Thursday, August 30, 2012
What the Election Means to Movers
Another summer is coming to a close and as fuel prices are again on the rise, the rates are starting to fall. This is as expected as it is ridiculous. It is sad while knowing how flawed things are we continue down the same path - in the moving industry and in America as well. What happened? Since when has it been acceptable to allow everyone around you, to reach so far into your pocket that when you finally get to stick your own hand in your own pocket there is nothing left? As owner operators or even contract drivers, everything we need has gone up almost exponentially and yet we are working for wages drivers in the 80's would chuckle at. Meanwhile, the carriers in this industry are profiting like never before. It has come to my attention recently that some carriers are not paying their agents nor their drivers the billable GBL rates. This is ridiculous. A last minute shipment was offered up at a 54% discount and accepted. A short time later, another carrier (who was also awarded the same shipment by the wonderful DPS system) offered up the same shipment but at a 67% discount. This was obviously questioned and the response from the carrier after a long time on hold was that they made a mistake quoting the rate. Do you think their "mistake" what have been corrected when it came time to pay? Why are the rates a secret now between the carriers and the government? The DoD is huge portion of the moving industry so why in an administration of 'transparancy' and Freedom of Information, is everything so secretive? We are now expected to work for what we are told we are worth. We can trust them I guess. We have no choice in the matter other than to quit. This has been continually happening and the actual household drivers in the industry are few and far between. At the same time, carriers are holding seminars trying to recruit service members into the moving industry to try to recover drivers. This is a joke!
The unemployment in this country is out of control, and at the rate the moving industry is going, you can expect more agents to close and drivers to quit. The moving industry is taking the same route of government - taxing, over regulating, overcharging, over penalizing and underappreciating what made them what they are today! It has to stop. Moving companies that used to thrive with good paying national accounts have been reduced to fighting over work that doesn't pay. The mega-corporation moving companies are so out of touch with the moving industry, they don't even realize their experienced drivers made them a mega-corporation - when they're gone, how long do you think your time at the top will last? When the government finally gets it way and forces "black boxes" in every truck - how will your drivers make money then when they aren't prospering now? When no one in your fleet will be able to enter California because their trucks aren't new enough? Have you not thought of these things?
Now what does any of this have to do with the election?
Well, as every driver knows, diesel is not cheap. It hasn't been cheap in a long, long time. Will it ever be cheap again? Of course not - but what I can tell you is that this administration has not helped keep the cost of diesel down. In fact, it has done nothing but help drive it up. The Keystone Pipeline wouldn't have been any kind of immediate relief but it would have been a step in the right direction. And with it would have come jobs. People would have been RELOCATING to get to these jobs. Some of them would use a mover.
The energy secretary, Chu, stated “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” (Politico). How is this going to help our business? If people are spending $9/gallon of gas - how many of them will be able to afford to move? Better yet - many won't even be able to afford furniture! Alternative energy is a great idea that needs to be researched and developed - it can't be forced upon the market. Ask Solyndra.
The president has suggested veterans should have their combat injuries covered by their private insurance, possibly making it impossible to get coverage after joining the private sector. If he doesn't want to pay for combat injuries, how long do you feel he'll think it is necessary to pay to relocate them? Under this administration we are looking at the DoD being cut by $492 Billion! I can guarantee you tanks and generals' salaries will not be the first things to go..
Taxes. This administration feels anyone making over $200,000 (or $250k married) should be taxed more to "pay their fair share". Wake up - this should mean YOU! Most owner operators can't afford $4/gallon fuel - can you really afford a tax increase along with $9/gal fuel??
Health care - if you do not choose to (or can afford) health care, by 2016, you will be taxed $695 or 2.5% of your income, whichever is greater. This means if your income is just say $225,000, your penalty will be $5,625. That's nice - especially on top of your new tax increase and $9/ gal. fuel.
Jobs - you have to agree things are bad when movers are out of work. Movers are a convenience people enjoy when they have a job and they have money. When consumer confidence starts to fade, movers are the first to be shed - as corporate perks and in peoples homes. People that are at work have money and no time - thus they need a mover. Unemployed people can't afford movers and probably don't need one when they sell their furniture and pack all their belongings in their car and move back with their parents. It's simple - prosperous people use movers, not people without jobs.
