My lord tons of repo straights

[DannyD]

Hey Scott, ya got on w/ em eh? Congrats. Despite my disagreement (partial disagreement??) w/ OVM, I'm fine w/ the US bringing in Canadians to do other things than fill up our hockey rosters.

you rang?

 

[Turtle]

Bitter because I'm not happy people are losing thier trucks? I didn't realize a counterpoint made someone a union member. As you see fit though.

Well, I don't know that a counterpoint in and of itself makes someone a union member. I suspect it does not. But in any case, I certainly never said it did. I merely said that you sounded like a union member, meaning, your comments were consistent and in the manner of something a union member would say. I have no idea if you are a union member or not.

I get that there's a lack of freight. That's not a revelation. It's also pretty clear that people will get out of this business rather than freight levels picking up. I'd rather just see people succeed than go belly up. Maybe that's pure fantasy, but that's how I feel.

It's not like the old days where anyone could jump in and make money in spite of themselves. It would be nice, but pure fantasy is pretty much what it is. The cold fact is that a lot of people made a mistake getting into this business at the wrong time, were under capitalized, and ill prepared. They failed to do their research and were blinded by what they perceived to be easy money. These are the very people who make if hard on everyone else, because they come in unprepared, and as a last ditch effort start taking freight at ridiculously low rates just for fuel and lunch money. The sooner they fail, the better, if ya ask me, which no one did.

 

[fastrod]

They failed to do their research and were blinded by what they perceived to be easy money. These are the very people who make if hard on everyone else, because they come in unprepared, and as a last ditch effort start taking freight at ridiculously low rates just for fuel and lunch money. The sooner they fail, the better, if ya ask me, which no one did.

What they did was listen to all the BS coming from the recruiters and it does not matter how soon they fail because carriers will just recruit more to replace them.

 

[fastrod]

Good! I hope to see a lot of CV's/sprinters on a repo lot as well......need to thin the herd....

That is not going to thin the herd any, carriers will just recruit more to replace them. To really thin the herd we need a few mid level expedite companies to go under. Maybe companies like Express 1, Load 1, Tri state, Bolt express. That would be a more effective way to thin the herd.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I've been trying to come up with a sensitive way to say that half of the CVs on the road have to go home and park 'em. I don't care who they are; y'all can work that out among yourselves.

Don't worry about sensitivity...I don't, as you can read...it is the truth and the cold hard reality of life....In a perfect world everyone would have all the loads they needed and be successful.....anyone know of such a place?

I'd love to have the recruiters revolving door stop and we could layoff some of them....LOL

another little detail I just thought of...if 20 vans quit and the carrier has to return the escrow if the minimum is $700...the cash outlay would be $14,000....could some carriers come up with that?....

 

[OntarioVanMan]

That is not going to thin the herd any, carriers will just recruit more to replace them. To really thin the herd we need a few mid level expedite companies to go under. Maybe companies like Express 1, Load 1, Tri state, Bolt express. That would be a more effective way to thin the herd.

That might work...only IF they all went under....the survivors would just absorb the units and recruiters would have a field day...they'd have a new purpose in life...LOL

 

[greg334]

I read all of this banter and wonder when are you guys going to understand that many of us are not running expedite freight but ltl freight and the line between what expedite freight is and what ltl freight is has been blurred more in the past year.

What many times makes this actualy expedited freight is the carrier not the customer. Sometimes it is the way the get a load as part of their business and other times it is a self-induced time limit as an operating standard.

How many times in the past year have you hauled something that a plant would be stopped if it didn't get there on time?

Yes we have too many vans but we also have too many who still think it is a golden goose just waiting to drop an egg or two. TOO many people still run it like a paid vacation while others are so desperate to make a buck that they become victims of an owner or themselves.

I feel that limiting the amount of vans won't help rates, they'll help me but not the rates . I also feel the worst thing we have in the market is the van fleet owner who pay low rates to the driver who should be in their own van, I have seen a few where they tell the driver to take everything so they can make that monthly payment. IF it is a box truck that can take bulk, that's a bit different but still the same - fleet owners of vans seem to be one problem.

