ClassA Not sure what your state's unemployment factors are, but here in VA, claimants are limited to 24 weeks max of claims and the max here would be a bit less than $600 per week.
Not sure what your state's unemployment factors are, but here in VA, claimants are limited to 24 weeks max of claims and the max here would be a bit less than $600 per week.
And the enhanced benefits being cut off in many states were $300 per week.
Those that think automated trucks are in the pipeline are smoking a substance that would require a drug test in my office. No artificial intelligence system built can handle the crap that an OTR driver deals with on a daily basis. Here's just a listing of what I have seen in the last week watching some of the close calls from the dashboard cameras on the fleet. 15 deer 35 people who were driving with either a knee or elbow while texting or applying makeup 60 more who cut off the truck with less than 2 feet in front of the bumper to make their exit. 20 more trucks that had to make emergency lane changes to avoid someone coming directly off the shoulder into the lane of travel doing less than 20 mph. This is just a small part of what they deal with let alone winds that can literally flip over a truck or mechanical failures. Just how well is an automated truck going to handle a steer tire blowout at 65 mph. Let alone driving on ice snow in fog or other conditions. I know when I leave work everyday my work kids all of them are doing their best to be as safe as possible. They know how much responsibility they have in their hands every single time they fire up that engine and push those buttons in. If anyone of them needs to ask what the worst thing possible could ever be all they have to do is visit the memorial we have in the office to the one of the founding brothers who died in an accident driving for us.
ClassA Job market for starters. If the only jobs in your area are paying low wages, what choice does one have? And if one does desire a higher paying job, it often does require more skills, so that means school (trade or otherwise). Like I said above, its a moot point as those who are claiming unemployment are either doing as suggested and getting better paying jobs, or have decided not to compete anymore and are living with family or gone back to school. Either way, that means that the pool of people willing to work at below living wages is shrinking. If that's the case, then wages need to rise. We don't exist in a society where a person can get a good paying job off the street anymore. The old factory days are gone in most of America. That's part of the what is hurting the former mining areas so bad. We're seeing traditionally stable jobs disappearing and being replaced by service industry jobs that pay percentages of what past "unskilled" jobs paid. For instance, the railroad was once a great place to find gainful employment. With PSR, advanced in technology, etc, it's no longer a good option. Finally, getting a good paying job these days isn't as easy as dropping by an office and asking. With digital HR systems, one needs to have access to computers, access to presentable clothing and reliable transportation, and some basic working knowledge that may not be common among the less fortunate, such as proficency with computers and technology. Stats will bear it out though and it will be interesting to watch. Alaska, Missouri, and Mississippi have already discontinued thier enhanced benefits. So we'll see how the jobs markets look in a month in those states to see what the effect is.
Job market for starters. If the only jobs in your area are paying low wages, what choice does one have? And if one does desire a higher paying job, it often does require more skills, so that means school (trade or otherwise).
Like I said above, its a moot point as those who are claiming unemployment are either doing as suggested and getting better paying jobs, or have decided not to compete anymore and are living with family or gone back to school. Either way, that means that the pool of people willing to work at below living wages is shrinking.
If that's the case, then wages need to rise.
We don't exist in a society where a person can get a good paying job off the street anymore. The old factory days are gone in most of America. That's part of the what is hurting the former mining areas so bad. We're seeing traditionally stable jobs disappearing and being replaced by service industry jobs that pay percentages of what past "unskilled" jobs paid.
For instance, the railroad was once a great place to find gainful employment. With PSR, advanced in technology, etc, it's no longer a good option. Finally, getting a good paying job these days isn't as easy as dropping by an office and asking. With digital HR systems, one needs to have access to computers, access to presentable clothing and reliable transportation, and some basic working knowledge that may not be common among the less fortunate, such as proficency with computers and technology.
Stats will bear it out though and it will be interesting to watch. Alaska, Missouri, and Mississippi have already discontinued thier enhanced benefits. So we'll see how the jobs markets look in a month in those states to see what the effect is.