This administration was giving an economic crisis, true but unemployment rates promised below 6% are still over 8% and that number is a gimmick..
Department of Homeland Security. Yes, that's right. This administration feels the TSA is now necessary in weigh stations throughout the country. So now on top of working for free, we can expect to give up our rights every time we enter a weigh station! It bad enough, the ridiculous fines and penalties such as a $2700 fine for talking on your cell phone, but now - when you enter the weigh station the TSA will have authority to take your phone to see if you were on it! It's gone too far my friends. There's a company out there that is marketing a video recorder to be mounted in the cab of YOUR truck for a view of everything in addition to your black box. When are we going to say enough is enough?
We may be able to quit our jobs to avoid all this crap from the carriers and the DOT, but why should we stop doing what we love to do to appease someone else? We shouldn't - we should demand answers and real reform of regulations. Stop going along with the flow for the "greater good" while we are suffering!
It's time for movers to take a stand and Americans to take a stand and make informed decisions in November!
Be safe out there my friends and God Bless America!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Rate filing for 2012 - there's still time
The moving industry is getting ready to file rates with the SDDC for 2012. This just may be the industry's last chance to save itself - or more likely to seal it's fate. Like in every case, time will tell
Some things have sparked my interests recently and it has got me thinking - Firstly, let me repeat myself, again. Carriers: You must raise the rates SIGNIFICANTLY to save our industry!! Six or even ten percent just won't cut it. I hate to keep repeating myself but this is the number 1 problem facing us today. All the other rising costs we see everyday can and will be offset with rates that are profitable for everyone (including your drivers since you've forgotten we are part of your 'team'). Of course all the carriers will see this as impossible because the next guy will always do it for less. This needs to stop. It seems inconceivable to me that the van lines continue just to drop the rates when their industry is spiraling out of control! What has made me truly realize that people will spend the money to move is this: An old friend of the family is moving from Rhode Island to Houston,Tx. She surfed the web to find a mover. I'm not going to promote one of the Internet leaches that gave her a price but for 2000# she was quoted $1954.00. Of course the Internet company won't release the shipment to a mover at that price - the mover that would have hauled it would get $1050.00 to start cutting up with the driver. How do I know this you ask? Simply because the way this company works is that their profit comes by way of their deposit from the shipper, in this case $904.00. After hearing this, I did some research only to find that 2000# over the route miles at a 50% discount is $1954.00. (Scratching my head) Wait a second - how come a 'salesman' can sell a 50% discount over the phone and carriers can't send one into a house and get better than a 72% discount? It makes no sense other than the fact the major van lines have been all this time SO consumed by someone else getting a job they forgot the reason we do the work is for money! Look - its simple - one carrier is not going to get every job. It is impossible and stupid to try. Arpin or Allied is not going to suddenly corner the market and jack the price because they're the last ones left. It's just not going to happen.
If you take a moment to swallow that fact then you can move on. Next, if all the carriers are going to bicker over a percentage point here and there don't do it at 70% - do it at 10% or 20% - a reasonable discount any normal industry would give their customers, as mentioned in an earlier blog of mine. This would make the moving business PROFITABLE again - for EVERYONE! You cannot deny the fact that even the carriers would be making a ton more cash than they are now. Carriers must understand their drivers need PROFITS not pats on the back or awards... I'm not even suggesting that they give their contractors a bigger percentage - just give them good numbers to work with from the start and it solves alot.
How about the next time the carriers get together to play golf or have a seminar they come up with a fair low number they can all agree on for discounts. Sounds simple enough. How about make the discount the average handicap of all the players? Not mental handicap - golf handicap. I think mine is maybe a 14. We are all on the same team here in the industry just wearing different colored jerseys. When we start playing like a team instead of trying to cut each others throat everyone will prosper and benefit - even the shippers! I'll even offer up the rounds of golf - ON ME, in sunny Florida. I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for a response though..
