Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

During conversation and when writing I often say “Back before the Democrats wrecked the Economy”.  That is a true statement.  It is, however, not the WHOLE truth.  To explain everything would take a vast amount of time, even if I did understand it which I don’t pretend that I do.

What I do understand, or think I do, is this.

Some while ago, back before the Democrats wrecked the economy, the democrats were WORKING on wrecking the economy.  With the best of intentions of course.  They were doing many things at once. One thing they were doing was called the Community Reinvestment Act.  This goes a long way back, maybe before Clinton , perhaps even to Carter.  What it did was to force the banks to lend money to people who were a HUGE credit risk.  The  stated purpose was to buy homes. Incidentally a lot of “officials” became wealthy..purely coincidental I’m sure.

Very upstanding and all.  People should have homes.  Should it matter that they can’t afford them?  It didn’t seem so.

While this was going on serious “stuff” happened overseas.  The Soviet Union collapsed for one.  Less publicized was China.  To make a long story short China became more capitalist and finally got it’s economy going.  Similarly so did India. We’re talking several Billion people here.

The emerging economies of China, India, Indonesia and to some extent Russia caused a demand for energy.  Over time this demand grew. It grew dramatically.

Now skip back to the United States.  Recall the term “SubPrime Lending”.  This was a carry over from the Community Investment Act.  It get’s really complicated (perhaps purposely so) and government agencies such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mack and various Politicians figure prominently.  The upshot of it is that there was all this money,in the form of mortgages,  just sitting there. Read the rest of this entry »

So I’m sitting at the house drinking a beer while checking the news on my computer.  I bring up Drudge and Hummer sold to China just about jumps off the screen.  Amazing.  I like Drudge but as Ronald Regan said many a time “Trust but Authenticate”….or maybe that’s not what he said exactly but you get the idea.  So I run a Google search “Hummer Sold to China” Sure enough.

I’m not really sure what I think about that.

Hummers are big, don’t get very good fuel economy and they’re ugly.  I don’t mean ugly I mean UGLY!!!  Like, beaten with an ugly stick ugly.

And I like em.

If I were in the market for a new car I’d buy a Hummer.  I don’t CARE if it get’s poor gas mileage.  I look at it as “prepaid life insurance”  If I get hit by some moron I want to be the one that lives thru it.  Not being too arrogant (hey….I’m a Trucker AND a Texan…some arrogance is built in)  but I DO know how to drive safely.  I’ve got over a million miles accident/ticket free.

That being the case I don’t trust the other folks on the highway.  Like I said if one of them get’s a sudden case of the stupids and hits me I want to be driving something BIG.  Size counts.  I’ll pay the extra money for poor fuel economy to carry the protective steel coating around me.  The armor.  Besides, at just about six foot tall and waaaaay beyond two hundred and fifty pounds I’m not a little feller.  I need room.  Today’s econoboxes and the mandated new death traps by our Lords and Masters aren’t for me.  I doubt I could even get into one of them much less drive one for any length of time.

Plus another major selling point.  Greenies HATE Hummers.  They about get apoplexy when they see one.  This is a good thing.  I’ve been bombarded with green propaganda for so long and it’s been so wrong that I’m revolting.  Greens aren’t just wrong, they’re stupid.  I’m tired of it. Anything I can do to annoy a green is on my “to do” list.

So.  I’ve always wanted a Hummer but I never thought I’d be able to afford one. Read the rest of this entry »

On their new web site http://www.gmreinvention.com and on some new commercials released nationally, G.M. (Gubberment Motors) will try to explain and convince us of all the new changes that will take place under the “watch” of their new Lord and Master, Obama.

They present a most convincing argument, unless of course, you have been paying attention.

I was paying attention.

I currently own, with the bank, a Ford. Had Ford taken “bailout” money, the dealership would have found my new car in their driveway the next morning. (Credit be damned) I also own a Dodge Dakota, I paid cash for this one a few years back, its MINE.

I will not consider, under any conditions, ANY new GM product and I would have to almost steal a pre-owned one. But then, I would not want to advertise for GM in any way.

Because they took taxpayer money, the same goes for Chrysler.

The jury is still out on Ford.

Read the rest of this entry »

I remember, back before the Democrats destroyed the economy, and I was a high school student, I went on my first date.  Well maybe not the FIRST date but one of the first.  As it happens I later married the gal.  At any rate, my finances were, shall we say, limited.  We went “dutch”. I paid for the fuel (about a dollar, we were on a motorcycle) and she paid for the food (less than a dollar, we went to a burger joint). Yes,in the sixties, when the dollar was still worth something, two people could eat well for a dollar. (hamburgers and fries $.35, cokes $.05.  free refills)

Compare  that to what Obama did the other day.  Depending on who you want to believe he and she went thru a million dollars. On a date. The foreign news  are paying much closer attention than is our own news media organizations.  Why is that?

