there was a good segment on npr this afternoon about how private trucking companies are being hit hard by the quickly rising price of diesel. they are planning nationwide slow-downs and pull-overs tomorrow in protest. the originator of the idea says they initially want the government to suspend state and federal road taxes, and ultimately for someone "much smarter" than himself to figure out a long term solution.

there were also interesting parallels drawn between the privately owned trucks and their commercial counterparts who generally put millions of dollars into interest bearing escrow accounts to cover bulk fuel contracts.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89248556

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My two brothers and I own a small trucking company (One Truck...pretty small). We spent $75k on fuel last year and its killing us. 2006 Freightliner, Coronado, super singles.

I sure hope something happens soon as we've considered shutting it down and selling the beast. $1200 per tank

-diesel don

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Good. That will leave more loads for the REAL truckers to get the job done and earn more money.

That only tells us he doesn't know how to run his business.

Buy that you mean the large companies who locked in at $2 who are trying to screw the little ones over?


I like seeing a lot of competition, it leads to a healthy market. If you kill off all the little trucking companies and end up with only a few, guess what they will do to prices? Guess how much MORE everything we need will go up?

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No I mean the owner-ops who actually work for a living and know the value of getting the load delivered promptly, not the ones who cry about every little thing that doesn't go their way.

There is nothing that can be done about fuel price. This little waste of time protest is exactly that, a complete waste of time. A lot of hauling companies are going to lose a lot of load contracts over this protest BS. Rather than obstructing traffic and delivering loads late they should maintain their trucks properly and learn how to drive smart so they can get the best fuel economy their truck can deliver.

You should see all the Swift drivers throw a hissy fit when they learn their truck's top speed limit is turned down from 64/64 to 62/62.

Can someone explain to me why the U.S. is using trucking, as opposed to rail, for long distance freight? It seems to make more sense to use rail for the long distance runs and trucks for the local runs. What am I missing?

I agree 100%. Intermodal transport should be booming right now but people are resisting it as much as they can. Why? I don't know.

I think Hattie was pointing out that the big trucking companies may purposely keep their prices low to wipe out the small competition. They have the capitol to do it, and can come out on top. Without small business competition, they can charge whatever they want.

The owner-ops wouldn't stand a chance.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
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Trucking Lobbyists... Less jobs.

A euro style rail system is exactly what this country needs. Amtrack is an underfunded joke.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

It's the Walmart approach to the trucking business. I wonder if any of the smaller operators have tried forming some sort of buying consortium? They could pool their buying power for fuel, tires, and other staples of the industry. They might be able to come up with enough money to buy futures contracts. That's how Southwest Airlines is kicking the asses of their much bigger competitors.

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You missed the part where the large companies locked in fuel at say oh $2 a gallon for a very long time. So they can charge lower rates than everyone else who has to pay $4+ a gallon. So those owner operator's who "actualy work for a living", are going to lose their trucks if something is done soon. The same as the little guy who managed to put together say 5-6 rigs.

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I don't know about other places but the terminal I work at is paying around $3.69/gal right now to fill two 10,000 gallon above-ground tanks, (I paid $3.99 last week, for comparison). They aren't the largest trucking company in the USA, just the third largest.

That's what I suspected. Maybe high diesel costs will give them a nudge in that direction, once the price gets high enough.

The other advantage that southwest had was the fact they weren't in bankruptcy like the big guys, so they were able to get those fuel contracts locked in. No-one is going to give a favorable long term contract to a carrier that may not pay the fuel bill, so those guys had to pay market prices.

Bull. The guys who went bankrupt were able to shed much of their overhead, contracts that weren't favorable, retirement, purchase agreements, ... do you really think anyone was refusing to sell United fuel after they filed for reorganization/bankruptcy? The ones who were suffering were American and others who were still paying their bills.

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