If the only jobs are low paying jobs then starting one's own business might be the best option. I don't know why more people don't do that.. Even a modest business that is well run offers far more than most jobs do in terms of pay and job security. Anyone can run a cleaning business or a tree trimming business with next to nil start up cost.. beats sweathogging it at the big box warehouse for minimum wage.
MP173 Time for those automated trucks! Dont think it would work on LTL peddle runs, but the driver shortage is very real, as is the labor shortage for convenience stores, restaurants, trailer manufacturers, airlines, etc...could go on and on. I heard a rumor yesterday that a major trailer manufacturer stated to sales people NOT to take any orders for 2022 until further notice. Real simple solution to this. Do the best you can with the drivers, equipment, and facilities you have. If that means service slows down...that is the result. We are all facing that now if one is in any service or manufacturing industry. It is going to take quite awhile to digest this big mess. Enjoyed reading about others working in LTL and tariffs. That was quite a system back in the day. Lots of tariffs. My guess is the class system is still in place, it is an efficient system. Ed
Time for those automated trucks!
Dont think it would work on LTL peddle runs, but the driver shortage is very real, as is the labor shortage for convenience stores, restaurants, trailer manufacturers, airlines, etc...could go on and on.
I heard a rumor yesterday that a major trailer manufacturer stated to sales people NOT to take any orders for 2022 until further notice.
Real simple solution to this. Do the best you can with the drivers, equipment, and facilities you have. If that means service slows down...that is the result. We are all facing that now if one is in any service or manufacturing industry.
It is going to take quite awhile to digest this big mess.
Enjoyed reading about others working in LTL and tariffs. That was quite a system back in the day. Lots of tariffs.
My guess is the class system is still in place, it is an efficient system.
Ed
The spector of automated trucks has somewhat ironically made the whole driver shortage that much worse. 18 year old kids nolonger look at these jobs as longterm careers because they don't want to be out of work with no prospects by age 40. Or worse... they're stuck in a job that requires nothing more than sitting and pushing two buttons. Autonomous trucks are still a long ways off I think.. although some kind of autopilot that can be used at times will be along within the next five years or so.
If one were in a low paying job what was the reason? Not qualified for more money or not motivated to apply yourself when more pay requires more production.
If either of these then why should one expect government to continue support?
Having spoken to people who are electing to not go back to menial jobs, they got shafted when Covid struck and had to move in with family or make deep cuts to their lives, so they aren't going back to those old jobs because they have realized they aren't wanted or valued.
I will confess that my sample size is limited and I am fortunate to have weathered it well without any significant loss in my income. I'm not at all surprised that so many people have decided not to return to those low paying jobs though and I doubt that reducing unemployment will change it much.
Shadow the Cats owner The 3 receivers that will scare any transportation company into not cutting service in the trucking industry are Walmart the US Government and Amazon. Those 3 alone can make or bankrupt a carrier if you tick them off. Why Walmart if your lucky enough to get one of their inbound contracts for say produce or meat on the reefer side it means a solid 7 to 8 figure contract for at least 10 years. That goes a long way to get banker's to work with you for equipment needs when it's time to upgrade. There are carriers that have been literally bought out by larger companies just so the larger carrier could get their hands on that Walmart contract. Prime literally bought put 10 different carriers to lock up 60 percent of all the Walmart contracts from the west coast. That give you an idea of what this means for a company.
The 3 receivers that will scare any transportation company into not cutting service in the trucking industry are Walmart the US Government and Amazon. Those 3 alone can make or bankrupt a carrier if you tick them off. Why Walmart if your lucky enough to get one of their inbound contracts for say produce or meat on the reefer side it means a solid 7 to 8 figure contract for at least 10 years. That goes a long way to get banker's to work with you for equipment needs when it's time to upgrade. There are carriers that have been literally bought out by larger companies just so the larger carrier could get their hands on that Walmart contract. Prime literally bought put 10 different carriers to lock up 60 percent of all the Walmart contracts from the west coast. That give you an idea of what this means for a company.