Now to the lovely topic of the SDDC rate filing. If we can get this golf thing in before April maybe we can all agree to put in a 0% discount for hauling and SIT. 'What?!? Are you crazy?' everyone is saying. Yes I am. But there is a method to my madness and you will soon see. It is my understanding of the rate filing process now that it is a secret. No one knows what anyone else filings are and therefore 'ME TOO' went out the window. Now, when you submit rates for your SCAC, you get two chances. If they reject your first rate you have the chance to resubmit another rate hoping they'll accept that one. If not your SCAC goes inactive for the entire year. The military is accepting and rejecting secret rates without releasing what the rates are. How can this be legal? If we are 'bidding' on a contract, how can the military dictate to us what rates to file?? That makes absolutely no sense. And even if they wanted to say that it is legal - If everyone puts in a 0% discount on the first bid, everyone's SCAC will get rejected. So now on the second bid if EVERYONE resubmitted a 1% discount the military would then have to either accept the 1%'s or reject ALL SCACs again and therefore have no way to move their members. The military is not all to blame here the majority of the blame falls on the carriers firstly for letting it get this way and secondly for playing along! The military can not and will not reject every SCAC, if anything they'll have to modify the way things are now and that's the point.
You can't tell me the military knows what it costs me to operate my truck so why would they set guidelines on the rates I can make? Sounds kind of Socialistic or Communistic to me. Only I know what I need to make a profit - I don't need the govt telling me. We, I'm sure, are the ONLY industry letting this happen. I doubt Halliburton lets the govt tell them what they can bid. It's stupid. All other jobs the military contract out are paid what the bid calls for, not what they military sets it at. How come we've all heard stories of $500 toilet seats and $2300 doorknobs at an IRS building but we can do moves for less? I am going to look into the legality of telling us what we can or can't bid - it just sounds illegal. Again, I'm not going to hold my breath but if the carriers could cooperate a little I wouldn't need to - they could solve alot of major issues over a simple game of golf. Cheers to no discounts!! And freedom from the government dictating ANYTHING to us!!
Some things have sparked my interests recently and it has got me thinking - Firstly, let me repeat myself, again. Carriers: You must raise the rates SIGNIFICANTLY to save our industry!! Six or even ten percent just won't cut it. I hate to keep repeating myself but this is the number 1 problem facing us today. All the other rising costs we see everyday can and will be offset with rates that are profitable for everyone (including your drivers since you've forgotten we are part of your 'team'). Of course all the carriers will see this as impossible because the next guy will always do it for less. This needs to stop. It seems inconceivable to me that the van lines continue just to drop the rates when their industry is spiraling out of control! What has made me truly realize that people will spend the money to move is this: An old friend of the family is moving from Rhode Island to Houston,Tx. She surfed the web to find a mover. I'm not going to promote one of the Internet leaches that gave her a price but for 2000# she was quoted $1954.00. Of course the Internet company won't release the shipment to a mover at that price - the mover that would have hauled it would get $1050.00 to start cutting up with the driver. How do I know this you ask? Simply because the way this company works is that their profit comes by way of their deposit from the shipper, in this case $904.00. After hearing this, I did some research only to find that 2000# over the route miles at a 50% discount is $1954.00. (Scratching my head) Wait a second - how come a 'salesman' can sell a 50% discount over the phone and carriers can't send one into a house and get better than a 72% discount? It makes no sense other than the fact the major van lines have been all this time SO consumed by someone else getting a job they forgot the reason we do the work is for money! Look - its simple - one carrier is not going to get every job. It is impossible and stupid to try. Arpin or Allied is not going to suddenly corner the market and jack the price because they're the last ones left. It's just not going to happen.
If you take a moment to swallow that fact then you can move on. Next, if all the carriers are going to bicker over a percentage point here and there don't do it at 70% - do it at 10% or 20% - a reasonable discount any normal industry would give their customers, as mentioned in an earlier blog of mine. This would make the moving business PROFITABLE again - for EVERYONE! You cannot deny the fact that even the carriers would be making a ton more cash than they are now. Carriers must understand their drivers need PROFITS not pats on the back or awards... I'm not even suggesting that they give their contractors a bigger percentage - just give them good numbers to work with from the start and it solves alot.
