Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

Trucking as an industry is lost.

From A Courtesy Flush. I’ve always liked and mostly agreed with this driver’s viewpoint. It’s how a lot of drivers feel and is probably the reason we haven’t been as active posting as we used to be. Trucking and drivers are lost. Lost in the fog of misdirection. Fuel prices skyrocketed and drivers got lost in the story of how the Evil Oil Companies are destroying trucking, when the truth was trucking is eating itself from the inside. Always does, but with the focus on fuel, no one wants to mention the fact that there are too many trucks chasing too little freight.

While older drivers are having some success at staying in business, schools and companies are still feverishly recruiting new soon to be disillusioned drivers, while a lot owners and companies are giving up completely at alarming rates.  Which is why myself and V.Grumpy have been really busy these last couple of months. Not making as much money as I was last year, turning down ridiculously cheap freight and trying to balance work bills, home bills and home life as much as possible.   

Striking for fuel will fix what?

It’s amazing there are groups still pushing the idea that fuel prices are too high. They are, but fuel is only a small piece of the puzzle and what if by some miracle all of their protesting (whining) actually works? Fuel expenses drop, insurance is still too high, getting my truck worked on still costs too much, trucks washes, oil changes, tires, driver pay, truck payments, where does it stop? Fuel is just one piece.

How do you fix overcapacity? Stop recruiting. Make the CDL rules and even the physical a little tougher. Make CDL schools more than CDL Test Passing Centers. Stop importing drivers. This is a Canadian company recruiting in England, but they have a huge US presence and a US branch. Make Broker and even Carrier authority bonds higher. Enforce the laws.

What if there were fewer trucks?

Rates would come up. That would make consumer stuff more expensive, (like stuff is cheap now?) Make trucking a real career choice. A real driver shortage will force companies that want to stay in business to respect and treat their drivers, right and haul freight only from customers that respect a drivers time and labor. If I walked into a large shipper and was actually welcomed and treated with respect instead of being treated like I was a pain in their backside interrupting their solitaire game, I’d probably fall over dead in shock.

None of this will happen because truckers are lost. Wondering around blaming everyone but themselves for the industry’s problems. Not wanting to quit because we are in too deep and know nothing else. Thinking that striking will gain us respect and get us what we want, when it will actually have the opposite effect. Most of us just want to be left alone and let us drive, feed our families and pay some bills.