I was talking with a trucking broker the other day, he said there's a rash of small trucking companies going under right now. Too many trucks and not enough freight. I was also reading about Accuride, which makes wheels, and ATD, which is a tire distribution company. There's some interesting games being played with unsecured creditors and refinancing/ capitalization going on with both companies. ATD had its last bankruptcy in 2018. And both companies have/had a lot of debt. Interesting times indeed.
Recently I have seen large lots of tractor with trailer, five axles, parked as tight as can be.
Both replies above are correct. * My old company---the cork load boards listing loads for corresponding truck numbers have been half full for two months now, drivers getting a third less to half their regular mileage. Loads have dried up, appointments for truck repair are quick, dealer shops with openings. Tire sales have dropped way off. A very good indicator is truck stop traffic, not near as crowded at night.
That's not good. The truck industry is like a canary for the markets, first to feel a incline, and first to first a decline.
The trucking business is over crowded, high fuel costs, high repair costs and freight rates under the wire. Too many vying for cheap rates at this point in time.
The unseen expense caused by driver work force---In any multi truck operation reliable drivers are the common denominator when profits get lean--drivers can make or break the situation. Having a stable full of below average because of pay rate can come back to bite, it's better to maintain a higher than average pay scale attracting the better with a lower monthly repair/ mortality rate.
MSN
Accuride makes those rims here in Erie. IIRC they had a re-organization last year some time.....
Competitors are springing up all around us here, Dump and End dump equipment was relatively cheaper for locals, so every Tom Dick and harry decided to become a Dump Trucker, most cannot spread butter with a knife but are 'Masters' of wasting rock they also cannot spread. Many have gone bust but those with a little excess cash are pummeling long term contractors about the head and ears. One such underhanded group sold their farmland to a New Meat Processing firm at Foristell MO. The land holders made a small fortune, where demanded they be allowed the Haul Contracts for excavated and fill materials within the sales contract which was accepted. That all completed they sit on close to sixty Dump Trucks and End Dump Sets with some smaller handling equipment, ALL Purchased New and are now slashing rates to keep working. As per usual, expecting Volume to make up for less $$ per ton or mile which has NOT EVER Worked out. Undercut my own boss at Sand haul costs to the Concrete Supplier we haul to, they almost took the bait then backed away from these people, allowed them a Smaller position of hauls from another site for blending sand, the expectation is they just disappear.
Twenty to twenty five years ago you might see one lowboy in a days time moving, now everyone and their brother has one, same with dumps around here. If it's not that it's a three axle goose.
Same thing up here in the BC interior…
My buddy (built our double screen deck vibrating washplant in 2012) moved my 210 excavator a few years ago in early December (100km of snowy/gravel switchback ‘type’ of road) with his older (but nice) Western Star. Did a great job of loading (some sliding on iced up deck; I wouldn’t have had the nerve)… We were going to sleep the night at staging…but at midnight unforecasted snow started…we left and got into Lillooet at 3am. He stalled out and came to a stop on highway (‘missed’ shift) the next day just before the big scale/brake check (Kamloops eastbound). Apparently this was his first haul with a lowbed & 18 speed! Has since hauled crushers etc. over glaciers into Brucejack mine (north of Stewart, off Hwy 37)….
Starting this week, truck drivers can be taken out-of-service for lack of English language proficiency This week, commercial vehicle drivers are to be placed out-of-service for failure to meet English language proficiency (ELP) standards. Lack Of English cdllife.com
https://www.thestreet.com/breaking-news/major-national-trucking-company-declares-chapter-11-bankruptcy
Dumps and equipment haulers have multiplied in my local over the past 15 years. Just about every Farmer is now running end dumps and low boys and every landscape company now has a fleet of tridem and end dumps for hire. Been at the point for more than a few years now that guys are just hauling for cost. I used to offer my tandems for hire when I wasn't hauling out of my own sites but per mile rates dropped enough where I just park them and put my driver on a machine until I have something to haul again on my own sites. Hate to see jobs lost but with any industry that gets saturated and undercut, it has to reset.
Several farmers jumped in buying belly dumps and end dumps around here, to haul for wind farms being built now most just sets. There are so many end dumps running around all scratching for same work the rates are in the toilet. Same with lowboy operators, it's saturated.