How about the next time the carriers get together to play golf or have a seminar they come up with a fair low number they can all agree on for discounts. Sounds simple enough. How about make the discount the average handicap of all the players? Not mental handicap - golf handicap. I think mine is maybe a 14. We are all on the same team here in the industry just wearing different colored jerseys. When we start playing like a team instead of trying to cut each others throat everyone will prosper and benefit - even the shippers! I'll even offer up the rounds of golf - ON ME, in sunny Florida. I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for a response though..
Now to the lovely topic of the SDDC rate filing. If we can get this golf thing in before April maybe we can all agree to put in a 0% discount for hauling and SIT. 'What?!? Are you crazy?' everyone is saying. Yes I am. But there is a method to my madness and you will soon see. It is my understanding of the rate filing process now that it is a secret. No one knows what anyone else filings are and therefore 'ME TOO' went out the window. Now, when you submit rates for your SCAC, you get two chances. If they reject your first rate you have the chance to resubmit another rate hoping they'll accept that one. If not your SCAC goes inactive for the entire year. The military is accepting and rejecting secret rates without releasing what the rates are. How can this be legal? If we are 'bidding' on a contract, how can the military dictate to us what rates to file?? That makes absolutely no sense. And even if they wanted to say that it is legal - If everyone puts in a 0% discount on the first bid, everyone's SCAC will get rejected. So now on the second bid if EVERYONE resubmitted a 1% discount the military would then have to either accept the 1%'s or reject ALL SCACs again and therefore have no way to move their members. The military is not all to blame here the majority of the blame falls on the carriers firstly for letting it get this way and secondly for playing along! The military can not and will not reject every SCAC, if anything they'll have to modify the way things are now and that's the point.
You can't tell me the military knows what it costs me to operate my truck so why would they set guidelines on the rates I can make? Sounds kind of Socialistic or Communistic to me. Only I know what I need to make a profit - I don't need the govt telling me. We, I'm sure, are the ONLY industry letting this happen. I doubt Halliburton lets the govt tell them what they can bid. It's stupid. All other jobs the military contract out are paid what the bid calls for, not what they military sets it at. How come we've all heard stories of $500 toilet seats and $2300 doorknobs at an IRS building but we can do moves for less? I am going to look into the legality of telling us what we can or can't bid - it just sounds illegal. Again, I'm not going to hold my breath but if the carriers could cooperate a little I wouldn't need to - they could solve alot of major issues over a simple game of golf. Cheers to no discounts!! And freedom from the government dictating ANYTHING to us!!
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Fuel prices may be the nails in the coffin!
Another wonderful week has passed and the price of diesel is skyrocketting! Getting out of control already and we haven't even made it to March yet - great.. Although I am not booked under a load, listening and watching things going on I thought it may be a good idea to fill up the truck. Boy am I glad I did! I found diesel at a Racetrac gas station here in town for $3.899 per gal so I filled up - I haven't checked this morning but last night it was $4.039. Even worse was that the day I filled up at the Racetrac, I dropped my trailer at the local Pilot - fuel there was ALREADY $4.179 (cash). Today I wouldn't be surprised if it's $4.50. What really disgusts me is the fact that these Pilot stations can charge 28 cents per gallon more for fuel and 50% - 90% more of a markup on everything else and nobody says anything.. Are you kidding? There is a reason for the term "Highway robbery" and I'm thinking they may have had Pilot, Petro, and TA in mind.
While reading an article about fuel prices and how they were soaring I stumbled across another article of interest - 5 Cheapest Places on Earth for Gas, or something like that. Anyway, they were from cheapest: Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Turkmenistan, and Bahrain. In any of these countries you can expect to spend under 90 cents per gallon with Venezuela being in the 75 cent area. Seventy five cents?!? Hmm... and we are averaging $3.65 - although, I haven't checked that in about an hour so we may be higher now.. That's just short of 5 times higher than what they are paying in Venezuela. That's ridiculous..
