Reorganizing the Industry

Jerry I believe that we are very close to that happening right now. Recently the senate held a hearing where they heard testimony how shippers were unable to move product to market, the truck shortage has now paralyzed railroads and ocean carriers operations. In the testimony they pointed to numerous examples of the supply chain completely failing at every level, domestically and globally. I don't see the problem going away without a return to regulation of freight rates. Everyone is cherry picking customers at this point, just as the ATA predicted would happen when deregulation happened, there are now shippers who can't get trucks. If the infrastructure projects ever manage to get off the ground in Washington, they will be met with failure as there are not enough drivers in the market to move material, without compromising what is left of the supply chain. Changing HOS and giving drivers more time? Unlikely to be welcomed by today drivers who supported the ELD, as they don't want to work more hours, they want to work less and get paid for more. As for us older drivers? Well our health is deteriorating from the HOS we are forced to comply with, both mentally and physically, many drivers are on blood pressure and cholesterol medication long before the general public, and our life expectancy is 62 on average.

Hi Dave. It's been awhile and it's nice hearing from you again. Yes, I agree with, and am aware of, most everything you said. I don't have a problem with the ELD replacing paper logs. Like many others, my biggest complaint, which I have written to Martinez about, is in regards to logging off duty during a mid shift lunch/dinner break for as long as it takes; or, for a physical problem, like a very severe headache that the driver feels may impare his ability to drive safely (couple hours in sleeper bearth), without it going against the 14 hour clock And the problem with inclement weather which, in the old days, used to allow a driver an additional 2 hours to complete, or get close to, the normal miles that would have been run.

I will admit I had not thought about the "new school" drivers who want to drive less and make more money, because that had never been my desire.

After my personal problems, I never became a full member here; so, I can not access the information on what the average loads are actually paying, depending on the commodities or lanes run. Thank you for updating me on the fact that, most of you anyway, seem to be earning somewhat decent rates. And, because of Deregulation I had refrained from using the term "published rates" in my original post, and just used the term for "suggested mimimal rates". On the other hand I feel it would be great if someone took the bull by the horns and did develop a program for this industry along those lines. And screw the government. As usual, they mucked everything up, as you stated.

And I still feel that hauling by the bushel, or by the ton, should not be considered with a rate. Distance, or charged hourly time, should be the only rates paid for, as in other divisions of transportation.

Thanks, Jerry

That's definitely a fair question to ask, along with why the rates are so low if it's true. I would guess that speed of movement and constant flow of goods on a set schedule would be a better way to understand it. You have several modes of transportation all working together, Ocean carriers, river barges, airlines and railroads and trucks. A bottleneck anywhere will cause a chain reaction throughout the system. For example you complain about detention time at the grain elevator, well the elevator you are at is waiting for rail cars, because the railroads waiting for the capacity to open up somewhere down the line at another location that is dependent on trucks. Now the elevator you are at knows this is a problem, so they really don't need anymore product coming in until stuff starts moving, so they drop the rate down that they pay you, to try and cut back the line of trucks building up on their end. Now in some cases when this threatens deadlines and contracts, they will utilize the spot market and try to get stuff moving with a alternate plan, but there needs to be reserve capacity in the market for that to happen, and it needs to be economically feasable. When you look at how clogged up costal ports and rail yards are, it becomes apparent that revenue is being lost on a massive scale. Let's say you could have shipped a billion tons of goods today, well because of bottlenecks and delays we wind up only shipping 80% of that? The economy just lost a lot of money, the demand for the sale of product was there but the ability to deliver prevented it.

oh btw that still doesn't explain the one load to ten truck ratio right now either

ok then let's look at this from the other side of the coin.... not saying anything is right wrong or indifferent....if there was such a shortage then why are freight rates still down where they were in the 80s ... yes I will agree that everything slows down to a point but not like I've seen it this year.....keep in mind I work of load board can find plenty of freight for a end dump walking floor or a belt last month or 6 weeks freight rates have been down worse then normal...brokers act like ur breaking their arm for more money....dead head miles have gone way up.....ins cost of equipment is up where it shouldn't be....but is cost of doing business...like I said not saying g right wrong or indifferent but if there was such a shortage parking would be somewhat easier to find freight rates would be up where they should be and if and hopper freight wouldn't be so hard to come by on the coast just my two cents

In 1935 Shippers could not find trucks, in the middle of the Great Depression, so FDR had to step in with the motor carrier act, in order to save the shippers. Well here we are today on the opposite end of the spectrum with the stock market setting new records, and shippers find themselves in the same position? Now something about that seems rather odd to me. Apperantly truckers suck at business, and brokers don't? Jerry I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the Reed Bullwinkle act, and if you think we would see something similar down the road?