The carriers are smart, many owners are dumb. The carriers are changing to fit the market, not expecting the market to fit the carrier but many owners still operate as if there is no end in sight while complaining that they have no freight - the freight is there, the rates are there but the carrier won't put effort into capturing it because of the cost.

I would venture to guess that here on EO, we may see 6 to 8% of all operators on the road in this niche market and about 30% of all the carrier who haul 'expedite' freight so we only get part of the picture.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Agreed...Most stuff we haul is not really needed ASAP...most is inventory control/logistics....say a supplier's contract calls for 100,000 widgets...when the auto maker sees they drop below that amount they FORCE in most cases the supplier to ship what is owed at an extra cost...which just adds to the price of a new vehicle.....

Good example of this is look at the latest stats....Inventories have been replenished, so here we sit...

 

[moose]

I am looking around at newer straight trucks but when I get a newer truck I want a reefer, liftgate, 24'/ 26' box and a tag axle and a gvw of 45k to 48k...

This is the wrong thread to post this !
IF you where to be a fully qualified and certified experienced TEAM drivers, then that would be a candidate truck to look for.
but we well know that at this point even many of those kind of drivers are having a hard time keeping the box loaded with good paying freight.
when rates goes down, owner of those kind of trucks are struggling, as their cost of moving the freight are higher .
one MUST ask himself : will i be able to compete.
reed this very careful and pay attention :

" one of the Expedite's secrets :
for having a fully diversified truck, we actually limiting our load opportunity " !

 

[DannyD]

My thinking on the unions is they served their purpose, but have outlived their usefulness. The primary "businesses" I'd like to see go under are government agencies. IRS, Dept of Education, & the list goes on.

I'm not wanting people to be paid for doing nothing. I don't want people who do a crappy job to keep their jobs. I certainly see nothing wrong w/ GM-or Ford or any company really- firing someone who's on drugs. Or trying to fire em. I also realize that a company is out to make a profit & don't owe it all to the workers.

Mr Illitch, owner of the Detroit Red Wings said it best when he had a meeting w/ his players. This was a few years ago during labor negotiations. He looked at various players & was like "you make 4 million, you make 3 million, you make 5 million. Is it ok if I make a few million too?"

I realize people will go under in any field. Whether freight, computers, books, plumbing, etc. All I'm saying is I'm not happy when it happens, even if the people are my competition.

And like Fastrod said, if people leave they're going to get replaced by someone else. In the end ya can want people to fail w/ all your might. It's not going to change much though.

Well, I don't know that a counterpoint in and of itself makes someone a union member. I suspect it does not. But in any case, I certainly never said it did. I merely said that you sounded like a union member, meaning, your comments were consistent and in the manner of something a union member would say. I have no idea if you are a union member or not.

It's not like the old days where anyone could jump in and make money in spite of themselves. It would be nice, but pure fantasy is pretty much what it is. The cold fact is that a lot of people made a mistake getting into this business at the wrong time, were under capitalized, and ill prepared. They failed to do their research and were blinded by what they perceived to be easy money. These are the very people who make if hard on everyone else, because they come in unprepared, and as a last ditch effort start taking freight at ridiculously low rates just for fuel and lunch money. The sooner they fail, the better, if ya ask me, which no one did.

 

[BillChaffey]

A couple of thoughts. Why not ask the President of our fair country for a bail out? Pay 50% of O\O to stay home at the going rate for their vehicle @ 1200 miles per week.

As far as 20 truck escrows at $700.00 each. If there on with Panther they shouldn't hold their breath. Panther has had my Escrow since I left in December 2007.

 

[greg334]

Mr Illitch, owner of the Detroit Red Wings said it best when he had a meeting w/ his players. This was a few years ago during labor negotiations. He looked at various players & was like "you make 4 million, you make 3 million, you make 5 million. Is it ok if I make a few million too?"

A few million?

Try a couple hundred.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

A couple of thoughts. Why not ask the President of our fair country for a bail out? Pay 50% of O\O to stay home at the going rate for their vehicle @ 1200 miles per week.

As far as 20 truck escrows at $700.00 each. If there on with Panther they shouldn't hold their breath. Panther has had my Escrow since I left in December 2007.

You couldn't take them to small claims court?