How much oil do these countries really have for it to be that cheap? Now of the 5 countries that are the cheapest lets look at these a little closer: Venezuela (290 Billion barrells), is an Iranian ally. Turkmenistan (600 million barrells), was working with us on the Trans Caspian Gas Pipeline until they backed out of negotiations possibly because the US wanted to dictate to them how to have a 'sucessful' democracy (pot calling the kettle black). Libya (46.4 Billion barrells),SHOULD be thankful we save them from their tyrannical leader, although they will probably become a nation of Muslim extremists. Saudi Arabia (161 Billion barrells) and Bahrain (125 million barrells) are our "allies". The estimate from Saudi Arabia was 267 Billion barrells but many have recently found that the Saudis have been overstating there reserves by as much as 40% which is where I came upo with 161 Billion barrells. The United States has 134 Billion barrells, not including shale. Look at these numbers and tell me that something is not seriously wrong... WE have MORE oil than 3 of the top five countries with the cheapest oil! Understandably we have many more consumers of oil than probably all of these countries combined, but I just don't understand why if we have 134 Billion barrells of oil why do we only access 21 Billion barrells? And more importantly why import so much if this is the case? The liberals and the EPA. Period. There is no reason to not to tap our natural resourses, everyone else is. Yes, oil is a fossill fuel and blah blah blah but saying that - everyone knows it's limited and there will be a point in the future when it is all gone, but should our entire country fall because of a turtle nest or a sandpiper?? You may think that's a little extreme to think the country is going to fall apart over gas but it will. Will you be able to move your truck with $6 or $7 per gallon diesel? Neither can the guys hauling your food or gas for that matter! Oh yea - and don't forget the DEF at another additional cost!!
What the moving industry absolutely cannot handle right now is $5 gal diesel, and guess what? We are almost there now. If we are to survive this summer in the moving industry the carriers and the drivers need to implement just a few things. First and foremost the carriers MUST RAISE RATES!! This can not be stated loudly enough. If your competitor wants to haul 70% discounts - let them!! They will not be in business!! First, if they have 70's and there are carriers out there with no discount or say 20 or 30% discounts, who do you think will have all the drivers? The good drivers at that... Owner operators will not be hauling junk when fuel is $6/gallon, if they do it'll take them maybe two months or less to go bankrupt. So I say - let them.. all of them - maybe it'll weed the morons out of our industry! Secondly, the fuel surcharge needs to be overhauled somehow because surely they will try to adjust the rate off what they pay us.. This needs to be corrected. A few years back, fuel surcharges were based off $1.00/gal, then it jumped to $2.50.. whats next? $5.00??
Fuel has gone up significantly in the past few days and in a little over a week it's gone up close to 20 cents. Of course the fuel surcharge for the month is factored on the 15th.. Surprise surprise. This means for the next month you are getting a fuel surcharge that represents LAST months fuel prices! I called around the other day trying to find out where I was gonig to buy fuel and found out that many places update their fuel price EVERY 15 MINUTES! So as we are hauling on last months surcharge they can raise the price every fifteen minutes.. This doesn't make sense to me.. If you can put a Qualcomm or EROB on my truck to get 'real time' info why do you expect me to work at month old surcharge rates? I understand for billing purposes you can't update the fuel surchage every 15 minutes but daily is definitely not out of the question.. There are charts for daily fuel pricing so the industry can agree on which chart to use and figure these daily. It's not that difficult and everything is done by computer now so in all actuallity it's only a few keystrokes more. Your office personnel can do this in a few extra minutes which I'm sure they can find by shortening up their Angry Birds game. Of course many will laugh and say that this is impossible but I don't think it is and in the wonderful world of DP3 every contract is unique so why can't it be implemented? It can be - but drivers can't do it - carriers need to! God willing maybe someone can get the point across to the carriers before the rate go in for the next cycle!! If not - I hope they have a government subsidized cemetary to bury the moving industry because Lord knows anyone that actually works in this industry can't afford their own plot!