Ive had a few of my drivers leave me to run their own authority. They jumped ship when the per mile rate was between $3.00 and $5.00, They bought second hand trucks only to end up exhausting their capital in repairs and never getting out of the hole because the rates went down to $2.00 per mile if not cost. The landscape and other established companies that expanded into hauling and purchased newer dump fleets must be bleeding the other side of their businesses just to keep trucking. I keep in touch with enough local owners and they are working cheap enough that once those new trucks need the routine wear items they'll be selling out of the hauling or play the lending game until chapter 7 or 11 is the way out.
The best signage I've ever seen on the hood of a truck was {From Riches to Rags}.
From Ritchie's to rags more like.
This was long before auction pirates.
Well the market “was” saturated with drivers, then the must read be able to read English thing happened. Maybe things will return to normal soon…
Some guy just interviewed a scale house DOT, DOT said he walked up to a driver to ask where he came from, what his load was, got a translator app shoved in his face. I guess that is a fail on the speak English part
Pickings for O/O potentials for contract hauls are slimming away. Many have parked or sold their machines either retiring, moving to fleet driving or changing professions.
Most of the large companies don't want to deal with O/O's on contract hauls that require a minimum of 5 trucks at all times. Most have all gone to lane type app's with loading, only want to notify trans- ports of loads with no actual/zero conversation involved. Plus those companies are all bid type contracts that have to be rebid each year. Companies like Lamb Weston have turned the tables of being able to dispatch for convenance of off setting load times on non time sensitive loads. A O/O can't compete with that. If a person was to set in a dispatch office for about one day it would become clear as a bell that only the large fleets can survive and even some of those are throwing in the towel. Along with all the detention time being charged if a truck is late by five minutes. But those same companies will take they're sweet time about unloading/loading causing a tardy time on other end. It's a total dog eat dog situation. With all the uproar in the economy during April/May it slowed trucking everywhere. My old company trucking profit fell by almost $350K for each of those months, drivers getting maybe two trips a week during that time. There is no way O/O's can cut it with operation costs in that environment. Market reactions have settled and things back to sort of normal but any disruption in nervous stock market will send it back into same turmoil. Never mind the unstable equipment O/O's are operating too, big companies don't want to deal with that. And as the old boss put it as those small companies evaporate only the big will survive and way less competition on biding.
It's going to be interesting on fresh spud hauling from field, most around the Columbia Basin is hired farm labor trucks fitted with spud beds, Grant county raises more potatoes than any place in the country.
8,900 new trucks ordered last month in the US. That's the lowest monthly # since 2009. Demand and uncertainty on EPA regs are cited. I just worked this week for the owner of a trucking company. 150 power units, 50 company trucks , the rest O/O leased on. I asked how his trucking business is, he said he hasn't made $ in 3 years. He said it's now a game of "last man standing". If enough other carriers go broke, rates can go up to make money again. He hopes to be one of the ones left standing, but admitted that he is looking at the construction industry as having better profit margins, if he gives up on freight. He is building a house as a general contractor, getting his feet wet.
Yeah, I didn't burst his bubble. He's building a million dollar home, across the road from his own million dollar home. And I guess I didn't feel my pockets were deep enough to give financial advice. He's evidently done some things right, or is a lot more comfortable with large amounts of debt than I am. I think a lot of times it's easier to look at some other industry and "they make money hand over fist".
Same thing I say about that crane business.
^^^^^Knowing a little bit about both of your businesses, I believe the only one making $$$ hand over fist would be your insurance agent/company......
Well that's actually a little off--people compiling data--left out effects of 2020-21, in some cases orders couldn't be placed during that time. Most dealers were only allowed so many orders. Not saying he's BS'ing but that's a standard reply from the last 15 years. Yes many have gone upside down, it all depends on how solid of a contract he has as a carrier or how much he's collecting of lease brokerage fees on the other 100. My old company runs a brokerage in Boise also, you will never get a straight answer out of him on how it's doing, which is also standard. Much always depends on what type of commodity is being transported. Allot of OO's have a tendency to run drop deck or flatbed, because it's less hassle with trailer expense and loading/ unloading. Plus it has more small companies to haul for. But flat bedders are the first to suffer when the table turns on economy. Dry freight is next because there are so many dry van truckers hauling a non perishable product. Tank lines do slow but most of that is contract carrier. Refrigerated/Frozen is the one that normally weathers the tough times best, especially ones like my old carrier, Lamb Weston, Con Agra & Simplot are the three biggest companies contracted with. Food is where it's at, people have to eat can't stop that. And having equipment that will net 59,000 in a 53' trailer is a must this day and age, very few loads from major food processors are configured for 43,000 net. Pretty tough to find refrigerated loads for a 80,000 gvw rig.
crane operator said: "8,900 new trucks ordered last month in the US. That's the lowest monthly # since 2009" This may be true, but the Peterbilt plant a few miles from my house, is actively interviewing and hiring people right now. Somebody must know something we don't know.
