Three cents:
Little Joe - companies DO care about the drivers and owner operators - sorry, but without you all we would not be in business. I know I care very much about our drivers and O/O's but unfortunately you can't always give them everything they want - with the rates as low as they are now, and FSC being so low - we all (companies and drivers) are taking it in the shorts.
Not going to read backwards to see what Little Joe said but I question why would some (carriers) not be in business? Would you not own your own trucks and have employees that do own them and absorb the cost of owning them yourselves? Its my understanding many carriers operate this way now..
Linda - great comment - if it is slow at your company chances are it is slow at all companies. This is so true for the most part. The grass is not greener and switching companies is most likely not the answer. There are real costs involved in switching companies.
I'm not one to drag up often as other drivers do and have done so only once. Really the only cost involved was the fact that your not working during the time your processing into the new carrier, a cost but not a big one. A bigger cost is for a driver that is at a company that doesn't have the work load and is sitting more then working.. So in my book the cost of dragging up is a wash. Like duck hunting, line up your ducks properly and ya will hardly miss a beat and it will go smoothly. (Or it should.)
Third penny of advice: we all know that the Expedite Industry and at times trucking in general is very cyclical. We know there are periods of time that freight is terrible slow and rates are down. An example of slow is the present time, in 2007 into 2008 and 2009, and also many times prior. We also know there are periods of time that we are at the pinnacle of rates - like as in most of 2014. In those high rate periods we have companies, drivers and owner operators demanding and receiving rates far above their contracted rates. In the slower times the opposite. Point taken to be successful in this industry you must learn to accommodate the cycles by saving money in the peak times and becoming more efficient during the tough times. This applies to companies, drivers and owner operators. The good rates will return. It is just difficult waiting for those good rates.
As far as saving money?? Do you think owner operators have not been trying to do this since the downturn several years ago? What's left to help us save? Cost of operating keeps going up and we are still operating at or below 2006/2007/rates. Right down to the loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter I need to live on. We can't control the cost of living anymore then your household can. A carrier has a much better shot a controlling the cost of doing business then a truck does. Other wise you would have more trucks and less owners. (And yes I know fuel is cheaper,,not cheap just cheaper, it's still a major cost with the rates going downward)
If ya can't control your office cost there are plenty of company's that can come in and and cut cost for you..Do some time studies on your people and ya maybe surprised how manyb manhours are wasted in the course of one day.
Granted I'm not in the office and I don't find my own freight, I don't see it all. But I don't agree with this slow thing,,It maybe slower then yesterday but when a carrier bags a load they are going to cover it at all costs when possible. Case in point let's say I turn down a load because there isn't enough money on it for what ever reason, bad area, to much d/head, I really hate the shipper, I simply don't wanna do it, whatever the reason.. The carrier is still going to cover that load by bringing a truck from a greater distance which cost them more in most cases instead of offering me a reasonable rate to do it in the first place.
Thank you drivers for all you do. Be safe.