Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

If you’ve been to Walmart lately or watched the news you already know that most of what we purchase is either made or partially made in China. Believe it or not so is your truck and trailer. Think about the little things first. The plastic parts of your interior, the tires that you are driving on, the lights and chrome you just bought at the truck stop. What you may not realize is that now many engine parts, and suspension assemblies are made in China as well.

Earlier this year I began looking at a new manufacturer of trailers, Direct of Jasper, AL. At first I was very skeptical and pretty much dismissed them. After starting a new dealership in central Louisiana, I was faced with the reality of being able to choose a whole new line of trailers. I looked at, and continue to look at different lines to carry. I was amazed at what this company has done with their flatbeds and dropdecks. The list of standard benefits is strong. Lifetime beam warranty, thicker flanges in the main beam, LED lights, coil rated dropdeck, and a willingness to build what the customer needs. This last one is huge considering the number of manufacturers that have decided to only make cookie cutter trailers. Read the rest of this entry »

Trucking is a great industry. Short of being an economist not a lot of jobs are on the front of the economy. Lets face it, if the stuff at Walmart isn’t selling we know it before the guru’s on Wall street do. When freight prices start to dip we know that somebody isn’t buying something. As a trailer salesman, I get to see the many different kinds of freight and what is moving (paying) and what is not. Since most who would read this are involved in trucking I’ll skip most of the elementary trailer stuff and jump right in to the trends that we are seeing. In full disclosure I will, upfront say that I sell trailers for a living. I present the following based on the market conditions that I see here in North Texas.

I’ll start with the dry vans. Seeing as how this is really the most basic commodity, it has never been the big money maker in the industry, especially for the owner operator. Unless you can find a niche market that pays well it is very tough to make it. Since this is where most drivers enter their career, it has entry level wages and high turn over. Currently new van sales are in the toilet, with no thought of them coming out any time before next summer. This tells me that the freight in this sector is only going to get cheaper over the winter. If you run vans start pinching pennies now. To the other side if you have good hauls and are one of the few making good money in this sector now is the time to buy equipment. Most of the factories have a huge stock inventory and many are beginning to consider ways to get rid of it.

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