Which have a 4 to 5 month delivery date as of this time--and some of those can be canceled. As far as work force {hiring} that's open to much speculation.
Tell him it's gravy in the oilfield
Nah it's the building and facility owners.. Live Nation is raking it in so far on the amphitheater job and they will continue to for many, many years. Auto parts stores, chicken shacks, tire dealers and so forth earn money on the project long after we've been paid and gone.
Wait - it's not?!!
I'm going to throw out a prediction here, that is trucking related. We've seen some changes in rebates, and credits related to ev's vs petroleum in the cars, and I've been reading posts about how the emissions equipment is going to all change in the big trucks- i.e. we're going back to 2001 - no def- no egr-etc. My guess is that isn't going to happen. The engine companies are all gearing up for 2027 designs, and I'm sure that whoever their senator is that's in their pocket has gotten the word. They have billions invested in creating engines for the current/ near future EPA regs, and if the regs go out the window- they will never recoup those costs. I think the phase 3 final which is supposed to start in 2027, is going to be pushed back and tweaked to require fewer 0 emission vehicles, and they won't implement the even tougher nox/ particulate standards/ slower implementation. But its going to be interesting.
Yes--they are making way more money now in parts sales than any time in the past. And lets not forget all the labor charges. And that really offsets complete truck sale down turns.
Major concern is if China will be continuing to make the Aftertreatment systems or if the Tariff and other Import concerns will shut those off for installs here.
How to become a millionaire logger... start with 5 million.
I'll never understand how an outfit will act like the money pot has no bottom and a month or three later they need 17 levels of approval to buy a $50 case of grease.
Or to play devils advocate - The regs roll back to no DEF, EGR, regen, etc. however the price of the trucks stay the same. No more tooling, emissions warranty and the like just higher priced trucks with lower cost production. However I'm with you it's not going to happen but there is one scenario that could pencil out.
And even if the regulations are removed, the industry will make huge profits building the delete kits, selling different turbos and so on, some are not just simple deletes in the back lot. Cars will stay the same along with smaller trucks. But all that is subject to nothing more than guessing at this point. There is allot of inventory setting in manufacture warehouses that would have to be eaten--I doubt that will happen.
And one real important item OO's suffer with, dock time. Almost all of the big shippers/receivers Are drop and hook, another words a trucking company has to have over twice as many trailers as power units. When truck pulls in there is little wait time because shipper has one setting on the line loaded. OO's can set up to 12 hours before loaded and paper work ready. Can't make a living--living in a parking lot.
At IML Eagle we had drop and pick for OO cab units, problems began to blossom as IML stopped furnishing ‘extra’ trailers for clientele. Would end up drop a loaded at yard, drive 150miles to an awaiting loaded in another city, or drag a empty for IML to that other load as the last drop had no return loads. Paid little to nothing. As remember the big hitter for crippling a profitable run was the only loads coming back away would be Lumber Loads, required tarping with extra prep time to leave with. Barely broke even on those. Much of the issues were **** poor dispatch handling where brokers made little effort to locate prospective loads for backhauls, and getting back in that rut these days.
If the broker isn’t as concerned with back hauls as with primary hauls, the truckers won’t or can’t stay with them long. Around here our brokers, went broke 20 years ago went drivers were only making a buck a mile and didn’t find enough back hauls. Now with modern systems, probably 75% are running back hauls and the ones that aren’t are charging a premium for the primary hauls. We just had a hot shot driver set up a mile down the road and he only made it a year before he gave up.
The term "back haul" is total bs. Freight pays the same any direction. It's all primary haul, just depends which end of the spectrum a truck hails from. It was used as a way to skim more at brokerages.
If your running back empty, it’s not paying the bills, never mind the fuel.
Before a truck leaves it better have loads arranged in advance, not to do so is a real sign of a poor businessman. No point in leaving the lot if rolling the dice for a second/third load.
Daimler announced probable layoffs of over 2000 Nationwide. Something is going South and in a Hurry. GM announced MX truck plant to shutter on undetermined time frame.
The game is getting tight, it will get tighter too.