The War on Independent Truckers

[Dale00]

The Canadian trucking protests may have had a bigger impact than anyone realizes. If what I am piecing together comes to pass, it appears that there is a move by the power structure to eliminate independent truckers.

We frequently hear of independent truckers parking their rigs because the cost of diesel makes being on the road a losing proposition. What is not in the news is a looming DEF shortage that will be blamed on fertilizer shortages: DEF is made from urea.

Who benefits? 1. Railroads...and the powerful folks who own big blocks of their stock. 2. The power structure who never wants to see a repeat of what happened in Canada.

I am speculating but his makes sense to me. Please shoot some holes in my thinking.

 

[dennishoddy]

Since a lot of urea production was pushed to Russia and Ukraine, those suppliers are not shipping urea in the volumes of years past.
India is also a large producer and has shut down exports.

 

[HiredHand]

My father was an owner-operator. Even after he retired from driving, he was getting offers to come back on an almost daily basis and that was 20 years ago. A shortage of drivers has been discussed for longer than that and I’m doubtful it will end soon. Most folks don’t want to be out on the road for weeks at a time. As an owner-operator you have the ability to choose when and where you want to go for the most part. You also don’t have to drive if fuel prices increase substantially. Fuel is a major expense when you haul freight, and dad chose when and where to fuel up based upon price and taxes. Some states collect fuel taxes even if you don’t buy fuel in that state.

This country was covered in rail and one time, but that was dismantled when highways were built and trucking offered quicker cheaper freight hauling. Railroads have a place in the transportation chain, but fresh foods have to be moved quickly and a train isn’t going to be that place.

 

[jakeman]

Old semi-tractors that don't require DEF are about to be a hot commodity.

Here's a hole for ya, independents are more likely to have older trucks, therefore the DEF thing won't hurt them. The company I retired from in January has an all new or updated fleet, to include the in CAB spying equipment and DEF. We had, and they still do, our own trucking line, that would haul to us from distribution centers and then backhaul on the way home. We turned more & more to contract TL & LTL because we had a real shortage of drivers. They all quit because they got tired of getting 20 minutes from home and having to pull over for however long before they could drive the remaining distance. A lot of them started having folks come pick them up and take them home, then back when they could turn the key again. I don't know all the rules, and I didn't know all of the company policies, but those guys said driving for us was a huge PITA and the younger'ish drivers just wouldn't put up with it for very long. The old guys were gonna hang on long enough to retire, but we couldn't keep any new hires. It got really bad before I quit. I've heard it's worse.

 

[2busy]

California is going to stop registration on older non def rigs.

 

[Dale00]

"Never let a good crisis go to waste" Energy crisis could be a win-win-win for the
left and big crony capitalists

Individual owner-operators have no collective buying power. Trucking companirs do and if there are shortages of DEF or whatever they either have better "connections" to get what they need or the govt might even step in ...what's another executive order on top of hundreds already written?

 

[jakeman]

California is going to stop registration on older non def rigs.

I've heard they are going to stop non def rigs from entering the state. I say, great, more stuff for the rest of the country. Let those MF'er starve. You wanna eat? New shoes? New clothes? Buy paint for the house? Not move to TX? Stop voting for democrats.

 

[Boaty]

i was an owner operator and in the industry for 30 years. sold my truck last year and don"t plan to return in any capacity. there is no driver shortage. there is less drivers than these companies have trucks. if you pull into a truck stop anywhere near a major city after 1900 local time, you most likely will not get a parking spot. same with rest areas. where's the shortage? before Reagen ruined the trucking industry by deregulating it, a driver could make a decent living. drivers make less money now than 40 years ago. everything cost way more. how people are willing to go live in a truck on the road for 2-3 weeks at a time and make 40k a year. not to mention all the BS that goes along with the job including all the road rage idiots with no clue on the roads these days. 30+ years ago it was an interesting career/lifestyle. now it's just a crap job with low pay.

 

[sklfco]

Who benefits?
Excellent question right there folks.
Who would benefit from having all control over distribution of everything in this country?
Everything moves by truck at some point.
Look back just a few years ago how corporations quickly bowed to governmental mandates.
This is exactly how, and not a shot fired.

 

[HiredHand]

I think there’s a shortage because they’d love to have team drivers and keep those trucks driving not idling. There’s definitely a strategy for hauling freight, managing driving time and timing deliveries. Dad knew how to get the best mileage out of his drive time an not burn himself out or tear up his equipment.