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While the automotive companies and UAW are not winning much praise in this thread, other unions may be getting the message. From MarketWatch.com, 11/28/08: "Facing the worst economy since the 1930s, the Teamsters Union and the freight companies of YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW) have reached an...

Back at you, Jefferson3000. Thank you for understanding our schedule and need to keep rolling.

It was worth it.

Among the things I am thankful for is the connection to expediters EO and especially the Open Forum provides. Thank you, Dale for the good work you do keeping the Open Forum on the up and up. Expediting continues to be a great life and work for many. The EO community makes it more so.

As planned, we remained in service and available to haul freight. We are now dispatched on a good load that picks up Monday. By driving 150 miles out of route to the pickup, we can spend Thanksgiving with relatives in Texas. They insist that we don't need to bring a thing and a bountiful feast...

Thinking of Thanksgiving, parents and sacrafices, I am mindful today of the parents who will celebrate Thanksgiving with an empty chair at the table and grieve the loss of their son or daughter who was killed in a war. Parents who lost their kids in Viet Nam do so to this day, as do those who...

Interesting timing on this post. This morning we delivered to a non-automotive plant where the shipping/receiving guy was plain awful. In several years we have not met the likes of him but from what we read here in the Open Fourm this kind of treatment is common at U.S. automotive plants. (We...

CNBC.com has a slideshow that provides historical perspective on U.S. government bailout activity. CNBC reports, "Thus far, only one item surpasses the $700 billion allocated to the government's main rescue fund, what's known as the Treasury Dept.'s TARP program. Other expenses and/or...

Recessions are part of the business cycle. They are the flip side of expansions. While difficult to go through, recessions have the benefit of wringing excess speculation, debt and obsolete products and practices out of the economy and setting the stage for new growth. Recessions vary in...

Even if a bailout (or bridge loan as the automotive CEOs called it) somehow saved the American automotive industry, there will be no pickup in automotive freight until people start buying more cars than they are buying now. With the recession now in progress, that may be a while.

A while ago, Broompilot ripped me pretty good for saying Schneider drivers get paid reasonably well. Now he is there. Odd, is it not? How many happy niches does this make for him now? He changes carriers more often than I change tires. Each time it is a step up. Each time he is happy. And each...

Yes, cabover trucks can be used as expediter trucks. The attached photo shows one. Most expedite companies require sleepers but exceptions are sometimes made for regional work. I know our carrier (FedEx Custom Critical) has certain trucks that work certain regions to do short runs in the...

Expediters are at the same time competitors and colleagues. As the business ebbs and flows and business decisions are made, some do well, others do fair, some fail. When someone washes out of the business it is something to be concerned about, not from a competitive level but a collegiate one...

Diane and I plan to make it through the recession and freight slowdown. While we have marketable skills and other career options, we have no backup plans beyond expediting. That is because plans earlier made and actions earlier taken ensure that we will stay. We always knew freight could slow...

Once upon a time, when I was a young boy, it was Christmas Eve. My grandparent's house was decorated inside and out. Brightly wrapped presents spilled out from under the tree. Santa's upcoming visit meant even more would be there when my younger brother and I awoke in the morning. My parents...

It depends on how you define boss. If you take a broad definition to include laws you must comply with, like the requirement to keep a log book, sure, I have a boss in the federal governemnt that sets and enforces rules that govern trucking. And I have a boss in local governments that set speed...

I am not interested in being courted by you, Bruno. My comment about you being good looking was a joke, not a come-on. Diane and I are happily married my sexual orientation is that of a straight male.

Leyman makes a slide under gate that may interest you. Interlift makes one that is just great. I'd give you that web site but the stupid thing crashes my computer when I open the product page. Diane and I have used Interlift gates on fleet owner trucks. We did not put one on our truck because...

That is the sense I am getting. The loads are still there. The shippers are still active. The pay is holding up (when you account for the lower fuel surcharge and lower fuel prices). What is different is we are sitting longer between loads and are not predispatched as often. I expect there...

Thank you for that piece, Bruno. It seemed to me that the Big 3 CEO's that came off corporate jets with tin cups in their hands were playing fast and loose with the numbers. It is remarkable that for all the money they were asking for, they could not produce a plan on how they would spend it.