While reading an article about fuel prices and how they were soaring I stumbled across another article of interest - 5 Cheapest Places on Earth for Gas, or something like that. Anyway, they were from cheapest: Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Turkmenistan, and Bahrain. In any of these countries you can expect to spend under 90 cents per gallon with Venezuela being in the 75 cent area. Seventy five cents?!? Hmm... and we are averaging $3.65 - although, I haven't checked that in about an hour so we may be higher now.. That's just short of 5 times higher than what they are paying in Venezuela. That's ridiculous..
How much oil do these countries really have for it to be that cheap? Now of the 5 countries that are the cheapest lets look at these a little closer: Venezuela (290 Billion barrells), is an Iranian ally. Turkmenistan (600 million barrells), was working with us on the Trans Caspian Gas Pipeline until they backed out of negotiations possibly because the US wanted to dictate to them how to have a 'sucessful' democracy (pot calling the kettle black). Libya (46.4 Billion barrells),SHOULD be thankful we save them from their tyrannical leader, although they will probably become a nation of Muslim extremists. Saudi Arabia (161 Billion barrells) and Bahrain (125 million barrells) are our "allies". The estimate from Saudi Arabia was 267 Billion barrells but many have recently found that the Saudis have been overstating there reserves by as much as 40% which is where I came upo with 161 Billion barrells. The United States has 134 Billion barrells, not including shale. Look at these numbers and tell me that something is not seriously wrong... WE have MORE oil than 3 of the top five countries with the cheapest oil! Understandably we have many more consumers of oil than probably all of these countries combined, but I just don't understand why if we have 134 Billion barrells of oil why do we only access 21 Billion barrells? And more importantly why import so much if this is the case? The liberals and the EPA. Period. There is no reason to not to tap our natural resourses, everyone else is. Yes, oil is a fossill fuel and blah blah blah but saying that - everyone knows it's limited and there will be a point in the future when it is all gone, but should our entire country fall because of a turtle nest or a sandpiper?? You may think that's a little extreme to think the country is going to fall apart over gas but it will. Will you be able to move your truck with $6 or $7 per gallon diesel? Neither can the guys hauling your food or gas for that matter! Oh yea - and don't forget the DEF at another additional cost!!
What the moving industry absolutely cannot handle right now is $5 gal diesel, and guess what? We are almost there now. If we are to survive this summer in the moving industry the carriers and the drivers need to implement just a few things. First and foremost the carriers MUST RAISE RATES!! This can not be stated loudly enough. If your competitor wants to haul 70% discounts - let them!! They will not be in business!! First, if they have 70's and there are carriers out there with no discount or say 20 or 30% discounts, who do you think will have all the drivers? The good drivers at that... Owner operators will not be hauling junk when fuel is $6/gallon, if they do it'll take them maybe two months or less to go bankrupt. So I say - let them.. all of them - maybe it'll weed the morons out of our industry! Secondly, the fuel surcharge needs to be overhauled somehow because surely they will try to adjust the rate off what they pay us.. This needs to be corrected. A few years back, fuel surcharges were based off $1.00/gal, then it jumped to $2.50.. whats next? $5.00??
Fuel has gone up significantly in the past few days and in a little over a week it's gone up close to 20 cents. Of course the fuel surcharge for the month is factored on the 15th.. Surprise surprise. This means for the next month you are getting a fuel surcharge that represents LAST months fuel prices! I called around the other day trying to find out where I was gonig to buy fuel and found out that many places update their fuel price EVERY 15 MINUTES! So as we are hauling on last months surcharge they can raise the price every fifteen minutes.. This doesn't make sense to me.. If you can put a Qualcomm or EROB on my truck to get 'real time' info why do you expect me to work at month old surcharge rates? I understand for billing purposes you can't update the fuel surchage every 15 minutes but daily is definitely not out of the question.. There are charts for daily fuel pricing so the industry can agree on which chart to use and figure these daily. It's not that difficult and everything is done by computer now so in all actuallity it's only a few keystrokes more. Your office personnel can do this in a few extra minutes which I'm sure they can find by shortening up their Angry Birds game. Of course many will laugh and say that this is impossible but I don't think it is and in the wonderful world of DP3 every contract is unique so why can't it be implemented? It can be - but drivers can't do it - carriers need to! God willing maybe someone can get the point across to the carriers before the rate go in for the next cycle!! If not - I hope they have a government subsidized cemetary to bury the moving industry because Lord knows anyone that actually works in this industry can't afford their own plot!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
2012 - The End of the World? Or just the moving industry?
