HELP ME PLEASE . . .

[hedgehog]

to understand the logic of the drivers here at EOL.

For instance: Most newbies here most likely knew nothing about expediting until they met one, either at their own work, or in person.

They are told about this website. They ask questions, get almost always great advice on how to start expediting themselves and most likely expose this site to their friends and relatives as well.

When they finally post, everybody here welcomes them, wishes them well and encourages them to always ask questions when they have a problem.

Then, some of these helpful drivers complain that there are too many vans on the road, and not enough freight.

Some of the long-time veterans such as RichM, Terry and Rene, etc., etc. probably made more net income when Expediting info was not as accessible.

I know this post is going to rub some drivers the wrong way, but we can't have it both ways. More drivers....less freight offers.

Let's face it. The Genie is out of the bottle forever.

Be safe.

 

[cheri1122]

"Hate the sin, but love the sinner"?
Really, Hedgehog, it's a tough spot to be in - we know there are too many vans, and we often say so, but are we to tell newbies "Go away, you're not welcome"? No matter how long ago, we were newbies once too! What we try to accomplish is a balance, and with the number of people who post with different points of view, I think we do a pretty good job, or I sure wouldn't waste my time here...

 

[RichM]

There is a lot of truth to what you said. The industry is flooded with drivers and want to be drivers. As our manufacturing economy shrinks more and more people see expediting as a way to make a living, and as a result the carriers no longer have to raise rates to provide more revenue to the driver/contractor.

Truck revenue was actually higher in the late 80's,90's and early 2000's then it is today. But operating costs,vehicle costs were 65% less then today. You can still earn a living,pay your bills etc but the days of 25-40% net after all expenses including salaries,health insurance,operating expenses are gone.

Now has this site and others contributed to the excess drivers mentioned. I don't think there has been that much impact,what I see is expediting going from 3 major carriers to over 30. There is a finite pie that supplies the industry and it is not only shrinking,but more and more carriers are trying to bite into that pie.

 

[Deville]

For every driver that comes into this business two leave it. Why do you think comoamnys are always recuriting.

I have been in the trucking industry for almost 15 years, I was a helper,driver, warehouse manager, dispatcher, than evantually I was managing partner in a large company. when I broke away I took a couple of years off to regroup as I was burnt out. I got into expediting having a pretty good Idea of knowing what it was, as a "Local" Driver For FDCC it allowed me to make a living while being able to pursue other more tradional Freight Opurtunites and expand my business to a multiple truck ocupation.

I was fortunate that I had the conections to be able to do that. Most people who get into this industry dont & thats why they do not last more than 6 to 12 months. This is not an easy business. Its thankless and can be as if not more cut thoart than high end white collar businesses. But Its almost all I know. the most imporatnt thing you will ever have is your reputaion. I've worked very hard to try and build a solid one. In the end thats sometimes all you need to be a sucess.

 

[letzrockexpress]

I can't remember who it is but somebody has the signature line " Support the whole constitution, not just the parts you like". If you follow that line of thinking then you also believe in a free market economy. Competition is one of the catalysts that make this big machine run. As in any competitive endeavor, the cream rises to the top and the rest falls to the bottom of the jug. It is just the natural order of things in our society.New contenders arrive daily.

 

[terryandrene]

Those of us that started expediting, prior to the existence of the World Wide Web had to rely on our own experiences and that of those that we met on the road. In the case of Rene' and me, we had no truck driving experience, so we learned the hard way and made a considerable amount of mistakes along the way. We didn't know the difference between a prepaid or collect load; we didn't know what a pickle park, lot lizard or gator tail was; we surely didn't have a clue how to make a successful entry into or out of Canada. We had no cell phones nor contacts with whom we might seek advice. Like the Oldprof says, we knew nuthin'

Eventually we learned of the existence of truck stops, notably the Union 76s. We soon discovered the trucks stops in our busy areas were usually filled with other drivers from our carrier, Roberts Express.
Back then we congregated in the restaurants and often had two or more tables shoved together to accommodate each of the drivers. Nearly always the trucks were driven by teams that consisted of husband and wife, and nearly always everyone was eager to share their experiences while leased to our fledgling company. There was no truck envy nor superiority complex; everyone shared with everyone.

The camaraderie continued when the Tri-State, Express America and other smaller companies started to enter the fray. We each communicated freely about the policies, procedures, successes and failures within our respective companies. The competition was friendly and we enjoyed many friendships during our early years. One of our earliest and longest lasting expedite friendships was with a young fellow expediter who had a dream that involved bringing the various elements of expediting together. That man was Lawrence McCord whose dream for an Expedited Freight Information Center came to fruition in 1999 when he founded Ontimemedia and Expeditersonline.

We seldom spend much time in the truckstops anymore so we choose the EO Forums to express ourselves, we feel compelled to share the little bit of expedite knowledge that we have gleaned over the years so that others don't have to endure the struggles of our past. If in so doing, we state our belief that there are too many trucks and/or not enough freight it is not to discourage, but to offer an opinion. If we express the enjoyment of our adventures in expediting, it is not to encourage, but to offer an opinion. We trust that most of our fellow moderators and older members feel about the same.