I don't personally have enough knowledge on the trucking industry to know if there really is a driver shortage or not, but I'm cool with throwing out an opinion that the lack of parking comes from a 9-5 schedule at all the loading and unloading facilities. Ever see a cattle pot searching for parking? Sale barns, feedlots and most packing plants are open 24/7

Wow, Dave, did you task my memory! I had to refresh it. For those not familiar to the Reed-Bulwinkle Act, you might want to research it. This occured through the old ICC back in '48 and officially stated: 'That act allowed “rate bureaus” operating under ICC-approved agreements to set rates collectively, and immunized the activities of bureaus operating under an ICC-approved agreement from the antitrust laws. In the environment of pervasive regulation, almost all carriers belonged to a rate bureau. Most customers paid the undiscounted rates that the bureaus set for classes of goods and published for their member carriers. The bureaus also published adjustments to those rates (whether reductions or increases) that any member carrier might request. The bureaus calculated and published, for their member carriers, the amounts of any across-the-board increases or decreases to rates that should be applied to take into account changes in the carriers’ labor and fuel costs. All rates were subject to regulatory challenge'.

After the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, however, the scope of antitrust immunity for motor carrier rate bureaus was greatly reduced, and collectively agreed single-line rates were no longer generally immune from the antitrust laws. The main exception is the formulation of general rate increases.

These rules/laws were enacted for "consumer protection". Which consumer? The manufacturer who consumes grain to make cereal, or the end user who purchases products from a retailer?

General Rate Increases? We all know rates have been stagnant for years. Yes, freight and refridgerated load rates are increasing, finally, whether it's due to driver shortage or companies realising they need to make more to combat the rising costs of doing business. And those hauling aggricultural products, or dry bulk, should do the same.

Most of us have heard about manufacturing companies complaining about higher prices they must pay to have stuff shipped. Let's face it, they have been too used to having their stuff shipped cheaply over the years since de-regulation. And to whose expense?

In my original post I suggested finding a way to have everyone agree to a minimum standard rate to haul bulk products. Not a published, or "rate bureaus" type of operation, which would proably bring the government into play. And, in my opinion, we don't need anymore government intrusion.

As for parking problems at night, since the government has basically made drivers "9 to 5 ers", with their desire to have less rigs on the roads at night, they have created this bottle neck. Some truck stops may be able to increase the size of their lots; however, most can not.

It's easy to see to see why Bernie sanders has taken a interest in truckers, and started going after their vote. There was a video on Facebook where he met with "independent contractors " working at the ports in LA, and after looking at the rates being paid, he seen a opertunity to recruit voters, the only way those guys made a paycheck was if they quit maintaining the truck, and even then still not even close to minimum wage. Low rates are the cancer that spawned the safety Nazi culture that now infects all of us. The FMCSA has been weaponized by the meggafleets, they care nothing about safety, which has been proven by the ELD scandal, their only interest is in serving their masters at the ATA, and promoting a constant exploitation of workers, using ELD's like cattle prods to force productivity out of workers, and denying them adiquit pay, as evidenced by the way they interfered with California's meal and rest break requirements, trampling all over states rights. They care nothing about public safety, or the needs of the shippers, if they had they would have advised congress on why the ELD was a bad idea, using the crash data that they already had from the meggafleets, and they would have informed congress how the real problem with safety was the low rates, that coerce drivers into driving tired, and prevent them from doing proper maintenance on their trucks.

Back Haul!!. (Cheap freight) Dear God do I hate those words. Dale, Dave basically answered your concern. Sure, I ran for a buck a mile for a while. But, that was back in the mid to late '70's. And I had my first brand new tractor and was hauling containers between Chicago and Dundalk Marine in Baltimore. I made $725 per trip/$1,450 per round and completed two round trips per week. (With a little creative logging) Since everything costs 3 to 4 times as much as it did back then, you would think average mileage rates would be around 3 to 3.50 per mile today. I am sure that those making less than 2 bucks a loaded mile today, must be shorting themselves and their businesses somewhere. Whether it's wages,maintainance, repairs, replacement, or the combination of all. Divide their rate by half if they can not find a live load returning back near their home base.

If you are in business, you are there to make money. Not give your services away. The same goes for shippers and brokers. Most of the time the money is there for everyone to make a decent living. A driver/company hauling cheap is hurting themselves. Certainly not for the other guys. If a shipper/broker can find someone to haul stuff very cheap, that just adds to their profitability. Some drivers may feel that if they haul cheap, they may endure themselves to a shipper/broker. Hardly!! They will just laugh at you for being stupid; however, continue to USE your services because you do run cheap. That's the way of life! Whether you want to believe it or not. Of course, maybe some guys liked to be laughed at!!!!