Steelersjunkie
Pimpin' ain't easy
Looks like Coronavirus just got real for truckers. When this whole thing started and the states locked down, it seemed as if we were unaffected. In fact, the money was actually better. The DAT board was the juiciest I'd ever seen it and the amount of loads available made my head spin. I was never so grateful to have a CDL. In a time when so many folks were losing their income, it appeared as though my wife and I were going to be just fine. I am fortunate enough to have a job considered to be essential. Hooray for being a trucker. But that just changed, and quite literally overnight.The load board is practically barren, and that just started two days ago. What freight IS being posted is for absolutely shameful rates. I saw a load yesterday going from my area in Ohio to some place in California (or some other western state). 2200 mile run, $800. That wouldn't even cover fuel. Most runs on the board are sitting at $1/mile, which is a sad joke. That'll cover operating costs for the truck and that's it. There's no money left out of that live on. Brokers are just shrugging their shoulders and saying "yeah, it's a real bummer right now". Besides the fact that my income vanished in the last two days, I'm angered by another realization. Price gouging is illegal, I think most folks have heard/seen examples of it in the news. Like those two idiots recently who bought up all the hand sanitizer in a huge radius hoping to prey on folks and double or triple their investment. Well, truckers are getting price gouged right now, but in the opposite way and noone is saying a word. We are being preyed upon. Folks in the news say that we are the backbone of America and keep the country moving. We are, and we do. During this pandemic I've heard reporters call us heroes. I think that's a stretch, but whatever. Right now shippers and brokers are taking advantage of this lack of freight by pushing pay through the floor. It's unconscionable, and it's shameful. This is absolutely going to have long lasting effects on our industry. This WILL decimate a lot of O/Os and small companies if this continues. Corporate greed once again rears its ugly head. Congratulations to all of you a-hole companies out there salivating at the thought of the sudden drop in your shipping costs. Enjoy it, because it will be short lived. You might get a couple months out of that, max. And what you will have done is left a mark on this industry that will show for quite some time. Raise your champagne glasses and toast each other for being captains of industry. When the dust settles and our industry is crippled, who's gonna haul your crap? Those two guys who were attempting to price gouge hand sanitizer made national news and were publicly shamed, yet noone is saying a word about this. If this trend continues, a lot of independents and small trucking companies simply will not survive this, and I'm one of them. Where's the outcry for us? If you own a large corporation and happen to read this, i want you to take a really good look in the mirror. Hold that image. They day will come when people will ask "How did this happen? Why does it take so long now for things to reach stores?" The answer is you. YOU did this, corporate guy. Go drive yourself home to your wife and kids in your Mercedes and enjoy your happy life. And feel free to choke to death on that steak you're eating.
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