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Truck Drivers Are Facing Another Bloodbath
Zubu Brothers ^ | 4-17-2022 | Rachel Premack of FreightWaves

Posted on 04/17/2022 9:22:50 AM PDT by blam

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1 posted on 04/17/2022 9:22:50 AM PDT by blam
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To: blam

My company buys freight - about 30 loads a week.

Prices certainly have not dropped for our lanes (we also sometimes need specialty tankers, which are not in big supply) - but it seems they have stopped rising so quickly.


2 posted on 04/17/2022 9:28:16 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: PGR88

[My company buys freight - about 30 loads a week.

Prices certainly have not dropped for our lanes (we also sometimes need specialty tankers, which are not in big supply) - but it seems they have stopped rising so quickly.]


Who do you use - the big guys (JB Hunt, CH Robinson, XPO Logistics) or some local operation you like?


3 posted on 04/17/2022 9:33:26 AM PDT by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
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To: PGR88

Fuel surcharge rates have risen dramatically since Biden. My original fuel surcharge rate was less than 15% when diesel was $2.00/gal - now it’s 46%. I’ve got a propane transport, so it’s specialized. Glad I’m not in the regular freight business.


4 posted on 04/17/2022 9:38:18 AM PDT by datura (Eventually, the Lord and the Truth will win.)
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To: Zhang Fei

we use a mix of smaller carriers and local/regional agents. We face many constant changes from warehouse waiting times, to receiver unloading schedules, etc... and it seems the smaller guys are more willing / able to adjust.


5 posted on 04/17/2022 9:43:29 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: PGR88

How does this article square with the ones saying we are short 80,000 truck drivers?


6 posted on 04/17/2022 9:43:42 AM PDT by BiglyCommentary
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To: PGR88

P.S. If you are a Pooty or Vax Shill I’m declaring a temporary ceasefire fire so we can discuss this topic... lol


7 posted on 04/17/2022 9:47:42 AM PDT by BiglyCommentary
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To: blam

They have lowered from a month or so ago.


8 posted on 04/17/2022 9:49:52 AM PDT by bray (The Vax is fake and deadly)
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To: BiglyCommentary
How does this article square with the ones saying we are short 80,000 truck drivers?

I personally believe this article is exaggerated. Yes, high freight prices have probably attracted some new drivers. The story of the former restaurant manager going from driver to owning seven rigs in 18 months seems exaggerated. That's a lot of money to invest in such a short time, plus he'll need to set up accounting and dispatch systems, even if small-scale. But supply overall will not expand that quickly, and the USA definitely needs more drivers.

I see two different trends at work - older truckers/baby boomers are definitely leaving the industry. Gen Z kids are not picking up the slack. On the other hand, we are seeing more and more immigrants driving trucks. It used to be Mexicans, but now it is particularly South Asians. chain migration and cousin-marriage will bring over a relative who has no skills, barely speaks English - what do they do? Drive a truck. These guys will literally live in their trucks for many weeks on end. They have to pay off whoever brought them into the USA too, but its still a better life than what they had in their Pakistani mountain village.

9 posted on 04/17/2022 9:54:18 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: blam

I follow a truck driver on YouTube. The market has nearly stopped for him. There just arent many loads moving. It tells me we are about too enter a huge recession. If goods aren’t moving commerce is stopping


10 posted on 04/17/2022 9:57:30 AM PDT by Bryan24 (When in doubt, move to the right..........)
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To: BiglyCommentary

Thank You for pointing this out. I was going to point out the same until you posted this and you must have read the same article yesterday I did....80,000 to the number short.

I don’t know what to make of articles like this. I’m older Gen X still trying to make a go of a career I chose long ago although if my current gig doesn’t work out I’m finally cashing in the chips and going for commercial drivers license or at least some kind of blue collar offering if such a thing hasn’t yet been offshored or had the worker “in-shored” from Serbia or New Dehli.


11 posted on 04/17/2022 10:03:02 AM PDT by MachIV
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To: Bryan24

I thought I had heard that logistics were trying to figure out how to consolidate what would normally have been sent OTR truck onto trains. Trend being to get more trucks off the interstates and make a sizeable chunk of trucking mostly day trips to the extent possible.


12 posted on 04/17/2022 10:05:40 AM PDT by MachIV
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To: blam

For YEARS we’ve heard that the trucking industry couldn’t attract enough drivers… now truckers are going out of business for lack of work? Damn.


13 posted on 04/17/2022 10:05:52 AM PDT by TalBlack (We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: BiglyCommentary; PGR88

There was a period of time there when we couldn’t get outbound pickups for days. They would cancel day after day. And then the customers couldn’t get deliveries for even longer. Shipments would arrive at the local hub, but then sit for a week before it could get dropped off.

Currently, that problem has gone away and things are going fairly smoothly.

But I have tried to rent a trailer for storage and am being told there are none available near me. I can get a container but not one with wheels that a driver can move. I think there is a shortage of warehouse space. We as a country were backed up as we re-opened post Pandemic restrictions that caused the trucking shortage, but now demand is slowing and there is a lot of supply of goods. (as an aside, I know of at least 4 warehouses full of hand sanitizer they can’t give that stuff away right now).


14 posted on 04/17/2022 10:09:54 AM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
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To: Bryan24

Yes I agree, there is a recession coming very soon. Warehouses are overfull.

I know commercial rental rates are up 40% in my area since 2019. And last year you couldn’t get one unless you were way ahead (had a broker working for you and all your papers ready because you had to sign within days) but right now, rates are high but there is more availability.

It’s very strange. I’d divest from commercial REITS if I were in the market.


15 posted on 04/17/2022 10:16:17 AM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
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To: bray

This article indicates demand for dry hauling is down due to inflation-reduced elective buying of items on Amazon & Walmart online. If this is the case, then diesel, while being more expensive, might not be in short supply in the near future.

Those trucks need to keep rolling. Kroger, Walmart & Publix don’t have farms, dairies, canneries and packaging facilities in the back of their stores!


16 posted on 04/17/2022 10:17:26 AM PDT by citizen (Thieves of private property pass their lives in chains; thieves of public prop. in riches and luxury)
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To: blam

Just another reason to say: FJB and all his filthy, vile, commie/globalist ilk.


17 posted on 04/17/2022 10:22:27 AM PDT by lgjhn23 (Pray for America....)
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To: lgjhn23

why is Wal Mart looking for drivers and starting there own training program????

Pay increased to 110,000 per year


18 posted on 04/17/2022 10:51:38 AM PDT by Hojczyk
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To: MachIV

Georgia has been trying to do that with “inland ports”, the idea being to get trains from the Port of Savannah out to locations in the state that help avoid increasing truck traffic in Savannah and Atlanta. There’s one in place up towards Chattanooga, and another under construction up 985 towards Gainesville, GA, which can serve the huge warehouses and manufacturers in the I-85 corridor NE of Atlanta.


19 posted on 04/17/2022 10:54:12 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: MachIV

“I thought I had heard that logistics were trying to figure out how to consolidate what would normally have been sent OTR truck onto trains. “

But how does that square with the articles stating there is shortage of “train space” due to oil pipelines getting shut down or not aproved and that oil has to now go by train?

“Will the real story please stand up.”


20 posted on 04/17/2022 11:02:44 AM PDT by BiglyCommentary
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