The reality of trucking in a down market

Real life in open deck trucking....My pregnancy hormones are starting to turn me into a she-beast like Beth Dutton I swear...This is a little rambly...I'm hot, tired, and pissed at the world lol

Most days are business as usual, book loads, deliver loads, get paid for loads...a butt ton of paperwork....wash, rinse, repeat...

But not this week...oh not this week....

For those interested in the life of a 1 truck owner operation business, allow me to shed some light on a bad week....And it's only Tuesday.

Soapbox moments and education for those who aren't privy to the trucking world....

Monday-had to replace 2 steer tires and have an alignment after driving over 100 miles in the middle of nowhere NM to the closest tire repair shop in 107 degree temperatures praying we didn't have a blow out all because in trucking the cost of a tow truck road service repair/call out and alignment would have run over $3k.... Thank GOD I found the only tire shop between Santa Rosa NM and El Paso TX that had a mechanic and operating machine to complete the job.

Side note-I HIGHLY recommend Forrest Tire in El Paso TX for all of your tire repair needs! The salesman took us to the GM's office after hearing our situation at 3pm to discuss our issue (I was already in a full blown panic by this time) and this sweet gentleman cut us an amazing deal, kept us cool and calm, and had us in and out in less than 2 hours.

Tuesday- First thing this morning, right out the gate it began....I followed up on a payment for a load we completed yesterday....Rewind a bit to several months ago where I discussed how we get paid by brokers we work with-we can "factor" a load, meaning we pay a company to essentially pay us and collect payment from the broker (essentially becoming our receivables department), we can agree to "quickpay" where a fee is paid to the broker company for an expedited payment for services provided and the settlement is available between 1-7 days depending on each broker, or the option of net 30 day payment terms are available (but as a new 1 truck operation, we need money yesterday, we have bills to pay and groceries to buy....). So I call the accounts payable department to confirm we are good for payment since this is new broker company we hauled for, only to be told that "as a first time load, the only payment option available is net 30....any additional loads are available for quick pay, due to concerns with an increase in "scam carriers....". Mind you, this was NOT in the contract we signed...So from that moment on I went in to HBIC mode explaining that they sure didn't have a concern of scamming when putting their load on my trailer and accepted my legit invoicing documents and pictures of the load on my truck proving we were a legit company, they need to legit pay me...And when it comes to messing with my money, lord help the person on the other line. I think I've got that mess sorted out, but the wolf is the door looking to collect for upcoming bills, so pray the money is sitting in our account tomorrow!

Remember the cost of that tire repair? Now add on to that the cost of fuel at oh say $500ish bucks....Keep that in mind for this next part of todays shenanigans...

It's 114 degrees right now according to the truck thermometer, the a/c is barely keeping up, it's guzzling 1.5 gallons of fuel to idle at 900rpms to protect the engine and we are still sweating balls like that scene in Ace Ventura when he's stuck in the rhino...If you know, you know lol

Called a broker to book a load getting out of El Paso....They want tarps on a product going over 600 miles through dry as bone weather. Tarps that weigh over 150lbs a piece for.....drum roll please? $1300. For some perspective on what a load like this should cost? Being reasonable is closer to $2200-2400 that includes the tarping fee which in this heat can take a couple of hours and a trip to the er for heat exhaustion. Remember, we sell a service, just like your local plumber or mechanic....Those onions sure are tasty, huh!

Next call to a broker on a non-tarp load picking up 60 miles from us...$900, delivering on Thursday....Again, a little perspective on figuring a rate on a load for that? It takes roughly $1400/day to keep this truck and operation running (everyone has different figures for their operation, this is what Virago Transport LLC running and out of the red)....They wanted the truck for 2 days for $900....Could you afford that? We sure can't!

Next time people complain about not having their supplies, food, equipment, medication, cars, amazon packages, Lowe's purchases, etc...basically all the necessities to function in our typical western comfort lifestyle, remember there is some poor trucker out there sweating themselves into heat exhaustion for $900 just to get by....

That being said, we don't haul cheap freight....I'd rather this iron horse sit and collect dust or turn it in and go back into nursing before perpetuating the cycle of making brokers, shippers, and receivers think that these rates are okay. Trucking is the only industry that comes to mind that doesn't have the ability to price their services based on economic conditions (food goes up in price? Grocery stores increase their costs....Nail and hair salon supplies increase? So does the cost of getting your beauty on...just to give a few examples...)

Truckers keep this whole damn country moving, and we are biting the hands that feed us. Not one person can say their lives are not affected by the hard work, sacrifice and dedication men and women put into getting all of us what we need/want, including Daryl and my pregnant self! Don't kid yourself, I'm out here busting my hump right along side him...I take my title as CEO very seriously and believe in the old nursing mantra "you grab a cheek, I grab a cheek, let's get this done together!)

Sorry for this long ol post, just wanted a "friendly" reminder of what the realities are in this owner op industry that I've grown to love deeply. We are a trucking family, 100%, come hell or high water we do what it takes to get this job done....Even if no one notices.

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