I realize that comparing what a hardworking, teenage, middle american couple of the sixties did to what a …..er…..to what .. ….ummmm.

…..to the current occupant of the whitehouse is NOT a valid comparison.  But stilll,  A million dollars on a DATE?

That’s GOT to raise a few flags.  Doesn’t it?

Me and the wife are staring bankruptcy in the face and it’s not a pretty sight, as are countless other families.  Millions of workers in America have lost their jobs, their homes, their automobiles.  Increasingly millions more are going hungry. The nation is threatened by foreign nations acquiring  atomic weapons, (Iran and North Korea).  The world health organization says that the  world is on the brink of a devastating pandemic.  Al Gore and Jim Hansen are almost panicy with terror regarding climate change and global warming. Muslims are shooting down american service men….in Little Rock Arkansas. General Motors went Bankrupt, Chrysler went Bankrupt.   And on and on and on.

BAD things are happening.   Really, really bad. (if you believe the Main Stream News Media)

So the President takes his wife on a date and in the process spends a million dollars.

In one night.

A. Million. Dollars.

What does this say about him?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Way back when, before the Democrats destroyed the economy, I was sitting in a truck stop in Joplin Missouri. I noticed that there were an inordinate number of drivers walking around selling stuff.  Chains, binders, flags, oversize signs, stuff like that.  This was unusual for truckstops.  What was unusual was not that  drivers  or “drivers” were selling stuff but WHAT was being sold and the number of drivers doing it.

Normally, usually at less reputable truck stops, a  driver  on occasion will  sell a CB.  “Drivers”  will sell merchandise, after dark, with a weather eye out for security.   Watches, gold  “Mr.T” chains, electronics …..and not so much anymore, drugs.   I’ve seen it all at one time or another.  Not to mention lot lizards selling themselves.

This was unusual though.  It turned out that TRISM (a rate cutting  heavy haul outfit)  had gone belly up.  Trism dispatch was routing their trucks into the home terminal in Joplin and canning the drivers immediately upon arrival.  Drivers were left afoot with no money.  Word got out and the smarter drivers were going to truckstops first  and selling company equipment in order to get money for bus fare.

Over this last weekend I saw it happen again.  I was sitting in my truck in a parking lot and noticed the driver in front of me cleaning out his truck.  I mean REALLY cleaning it out, everything.  He then laid it all out in a neat row beside the truck.  Then he began selling it. Cheap, really, cheap.

It seems he was an owner operator and did something that “safety” didn’t like.  They routed him into the home terminal and had a “review” during which they “de-leased” him and repossessed his truck.  He was buying his truck from the company he drove for. He had hundreds  of dollars of equipment (half-inch chains, half-inch ratchet binders, strobe lights, flags, signs, as well as some personnel effects, (microwave, tv, radio(s) etc. which he had no way to transport.

So he sold it all.  Right there in the parking lot.

I was reminded of TRISM.

I wonder if it’s a sign of the times?

Be careful out there.

Right.

Bankruptcies are rampart.  People are looseing everything that they’ve worked lifetimes to accumulate.

I’m sitting “in the yard” at “the company that I’m leased to”.  There are a LOT of other trucks sitting here also.  Waiting for loads.  Some have been here for many days. At surrounding truckstops there are a great deal more.

Sitting.  Waiting.

“Things will get better”.  they say.  “They have to”.

At which point I ask, “What makes you say that?  Any evidence or merely wishing”.

At which point “they” admit that they’re merely wishing.

No, it doesn’t HAVE to. It’s not.  Santa Clause is a broke and the Tooth Fairy is  retired. Read the rest of this entry »

Trucking is suffering everywhere. Even the Ice Road Truckers crew is seeing less freight this year. According to a report in Today’s Trucking, one mine has closed and others are shipping less. The NWT Motor Transport Association says this is simply a factor of the economic slowdown and they expect tonnage to rebound once the economy picks up. You’ll be able to continue to get your weekly fix of Alex, Drew, Hugh and the gang, they’ve got freight and they’re truckin!

I’ve never quite seen what the attraction is to this show. I know all kinds of people that are addicted to it. My son and husband watch it religiously even in reruns. To me, it’s another bad northern run in February. I know there’s a whole lot more to it than that, but that’s the feeling I get whenever it’s on.  I get that queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. And the crew is just exaggerated caricatures of all the truckers I’ve ever known, you could swear you’ve met them somewhere before. All in all, it probably gives a better public image of trucking than the Smokey and The Bandit, though.

