Sitting in racine, wi, got several calls on loads, none came through! Shippers don't want to pay premium rate for expedite service! I say screw them, let their freight rot on their dock!
But, there will always be joe blow bottom feeder that will truck a straight truck load for .78 cpm and think he is making good money! Just hurry up and go bankrupt so we can get the rates back up to where they belong!
Waiting for the bottom-feeder to go broke and wash out of the business is not a solution because as soon as one does, another will appear. Shippers know this and many of them count on it. They know that if they put freight out on their dock and are willing to wait, someone will come along to haul it cheap.
Before getting too judgemental about that, note that all of us do the very same thing. When we order something from Amazon or another online source, shipping options are made available at different prices. If we don't need the item immediately, we do not choose the overnight option at a high price because we feel an obligation to support the pilots and planes at FedEx or UPS. We choose a slower, surface transportation option because it is in our financial interests to do so.
So too with shippers. They do not care, any more than we do, about the drivers and companies who transport their goods. They care only about getting the goods delivered safely and on time. The day you start tipping every delivery person who brings something your way $20 and you select the expensive shipping options because you want to support drivers is the day you can legitimately complain that shippers and consignees don't care enough about your well being.
You are not entitled to shipper consideration for the purchase and operating costs of your truck and desire for a living wage any more than a college graduate is entitled to employer consideration for the graduate's student loan burden.
Expediters do not succeed by getting carriers, shippers and consignees to care about them. They succeed by meeting the needs carriers, shippers and consignees have; and while meeting those needs, running businesses in which their revenues exceed their costs, and in which the profits, once earned, are managed well.
If carriers, shippers and consignees are not willing to pay enough for you to earn a profit, the logical thing to do is get out, or to modify your approcach such that a profit can be earned.
vans hopefully be busier and get a better price.....as always.....IMO