Well 2012 is upon us now, sorry for not blogging in so long but I guess for the first time in my life I have been speechless. Literally. This industry has left me in awe.. How can so many not see the death of an industry right around the corner? In the fourth grade I received a 'I Can't Keep My Mouth Shut' Award. My mother for some reason thought it was a good thing to save - I guess she made the point. Well, here it is 2012 and never has the moving industry been in so much peril. Drivers, the backbone of the industry are leaving by the hundreds every month and there isn't anyone to fill those empty positions. For years guys 'jumped ship' from one company to another for various reasons - more home time, a little better percentage, whatever the reason they may have made a shift but now they aren't jumping ship - they are jumping overboard! Drivers are (finally) figuring out the grass probably isn't greener on the other side. There is one simple reason for that - just about EVERYONE has the same shitty rates. Over the past several years more and more carriers are worried about nothing but tonnage. Their profits are made by the high amount of tonnage they move. That's great for them. Only problem with that is that the drivers make the money for them and they have no care for costs to do the job. We are doing work today in 2012 that guys wouldn't have touched in 1995 when fuel was less than a dollar a gallon. What I still can't figure out is - How??
How can we, as businesspeople, continue to do the same work for ridiculously less money? Everything in the US revolves around the price of oil. EVERYTHING, except of course, the cost of getting your most precious household items moved. How can that be? When oil goes up so does the price of everything else. Not only is fuel more expensive but your oil change, the food you buy, the clothes you wear, the help you hire, the motel you sleep in, everything. Heck, even tolls have been skyrocketing out of control. Yet, our rates go down. The reason the carriers think they're doing so great is they have no overhead and no fluctuating costs. On paper they are thriving. Realistically I think they may be in for quite a surprise.
It is only February and the military has already suspended the 70% rule for SIT. This is good for the drivers but one has to stop and think why? Why, in the middle of the winter, did they suspend the rule? I'm not 100% sure, but my guess would be because they can't get the junk moved. What?!? There's a red flag right there - it's wintertime and you can't get tonnage moved? It should be obvious to SOMEONE that in all the days of the moving industry winter is notoriously slow - now you can't get guys to move it. Think about it, it's scary. The shortage of qualified drivers is unthinkable. When drivers leave this industry they certainly aren't returning and carrier's need to act now before it's too late. I've been hearing ridiculous stories of "drivers" coming in to warehouses to pick up junk tonnage that have NO IDEA what they are doing. Drivers loading 13000 off the dock, taking two days to do it! Everything was out on the dock the first morning, the driver loaded some of it, then left the rest outside overnight and then the following day loaded the rest finishing at 5:00pm. Another bozo with any empty trailer came in to RI with 13500 from San Diego and left a 4000 pound overflow! These are obviously not furniture guys but they are driving trucks that have your name on them Mr Carrier! Is this really the guys you want representing you? If you're not careful it will be the ONLY guys you'll have left. Many of my friends are leaving this industry and the ones who aren't are either parked for the winter or refusing to go on the road unless it's clearly a decent linehaul. I have done maybe 3 trips since October. That's ridiculous. But why would I want to go out on the road and spend money to make peanuts?? Another driver I know has a moving trailer parked at home and is running a flatbed! Just so he can make some money - the dispatcher doesn't even know. But can you blame a man for trying to feed his family?? Unfortunately these problems will probably only get worse...
