoughts?

Gov't supported corporatism is bad and detrimental to true free enterprise.

Originally Posted by Baralis

[rant]


Does anyone else here work in the industry (or not) that would like to give me your thoughts?

I don't work in the industry, but anytime government gets their hands on an industry, starts regulating it, and making it difficult for anyone but the giants, that industry is going to become very expensive to maintain, and competition will be just about nil, making the costs of anything related to that industry going nowhere but up. I truly hate to see this happening. Best wishes to you.

Originally Posted by Baralis

[rant]

I have worked in the trucking industry in one fashion or another for over a decade now. Since the rescission began the entire industry has taken a huge blow and thousands of companies have gone under. The company I work for is struggling big-time and my job security is non existent. The industry is riddled with many problems the biggest (imo) are freight brokers which are middlemen whose services really are not necessarily (I have been a freight broker) yet they take most of the profit before a truck ever loads the product.

Now the government may greatly compound the problem with Senate Bill S-1813. This bill will require freight brokers to carry a $100K surety bond, currently only a $10k bond is required. Now you may be asking why this would be a bad thing, I feel brokers are strangling the industry after all. A majority of loads (70%+) are set up using freight brokers. In the brokering industry most are small time businesses made up of a few people at most but like in any industry you also have your big boys. In my pretty extensive experience it is the small guys who take less of the money leaving more to go toward the trucking company. It is the big giants that take every last dime possible and will leave many loads paying less then it actually takes to haul them. (if you wonder why or how a truck company would haul a load for a loss just ask me).

As a result of S-1813 an estimated 75% of brokers will be pushed out of business. Who is this 75% going to be? It will be all the little brokers that cannot afford that $100K surety bond which will only leave the giant companies who leave nothing for the truck. I believe this will result in many more truck companies and owner operators going under. The trucking industry is one of Americas most important services, without it the entire US economy would grind to a halt in a matter of days/weeks so why dont we take better care of it?
[/rant]

Does anyone else here work in the industry (or not) that would like to give me your thoughts?

I don't directly work in the industry yet, but my Dad owns a small trucking company that leases his trucks to a large mfg. I feel your pain with all of these regulations. Not sure if you own your truck or just drive for the company you work for? I know on the owner -operator side it is very costly to keep these trucks on the road and making money. Plates, Bonds,Medical, Maintenence and a litany of other issues are killing us. My sister and I are considering taking over this company in the next 2 years and I am currently looking at every aspect of it to determine if it is worth while or not. The company has three trucks right now but I am thinking of expanding it to 15 and a few trailers. I can keep the lease agreement with the current mfg plant but they can only use the 3 trucks right now. I have spoken to two other companies about putting trucks with them and they have agreed to use us for their needs if it works out. My problem is the initial cost of the 12 other trucks ( Likely used with under 500,000 miles) and plates, tags, bonds, and eligible, reliable CDL drivers.

My suggestion would be to find another company to drive for or find another company you can directly lease your truck to.

Good luck with this. It's not easy to find a company that takes good care of their drivers.

Originally Posted by Dirt Racer

I don't directly work in the industry yet, but my Dad owns a small trucking company that leases his trucks to a large mfg. I feel your pain with all of these regulations. Not sure if you own your truck or just drive for the company you work for? I know on the owner -operator side it is very costly to keep these trucks on the road and making money. Plates, Bonds,Medical, Maintenence and a litany of other issues are killing us. My sister and I are considering taking over this company in the next 2 years and I am currently looking at every aspect of it to determine if it is worth while or not. The company has three trucks right now but I am thinking of expanding it to 15 and a few trailers. I can keep the lease agreement with the current mfg plant but they can only use the 3 trucks right now. I have spoken to two other companies about putting trucks with them and they have agreed to use us for their needs if it works out. My problem is the initial cost of the 12 other trucks ( Likely used with under 500,000 miles) and plates, tags, bonds, and eligible, reliable CDL drivers.

My suggestion would be to find another company to drive for or find another company you can directly lease your truck to.

Good luck with this. It's not easy to find a company that takes good care of their drivers.

I work contract dispatch aka find freight for the company(s)/drivers. The initial company I worked for I started in its infancy and they only had 4 trucks, 7 years later they were running over 60. The owner went from working out of a spare bedroom to a multi-million dollar enterprise. When the economy tanked the company downsized a great deal and I was one of the last employees to go. I had been working for my current employer on the side and made the transition over to them full time. However the owner is a completely lazy worthless idiot that will not raise a finger to help himself lol. He will be going under regardless of my efforts to keep him afloat due solely to his incompetence and laziness.

If you decide to take your father's company over I would be more then happy to give assistance with any question you may have. I am very knowledgeable in flatbeds and dry-boxes. A person can still make money even in this environment if they do things correctly.

Wow that came out like a sales pitch, not my intent. I realize that it may seem like a hopeless or overwhelming en-devour but trucking can still be a fairly lucrative business if one does things correctly. The problem with the current economy is small mistakes can be much more detrimental and you have a lot less wiggle room to work with. Luckily things are slowly improving.

Originally Posted by Baralis

I work contract dispatch aka find freight for the company(s)/drivers. The initial company I worked for I started in its infancy and they only had 4 trucks, 7 years later they were running over 60. The owner went from working out of a spare bedroom to a multi-million dollar enterprise. When the economy tanked the company downsized a great deal and I was one of the last employees to go. I had been working for my current employer on the side and made the transition over to them full time. However the owner is a completely lazy worthless idiot that will not raise a finger to help himself lol. He will be going under regardless of my efforts to keep him afloat due solely to his incompetence and laziness.

If you decide to take your father's company over I would be more then happy to give assistance with any question you may have. I am very knowledgeable in flatbeds and dry-boxes. A person can still make money even in this environment if they do things correctly.

Wow that came out like a sales pitch, not my intent. I realize that it may seem like a hopeless or overwhelming en-devour but trucking can still be a fairly lucrative business if one does things correctly. The problem with the current economy is small mistakes can be much more detrimental and you have a lot less wiggle room to work with. Luckily things are slowly improving.

I understand. I can certainly see why you are upset about it all. Seems like the guy is happy going under. What a shame.

I appreciate your offer and don't be surprised if I take you up on leaning on you a bit. I know a ton about trucks and business but not as much as I should about the trucking business. My approach has been to see what kind of contracts I can line up before I ever pull the trigger. It has gone well so far. I have lined up a company that builds fixtures for Cat, and I am currently in talks to keep the lease for the current contract in tact. I have one other lead I am working and it is a bit of a long shot. I also plan to buy a few rock trailers as it seems they are constantly in need. This all hinges on whether or not we decide to take it over.

Every year the barriers to entry for small businesses become greater and greater. I've been self-employed most of my life. I've watched business licenses go from 1 hour effort and a $1 fee to the utter madness and expense it is today. Slowly but surely, we will get what we wanted, uniform corporatism.

Our owners/politicians are called "law makers" and that is what they do. Each year, hundreds of thousands of new laws are passed, in some cases, completely contradictory or unenforceable laws. On the consumer side, we have embraced the McDonalds, the Walmarts, The Big O Tires, the Barnes & Nobles and the Best Buys. People shun small businesses because they seem unpredictable. Just look at HUD, who has outsourced their entire REO inventory to one huge real estate broker.

So, I'm not very surprised at your predicament. You are a victim of progress. The Corporate Science Fiction State coming true. Even I, with 40 some years of business experience find it all too daunting now. I make a living as a landlord instead and even then, I compete with giants who are determined to eliminate competition even in this. Go figure©

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