Acquitted, you are right as well. The rates are bad for everyone. I think 1.50 per mile should be a cargo van "all in rate!" The problem is that a lot of people will run cheap to earn a small paycheck. I was actually ashamed when I had to pay drivers 80-85 and even 90 cents per mile on cargo van runs. I felt like I was ripping them off because I know how expensive it is to run a van. I often times made paper thin margins on the loads because I was trying to balance paying a fair rate and keeping the office doors open. I think mostly everyone in every vehicle class is being ripped off right now. I have enough to buy a van and drive again, but even if my medical problems disappeared tomorrow, i'd probably pass on it.
You can make more money driving a swift truck than you can driving a cargo van or straight. I used to make 40k a year driving for MS. Carriers. I idled on their fuel, they paid for the truck, all I did was pay for two meals a day! I never had to get hotel rooms because the truck took good care of me. It was actually a pretty stress free life! No rush freight, no check calls every 3 hours, none of that. I used to deliver in Laredo on a Friday afternoon, sit at the yard all weekend chillin with the drivers, and have a load out by Monday or Tuesday the next week. All the while I idled the truck off their fuel, living it up in a nicely air conditioned ice cold truck. I had my dvd player, refrigerator, room to stretch, and life was great.
I don't doubt for a minute that the ATeam is making good money at Landstar. They have the right set up and they are a team. Landstar also pays pretty good! I wish more companies paid that well. But for the majority of drivers on the road, the rates are pretty crappy. I guess when the penske trucks take over the world and you have missing loads, late loads, drivers who can't even read the dock numbers lol, there might be a change in the way shippers and brokers do business. They outsourced all of the manufacturing jobs, now they're insourcing all of the driving jobs.
My friend had one of those lovely pensky truck drivers come up to him and point to the address on his BOL and then the guy pointed at the building. The guy was trying to figure out in non-verbal communication if he had delivered his load to the prober Penske dock in Laredo Texas. lol. He dropped the load and didn't even know where he was at. That is when we stopped hiring Russian guys who couldn't speak or read english good enough to communicate with our customers properly. When you pay low rates, you're gonna get low quality drivers. It's as plain and simple as that. It's amazing how fast professionalism goes out the window when the price is right. I hope things get better out there for those of you who remain in the business. I really feel for you all!