Which is why I don't work for any of them. One of them (I won't name who) is terribly disorganized anyway, and their process requirements will lead to mental health issues in whoever attempts to adhere to them. 7 or 8 figures are just as easily achieved by working with smaller accounts who actually answer their phones and don't hide behind the internet version of Fort Knox when there's a problem. Give me your 20 employee metals distributor or lumber yard any time of day over the "coveted" Walmart or Amazon.
MS Cat is off topic again.
I saw an interesting video yesterday from a congressional hearing. The head of the Federal Reserve board can't figure out why there's 9.3 million openings for jobs nationwide but people don't want to go back to work. Well with the current level of enhanced unemployment you can get 37k a year sitting on your backside at home. Just whom is going to go back to work when they're paying you that much to sit at home.
Murphy Siding Who? Who has any extra capacity to take this freight if FedEx doesn't play the kiss-butt game with the big boxes?
Who? Who has any extra capacity to take this freight if FedEx doesn't play the kiss-butt game with the big boxes?
FedEx - work smarter and harder
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACD Murphy Siding BaltACD I am hearing that FedEx is reversing course as they have gotten a lot of flack from a number of the 'Big Box' customers that in many cases rely on the customers FedEx was targeting for service termination. As the worm turns. "OK fellas, 'looks like we're not gonna drop you...for now. 'Course, we're gonna have to raise your rates a skosh make it worth our while...." FedEx - Don't screw our suppliers and don't raise our costs. Signed - Walmart, Target, Lowes etc. etc. etc.
Murphy Siding BaltACD I am hearing that FedEx is reversing course as they have gotten a lot of flack from a number of the 'Big Box' customers that in many cases rely on the customers FedEx was targeting for service termination. As the worm turns. "OK fellas, 'looks like we're not gonna drop you...for now. 'Course, we're gonna have to raise your rates a skosh make it worth our while...."
BaltACD I am hearing that FedEx is reversing course as they have gotten a lot of flack from a number of the 'Big Box' customers that in many cases rely on the customers FedEx was targeting for service termination. As the worm turns.
I am hearing that FedEx is reversing course as they have gotten a lot of flack from a number of the 'Big Box' customers that in many cases rely on the customers FedEx was targeting for service termination.
As the worm turns.
"OK fellas, 'looks like we're not gonna drop you...for now. 'Course, we're gonna have to raise your rates a skosh make it worth our while...."
FedEx -
Don't screw our suppliers and don't raise our costs.
Signed - Walmart, Target, Lowes etc. etc. etc.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
The large "traditional" LTL carriers have by and large automated their pricing function, provided the customer inputs accurate information, they can obtain individualized pricing directly from their web portal without any human intervention. Truckload pricing is more volatile, as is heavy LTL and partial truckloads.. therefore pricing for those is still done manually. For example.. let's say we have something that requires 20 ft of space on a flatbed.. from Acworth, GA to Lethbridge, AB. The cost of moving that would to a large extent be determined by what other freight can go with it.. i.e. if there's nothing else then that 20 ft. order would have to cover the entire cost of the move. But if other freight can be found going in the same general direction then that freight would defray some of the cost, and the price for the 20 ft would go down. Thus the price to the customer could vary significantly from one week to the next, and I guess part of the account executive's job would be to explain that to the customer.
Since the OTR industry was deregulated decades ago most rates are 1 either contracts were the carrier and customer agree that we being the carrier will charge them so much per mile plus a fuel surcharge if fuel gets above a certain amount and tolls if needed to get the product delivered. Now this does not apply to spot rates when you need a product moved in a hurry. Those are whatever you can get a truck to move the load for. Then you have the broker's who's sole job is to keep as much of the money from you the carrier as possible to make them more money. CH Robinson has the nickname of Cheap and Heavy for a reason. They're always trying to get you at full gross with half fuel tanks and barely paying enough to cover your costs.