What happens when, yes I'm saying when, fuel is over $5.00/gallon EVERYWHERE?? They are already predicting gas to be over $4.25/gal by early April so fuel will certainly be $5.00 easy. Drviers can't afford fuel now. Drivers can't afford repairs, tires, heck I've met some drivers who couldn't afford to eat! No BS - a guy was eating crackers and cheese on a Tuesday and his carrier/agent wouldn't send him any money until that Friday.. If it was me, their trailer would have been dropped in the Gulf of Mexico but that's me. I truly hope that someone in these offices have some sort of plan for when fuel goes thruogh the roof because it IS going to happen and soon. An Isrealli strike on Iran or an interuption of oil through the Strait of Hormuz will pole vault oil prices over the top and this industry nor this country is ready for this. If they can't move tonnage now how will it happen when it costs more in fuel than the linehaul?? Any drivers that are still left out here need to take this to the offices where you are at and try to drive these points home. They just don't get it or they just don't care. Figure it out and decide if that's who you want to make rich because that's all your doing! Take a stand household drivers who know what you are doing! WE ARE THE 1% in this industry! Except in this model the 1% is broke.... til next time
How can we, as businesspeople, continue to do the same work for ridiculously less money? Everything in the US revolves around the price of oil. EVERYTHING, except of course, the cost of getting your most precious household items moved. How can that be? When oil goes up so does the price of everything else. Not only is fuel more expensive but your oil change, the food you buy, the clothes you wear, the help you hire, the motel you sleep in, everything. Heck, even tolls have been skyrocketing out of control. Yet, our rates go down. The reason the carriers think they're doing so great is they have no overhead and no fluctuating costs. On paper they are thriving. Realistically I think they may be in for quite a surprise.
It is only February and the military has already suspended the 70% rule for SIT. This is good for the drivers but one has to stop and think why? Why, in the middle of the winter, did they suspend the rule? I'm not 100% sure, but my guess would be because they can't get the junk moved. What?!? There's a red flag right there - it's wintertime and you can't get tonnage moved? It should be obvious to SOMEONE that in all the days of the moving industry winter is notoriously slow - now you can't get guys to move it. Think about it, it's scary. The shortage of qualified drivers is unthinkable. When drivers leave this industry they certainly aren't returning and carrier's need to act now before it's too late. I've been hearing ridiculous stories of "drivers" coming in to warehouses to pick up junk tonnage that have NO IDEA what they are doing. Drivers loading 13000 off the dock, taking two days to do it! Everything was out on the dock the first morning, the driver loaded some of it, then left the rest outside overnight and then the following day loaded the rest finishing at 5:00pm. Another bozo with any empty trailer came in to RI with 13500 from San Diego and left a 4000 pound overflow! These are obviously not furniture guys but they are driving trucks that have your name on them Mr Carrier! Is this really the guys you want representing you? If you're not careful it will be the ONLY guys you'll have left. Many of my friends are leaving this industry and the ones who aren't are either parked for the winter or refusing to go on the road unless it's clearly a decent linehaul. I have done maybe 3 trips since October. That's ridiculous. But why would I want to go out on the road and spend money to make peanuts?? Another driver I know has a moving trailer parked at home and is running a flatbed! Just so he can make some money - the dispatcher doesn't even know. But can you blame a man for trying to feed his family?? Unfortunately these problems will probably only get worse...
What happens when, yes I'm saying when, fuel is over $5.00/gallon EVERYWHERE?? They are already predicting gas to be over $4.25/gal by early April so fuel will certainly be $5.00 easy. Drviers can't afford fuel now. Drivers can't afford repairs, tires, heck I've met some drivers who couldn't afford to eat! No BS - a guy was eating crackers and cheese on a Tuesday and his carrier/agent wouldn't send him any money until that Friday.. If it was me, their trailer would have been dropped in the Gulf of Mexico but that's me. I truly hope that someone in these offices have some sort of plan for when fuel goes thruogh the roof because it IS going to happen and soon. An Isrealli strike on Iran or an interuption of oil through the Strait of Hormuz will pole vault oil prices over the top and this industry nor this country is ready for this. If they can't move tonnage now how will it happen when it costs more in fuel than the linehaul?? Any drivers that are still left out here need to take this to the offices where you are at and try to drive these points home. They just don't get it or they just don't care. Figure it out and decide if that's who you want to make rich because that's all your doing! Take a stand household drivers who know what you are doing! WE ARE THE 1% in this industry! Except in this model the 1% is broke.... til next time
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