LTL hauling rates.

showcrop

Well-known Member
The company that I work for ships a lot of product in quantities of 5000 to 15,000 lbs. My commissions are greatly dependent on profit, which of course makes me very aware of costs that reduce profits. For the last couple of months I have noticed that we are paying the trucking companies significantly more. These for the most part are regional LTL carriers. Anyone going into trucking can get into worthwhile money by getting hazmat capability.
 
Sorry, but that is not true. Back a few years ago, the shippers had the upper hand. Now it is a truckers market. There is something like a driver shortage of 20,000+ drivers and it gets worse by the year. You have the new hours of service to contended with. Probably the biggest thing is the new electronic log books. The long haul drivers are having to go to team drivers to meet the HOS. They can only drive so many hours instead of pulling all nighters. You go in and look at the load boards and they have plenty of loads to pick from and they usually get their asking price. There are times when partial loads will set there for days or you will pay full load price just to get it moving. The really scary part is the drivers I get to haul our loads are from different countries. They also speak almost no English. Most of them have a translator app on their cellphone. This is just my take from 30+ years of doing this.
 
Showcrop: sorry about your luck but
from my position as a driver: IT'S
ABOUT TIME!!! this year we are to
get a .02 per mile pay increase.
First time in past 10 years we have
not been dealt more cutting chopping
and gouging. Some say there is a
"driver shortage ". Not from where I
sit. Companies just have not figured
out yet what is required to attract
and retain drivers. Guess I'll stop
my rant now.
 
Check with every company around you some one will give you a name to call.We ship a lot of one pallet loads,mostly between stores that cant wait for our regular inter-store truck. We change carriers about three times a year just to keep the rates as low as passable. Look into FedEx too,we use them a lot.
 
(quoted from post at 17:00:33 02/21/18) Sorry, but that is not true. Back a few years ago, the shippers had the upper hand. Now it is a truckers market. There is something like a driver shortage of 20,000+ drivers and it gets worse by the year. You have the new hours of service to contended with. Probably the biggest thing is the new electronic log books. The long haul drivers are having to go to team drivers to meet the HOS. They can only drive so many hours instead of pulling all nighters. You go in and look at the load boards and they have plenty of loads to pick from and they usually get their asking price. There are times when partial loads will set there for days or you will pay full load price just to get it moving. The really scary part is the drivers I get to haul our loads are from different countries. They also speak almost no English. Most of them have a translator app on their cellphone. This is just my take from 30+ years of doing this.

Everything you said makes it sound like rates should be rising, but you are saying that they are falling?
 
(quoted from post at 17:00:33 02/21/18) Sorry, but that is not true. Back a few years ago, the shippers had the upper hand. Now it is a truckers market. There is something like a driver shortage of 20,000+ drivers and it gets worse by the year. You have the new hours of service to contended with. Probably the biggest thing is the new electronic log books. The long haul drivers are having to go to team drivers to meet the HOS. They can only drive so many hours instead of pulling all nighters. You go in and look at the load boards and they have plenty of loads to pick from and they usually get their asking price. There are times when partial loads will set there for days or you will pay full load price just to get it moving. The really scary part is the drivers I get to haul our loads are from different countries. They also speak almost no English. Most of them have a translator app on their cellphone. This is just my take from 30+ years of doing this.

A shortage of 20,000 drivers? If those positions were to be filled, would that mean an additional 20,000 trucks on the road? Gridlock is bad enough now. Imagine what it would be with an additional 20,000 trucks.
 
Steady downward spiral since
deregulation. The parasite freight
brokers enhanced that fall. Yes, in
some cases rates are starting to
rise. GOOD!! For too long brokers
have pushed rates that did not cover
expenses, much less make a profit.
With so many drivers leaving the
profession due to conditions, and
younger folk not impressed with what
is being offered, some markets must
now pay better to get their products
moved. That equals higher rates. As I
said: we are supposed to be getting
our first pay increase in 10 years in
April.
 
That is not the way it works. If you are in the big city and drive by a freight terminal for say Fed-X, YRC etc. You will see all kinds of tractors sitting idle. The old seasoned drivers are retiring, tired of messing with the new HOS, new electronic log books and low pay. There is no new younger blood coming to the industry. Do you think the young kids now a days are going to be truck drivers? Plus they have to pass a drug test. The new HOS are also forcing truck lines to go to team drivers so they can run longer hours. I live in the middle of the state of Kansas. I use Fed-X for the soul reason of delivery times. They can just about deliver in the continental US in 3 days or less just like clock work. It is almost never about price, but when can you get it here. JMHO
 
Low pay is only if the driver will not look around,$60,000.00 is not hard to find at all.
 
Not only hazmat but it is the hardest to get. We also need doubles and even tank with the new rules.

Grape vine has it fedex freight city drivers are getting a $3 a hour raise this year and road is going up several cents a mile.
I hope they get it as it will only force my boss to get off the cash to keep us.
 

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