Speaking of Trucking News Good and Bad:

Another little tidbit I picked up out of Today’s Trucking is the Schneider Logistics annual State of the Industry review. We all have our own opinions on what the industry looks like, and it’s usually heavily colored by our own personal experience. It’s never a bad idea to know what premise the competition is operating under; Schneider Logistics looks at capacity, freight and pricing scenarios not only in the United States but Canada, Mexico, China and Europe in the recent past and what they see coming up in the future. The report not only covers all types of truck freight, including TTL, LTL and Expedite but rail and ocean shipping prospects too.

There have been times when I’ve felt these big players make their own history, they have very clear ideas of where they want the industry to go and often have the power and connections to make it happen. In order for the independent owner operator to succeed and even thrive in this environment, he’s going to have to plan in advance to position himself to take advantage of what the big players do and don’t do. So, here’s the pdf file of their report, 38 pages of recent history, facts and likely scenarios. And quotes like these:

“It’s going to be a big nasty.” Thom Albrecht, analyst, Stevens and “Customers are drooling over new chances to beat up on carriers.” John Q. Anderson, Fenway Partners

Anyway, here’s your homework. And remember; keep the dirty side down and all the ink black!

By that I don’t mean that we have a big problem, although we do.   What I mean is that  often time bigness itself is a problem.

About sixty four million years ago,  an asteroid is supposed to have impacted the earth some distance south of Texas just off the coast of the Yucatan. It caused havoc.  In the ensuing years everything BIG died off (along with much else).  The dinosaurs for example.  This extinction gave those pesky little mammals a chance to develop.

This is a well known example of bigness being bad.  Big animals just didn’t seem to do very well when their world turned upside down.  Dinosaurs were VERY big, mammals were not.  The big dinosaurs didn’t adapt to the changing environment, the small mammals did.

Thus, a basic fundamental principal is illustrated.  That is, in a risky environment small and agile beats large and clumsy just about all the time.

Read the rest of this entry »

This morning when I got up, the first thing I saw on the television was that CSX ad. You know the one where the traffic jam stretches for miles. (At least it wasn’t the one where the railroad crane drags the container off the truck through the trees). But what struck me this morning through my foggy, sleep-addled brains was the fact that every truck shown, the trucks that are supposedly causing the traffic jam, were container trucks! And, where do container trucks go?

I’m probably not your average viewer, my sympathies lie with the truckers stuck in that jam. I’ve spent my time in rail yards and they’re not usually anyone’s favorite destination, although they’ve gotten considerably better in the last ten years. Given the number of container carriers in this jam, they’re either all on their way into a rail yard or a port and they’re probably being paid by the mile.

If Freight’s Down, What’s Up With The Ads?

This economic slowdown isn’t new in the freight industry; anybody who’s been paying attention knows freight has been running ‘funny’ for several years now. A lot of drivers blamed the slowdown on the amount of freight being diverted from truck to rail, part of that is valid. Rail has been ‘at capacity’ on several east-west corridors for 2-3 years.

Read the rest of this entry »

What’s in the stimulus bill for trucking? Probably not much. If you support or haul construction stuff to road sites like heavy equipment, k-barriers, bridge supports, etc… You might see more work, but not until 2011 or 2012.

A lot of trucking depends on housing. Moving people to new houses, hauling new stuff and materials for houses. A new “housing stimulus” is supposed to help people in existing homes and isn’t going to do much to get people to buy a new house.

I admit, I haven’t actually read it. You can go to Read The Stimulus.org to read it. From what I’ve heard from both sides, it doesn’t sound like it’s going to do much for trucking.

What if you’re fired up and totally behind this bill and think it’s the shot in the arm that America needs to get moving again? Let’s pretend that it does start working and the economy is moving again. Rates go up, fuel stays low, there aren’t as many trucks/drivers on the road anymore, companies are hiring, things are good? Probably not.

Any rise in demand and tonnage is going to be gradual. Fuel prices will move up with any significant demand increases. Thanks to the severe unemployment there will be tons of new drivers waiting for the fulfillment of their recruiting promises. Used trucks are going to be a dime a dozen and so will drivers.

More good news? Several years ago railways were at capacity and couldn’t keep up with the demand and trucking was taking freight the rails couldn’t keep up with. Since then, rail companies have invested billions in new track, new equipment and increasing capacity. Rail companies are doing a lot better than most trucking companies. There is still a lot of freight that can only go by train and have you seen the commercials on TV about how much better shipping by train is instead of by truck?

Anyone seeing any difference? Anyone actually read it? Maybe getting a government contract is the answer. Think this will work? Immediately or much later?