 

[blizzard2014]

The problem is not an influx of new-comers into the expediting business; but rather the greed of the expediging company's themselves. Look, we all know what our bottom line is out here on the road; but the carriers that we work for also have their own bottom line. The bottom line being, profit and customer satisfaction.

I do fear that (at the expense of the owner operators) major cariers seem to hire on more B, D, and T/T units than they actually need. I suspect they have their reasons for this, primarily because large carriers need a lot of trucks to cover all of their loads.

By having an excessive amount of trucks on the road, large carriers can ensure that all of their customers needs will be met. This sounds like simple logic to me!

Remember; drivers are (and have always been) easily replaced. I'm not implying that quantity is equal to quality; well, just look at swift drivers if you need an easy reference to support my logic that quantity does not mean quality.

However, that being said, it seems like we're headed down the old "wal-mart" inspired business mentality that workers are interchangeable.

I know that some of you guys will tend to disagree with me on this issue, but you can't say i'm completely wrong! It is the carriers responsibility to monitor (as well as accurately plan ahead) for expanding freight lanes, and or stagnant customer growth.

It's ultimately up to the carriers to ensure that they are not saturating the market with trucks! But, this type of logic does not correlate with their bottom line!

Moreover, large companies can afford to train an indefinite amount of "newbie...expedite...pipe-dream...it's going to be like smokey and the bandit out on the road; dummys" how to use the qualcomm, and how to pick up and deliver freight etc., etc! This is a relatively profitable tactic for large truckload carrier who are in the business of making huge profits at the expense of their independent contractors.

The amount of resources that are put into recruiting can be offset; even if a new expediter only works for a large company for six months!

How many loads can a new owner operator cover for the company in that short amount of time? How long will a new owner operator hold out hope that things will get better before they go belly up?

Hrm, lets see! Owner operators use their own savings/collateral etc., to get the B-unit, D-unit, or T/T unit... right? The owner operator assumes all responsibility for the said vehicle; ie.; truck payments, insurance, maintenance, tolls, fuel taxes, and the list goes on!

So, what does a large company have to lose if the driver quits...moves over to another company...or simply goes belly up; ruins their credit...and just disappears off the face of the earth? Now, do you get the point?

Do you really want know who makes all of the money in the expedited business? For starters; the truck dealers, the trucking companies, the IRS, and alumni-bunk...just to mention a few.

My point is, companies do not lose when a driver quits. Large companies will squander an infinate amount of resources while trolling for "extremely gullible" drivers to come to work as independent contractors.

And, guess what? There are gazillions of gullible people out there who are willing to give the expediting business a shot. The proverbial driver-pool is like a neverending bottomless pit that transcends the boundaries of time and space.

Well, you get what i'm trying to say in this post. But that's not all! There are more prospective drivers springing up daily. This is due to plant closures, corporate downsizing, cancelled pension plans, and last but not least...this one is a big one; the baby boomers!

 

[highway star]

Hedgehog, after reading your post I'm not sure who should be offended or what genie is out of the bottle. I'm sure that the long time veterans of the business have seen better times and have no problem saying so. Expediting is overpopulated with vans. This is just members being honest about what is going on.

 

[davekc]

I remember the big old orange ball in the sky. They really were pretty much the only game in town. I guess there was a few Sohio, Marathon, and Sinclairs in there.
It is much different and competitive today. Our communication back then was as Terry mentioned, the tables at the truck stop. Then watch when the QC pager might or might not go off, and wonder who got the next run. It was funny to watch a bunch of us sit next to the window so we thought we would have a clear signal to the truck. Even then mine didn't always work.
Even still, there was some pretty good times out there.








Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[Jefferson3000]

Hey everyone. I'm going to offer a slightly different point of view from some of you. As some of you know, I am NOT an OTR expediter. I do however, make my living running local and regional "Hotshot" delivery, in and out of a major city.

I work with freight forwarders, as well as trucking companies. I can tell you something. Last year, all freight was slow. Please don't stand so close to the trees that you can't see the forest. I've heard routed airfreight drivers complain of this. I've heard special delivery guys say this. I had a friend, a salesman for a freight forwarder, tell me that the local station manager for Yellow Freight said that their freight was down 50% last year. An Ops mgr at Pilot Air Freight was heard saying the same thing. LTL, FTL, Expedite, Next Flight Out, it's all the same.

LTL isn't stealing your freight. Neither are the Full truckload guys. The whole transportation industry has been in a slump. Carriers are scrambling trying to find out why. I ran less last year. But maybe I learned to run smarter. The "good ol' days" are gone forever (whatever that was.) If you are willing to adapt; if a carrier is willing to adapt, you AND they will survive. It's not just about you!

Driver for 15 years
O/O for 13 years
OOIDA #829119

Drive Safe!

Jeff

 

[hedgehog]

Thanks for the responses.

I understand them all.

However, would Coca-cola ever share it's formula for its' success??

What about pharmaceutical companies during their R&D ?? And even when the FDA finally approves a chemical formula for a product it is still protected for xx amount of years before it can be generatcized.

This is a fantastic website for helping the newbies get into the business. One can only guess how many new drivers (your competition) it has put on the road. Not just the newbies that have inquired but also the drivers that have read and never posted.

But. The bottom line (I believe) is that less supply of drivers means more demand for drivers which equals higher wages. (See RichM and Terry's comments.)

Be safe.