UlrichI started out in LTL as well, and spent some time in the pricing department.. back before computers were in every office. We had giant rates tomes on our desks.. class rates.. and special rates for each commodity.. some customers got special consideration for dimensional freight etc.. discount tables etc.. Not surprisingly, rates disputes resolution was also a big part of it. The older heads seemed to be geniuses.. they had the complex tables and each customer's peculiarites committed to memory.. And then the computers came and changed everything. Rates clerks were brought down a few notches just as dispatchers were when GPS came in.
Times have changed. My dad worked for the MoPac back in the depression as a Chief Clerk in off line offices so as railroads do, he got moved. I was born in Indianapolis, we then moved to Chicago, Milwaukee, and then Cincinnati. In 1947, the MoPac told him they were relocating him again. He said NO, you are not and went to work for a truck line based in Cincinnati. He had been working with tariffs and had become licensed to practice before the ICC. And to get business, there had to be a tariff. And there were many factors used in dete,rmining what the tariff covered. How fragile was the shipment, volume, weight value, distance, etc. And what was the competition. And if XYZ trucking or the railroad had a tariff for the shipment, and a certificate to operate between the origin and destination, it could handle it. And had to as a common carrier. I am not sure if I had products to ship today, whether there are tariffs or how freight rates are set. Does a shipper have to ask for a quote to ship their tons of product and are there published rates. Back in my dads day, if you had a siding, the railroad would have to provide the car, take it and hand it off to a connecting railroad (if required) and share the rate with other carriers to its destination.
Dad also wrote about seven articles for Trains back in the forties, one of which described how the railroads matched passenger fares. It described how if you wanted or needed to go somewhere, for the same amount of money you could go multiple routes. For example, if you wanted to go between Chicago and Los Angeles, the fare would be the same whether you went via the UP, the ATSF, the RI, or any other route that connected those points and if you went round trip, it would be the same fare if you went via Seattle and many more options.
I started out in LTL as well, and spent some time in the pricing department.. back before computers were in every office. We had giant rates tomes on our desks.. class rates.. and special rates for each commodity.. some customers got special consideration for dimensional freight etc.. discount tables etc.. Not surprisingly, rates disputes resolution was also a big part of it. The older heads seemed to be geniuses.. they had the complex tables and each customer's peculiarites committed to memory.. And then the computers came and changed everything. Rates clerks were brought down a few notches just as dispatchers were when GPS came in.
Getting back to railroads, here in Canada they haul most of the longer distance LTL freight.. a freight forwarder (Manitoulin, TransX, Maritime-Ontario etc) picks it up and consolidates loads in containers which are then dropped off at CN or CP for furtherance to destination terminal where the proces of destuffing and last mile takes place.. once again by a third party forwarder. So the good news is that the rails are still handling it.. the bad news is the the money is in the part the freight forwarder does..
The obvious differences between LTL and TL are covered above. I worked for 10 years in Traffic Dept (pricing) for an LTL carrier - 1980-1990 and was glad to leave. It was a mess then as carriers kept expanding territory and capacity never stabilized...only grew while volumes were level or slow grow.
FedEx Freight simply cannot handle their volumes at this time. 1400 customers sounds like quite a bit, but that is 30 per state. They probably jetisoned the customers which either had non compensated rates or lower volumes, or difficult freight to handle (non palletized, or residential deliveries). FedEx Parcel is also having difficulties. My guess is that their business model - using contractors rather than unionized employees left them standing at the alter alone when the economy started roaring back and the potential employees could stay at home and earn $$$ thru COVID. That will soon change.
Just to keep this on the tracks (and legal with the mods), while the rails lost LCL, they still handle considerable LTL - check out the TOFC trains and see the ABF, Yellow, UPS Freight, etc.
Supply chain issues will be a huge factor for months. The south China port (location skips me now) is experiencing big issues with COVID.
