Trucking company recruiter’s are some of the sorriest people on the planet. When you hear/read an ad for Wallyworld transportation; it doesn’t say you will make 125k. They had 1 guy, probably been there 25 years and at the top of the pay scale, or more likely a 6-7 year driver also at the top pay scale, that doesn’t go home. No family, belongings in storage, runs untill out of hours then spends a day sitting in a truckstop somewhere, then gets back behind the wheel at midnight when they pick up 5-6 hours and does it again. Not something you want to do over and over again. Unless you’ve been there and done it, listen to the sterring wheel holder instead of the Company and the media.
Sorry that's just not what my clients relay, nor many others across the nation. Per the MCIEF, 80% of the trucking out there are owner operators or small fleet companies. The larger fleet companies are notorious for rough hours, low pay, etc that's no secret. However, like it or not, the smaller mom and pop companies have had issues hiring for quite some time. I have clients who run hazmatt, oversize, hot shot, and just about everything else, down to Non-CDL exposures like last mile delivery. Nearly all these guys have had issues finding competent drivers..... or at least ones that have clean MVRs and can pass a drug test. Those with experience have aged out, and there are no replacements. I know your 40K a year number is way off. I know guys making double that easy. Why do you think every moron wants to run hot-shots right now?
That’s why you get away from those companies as soon as possible. It was no different 40-50 years ago.
When the brokered load pays enough money that an owner operator can make good money, you won’t have any problem getting a truck on your load. Every time I went to Dallas, I’d get to spend the rest of the day waiting for a decent load that loaded the next fay. Quite often I’d just deadhead to St Louis where I could get a contracted load that was worth my and my trucks time. Sold my truck a year ago. Still have friends that are owner operators that I talk to. It’s only gotten worse. Big trucking companies want congressional approval and legal cover to run driverless trucks. Drivers are their biggest expense. They have hundreds of lobbyists advocating every day. Talking up the “suppl chain issues” and the driver shortage. JUST LIKE THE CRY ASSAULT RIFLES AND THEIR MANUFACTURERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERY KILLING IN THE US. Believe what you want. I know better cuz I’ve been out there trucking up and down the country and I’ve seen it from first hand point of view. Feel free to go over to any of the truck stops here in OKC and talk to drivers that have been out there long enough to know how to use a clutch
True. But those little companies are all gone now. Even the little companies suck now. The only way to survive in this cut throat industry. Is to under bid other companies on the contracted lanes. 6 month contracts. So even the little guys have to under bid to get loads or your at the mercy of the brokers, and once they take their %, and his buddy buys the load from him and takes his %, by the time the driver gets the load he aint making any money. I worked for Oakley pulling a hopper bottom for a year and a half and played that game every day.
Here’s the deal when your an owner-operator, you have to think at least three moves ahead. You don’t drive some place and look for a load when you get there. You get there knowing that a load is waiting for you to pick it up, and what your next load will be when you get to where that load is going. Dad didn’t spend his time sitting in truck stops for days and didn’t go places that didn’t have loads going out. Sometimes that means a short haul that gets you to a better place. Driverswould get frustrated when Dad was making more money than them, while they sat around waiting to a trip to get them home or a long haul that paid better. One time they asked the dispatcher why Dad was getting all the loads and they weren’t. The dispatcher politely told them that Dad was pulling all the loads they were turning down.
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I know how it works. There are way more trucks and on the road now days than when your dad drove. If your an independent. The insurance, fuel, operation costs are eating you alive. The big companies have purchasing power so you get better fuel and insurance rates. If your leased to a company, you likely haul their contracted freight or whatever brokered load they get for you. Again, the topic is driver shortage. The industry needs new drivers every year. A new driver is going to be a company driver. You don’t go down to the Dept of Safety, get a CDL, go buy a truck and start tearing up the asphalt. Most young people today are not going to give up video games, snapchat, boyfriend/girlfriend to go drive a truck for 3 weeks at a time for 40k. And thats what a newbe makes. It takes about 5 years of trucking to learn the ends and outs to be an owner operator and succeed. Upside downin the ditch is not success. So one more time. If you are not the one holding on to the steering wheel, reserve you opinions untill you’ve actually been out there for a year and know first hand.
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