Trucking Executives Warn Shippers on Costs

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
It is kind of related to expedite....show them shippers they need to raise the rates..
Many members have been stuck with the same rate for at least the last 5 yrs...
especially you flat rate bunch

Trucking Executives Warn Shippers on Costs | Journal of Commerce
"We gave our first pay raise in four years Jan. 1, a 2.5 percent pay increase," Estes said. "We're still behind the loop. We'll have to look pretty aggressively at it this year."

Overall, Estes expects a 4 to 4.5 percent increase in total costs in 2012. Truckload carrier executives who spoke on a NITL panel saw driver costs as the main problem.

"There's no question the largest issue we have is the driver capacity issue," said Scott Dobak, president of Roadrunner Transportation System, an LTL and truckload carrier.

Roadrunner contracts with independent drivers in both its LTL and truckload operations, and finding an adequate supply of owner-operators and small carriers is a challenge.

Independents and smaller carriers are having a harder time handling rising fuel and equipment costs than larger carriers, Dobak said, putting significant capacity at risk.

"The small mom and pop operations are under great pressure right now," he said. "You don't hear about major companies going under, but it's different with smaller players."
 

jjoerger

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Army
And I'll bet the CEO's of these large companies get a pay raise before the drivers.
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Most of those "drivers" are probably "Teamsters"...their wages are controlled by "their" Unions....more power to the CEO's....

If you weren't in such a hurry to bash unions [whether justified or not], you would have read the article first, and you'd know that the unions have little to do with it.
There are no unions to blame at the expedite carriers, and most CEOs have gotten raises every year - but have the O/Os?
 

purgoose10

Veteran Expediter
Estes is not a union carrier. Drivers for large carriers such as RCR will be looking to get their pay increased when the economy gets stronger. They took a pretty good hit on the last contract just to keep RCR in business. Yellow freight almost bit off more then they could chew when they took over Big R.
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
"There are no unions to blame at the expedite carriers, and most CEOs have gotten raises every year - but have the O/Os?"

As long as expediters continue to be willing to run for nothing, we will earn nothing. Refuse the cheap freight and rates will go up. Far too many won't. THAT is the primary reason that O/O's have not seen a raise.

 
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