Home Depot just chartered their own container ship...what does that tell you?Ed
I look at the people who think that certain college educations are better than real world experience and go really. I work for a company where the boss literally started sweeping the floor and worked his way up that was his wish. Yes he's got his MBA however he knows this business inside and out.
My hubby had one super complete with a Harvard business school diploma that thought a solo driver could make it from Ontario California to Aurora Illinois in 10 hours. This person was made the senior vice president of his company. Why did he get the job simple he was banging the owners daughter and got her pregnant.
Ulrich Murphy Siding greyhounds I like PSR. I know a lot of you don't. But I believe it to be a good concept that has had some faulty implementations. So anyway, today’s Wall Street Journal reports that FedEx just told 1,400 LTL customers that the FedEx freight trucks won’t show up anymore. I’ve noticed a whole lot of FedEx trailers and containers on intermodal trains. They say their system is getting overwhelmed and they’ve jettisoned 1,400 customers to deal with that. The report also says that FedEx is the largest LTL carrier in the US. I don’t know if they set out to be the largest LTL carrier, but apparently, they are. I can't see how this relates to PSR. FedEx has too much business to handle right now, so they are prunning back the business that takes the most work and puts the least on the bottom line. It's nothing new and it's not unique to transportation. In my industry- building materials- every manufacturer right now is doing similar things to their customers and their product lines. If you are a small-potatos buyer, right now the chances are you are a no-potatos buyer. If you want shingles, the manufacturers are cutting out production of all of the slow moving products to concentrate on making more of the fastest moving products in the 4 or 5 popular colors. Take it or leave it. What the article didn't mention, and what every other FedEx customer can see coming like a freight train, is price increases. Take it or leave it. They just left 1400 customers, so the remaining ones know where they stand. A great recipe for creating a competitor instead of (as Peter Drucker advocated) creating a customer. It sure is tempting to kick the little guys to the curb in times like this... but things can change alot quickly.. in six months they may very well wish they'd done more to keep them. Every new business that comes along to pick up what's been jettisoned is a vote against the incumbant and the status quo...
Murphy Siding greyhounds I like PSR. I know a lot of you don't. But I believe it to be a good concept that has had some faulty implementations. So anyway, today’s Wall Street Journal reports that FedEx just told 1,400 LTL customers that the FedEx freight trucks won’t show up anymore. I’ve noticed a whole lot of FedEx trailers and containers on intermodal trains. They say their system is getting overwhelmed and they’ve jettisoned 1,400 customers to deal with that. The report also says that FedEx is the largest LTL carrier in the US. I don’t know if they set out to be the largest LTL carrier, but apparently, they are. I can't see how this relates to PSR. FedEx has too much business to handle right now, so they are prunning back the business that takes the most work and puts the least on the bottom line. It's nothing new and it's not unique to transportation. In my industry- building materials- every manufacturer right now is doing similar things to their customers and their product lines. If you are a small-potatos buyer, right now the chances are you are a no-potatos buyer. If you want shingles, the manufacturers are cutting out production of all of the slow moving products to concentrate on making more of the fastest moving products in the 4 or 5 popular colors. Take it or leave it. What the article didn't mention, and what every other FedEx customer can see coming like a freight train, is price increases. Take it or leave it. They just left 1400 customers, so the remaining ones know where they stand.
I like PSR. I know a lot of you don't. But I believe it to be a good concept that has had some faulty implementations. So anyway, today’s Wall Street Journal reports that FedEx just told 1,400 LTL customers that the FedEx freight trucks won’t show up anymore. I’ve noticed a whole lot of FedEx trailers and containers on intermodal trains. They say their system is getting overwhelmed and they’ve jettisoned 1,400 customers to deal with that. The report also says that FedEx is the largest LTL carrier in the US. I don’t know if they set out to be the largest LTL carrier, but apparently, they are.
The report also says that FedEx is the largest LTL carrier in the US. I don’t know if they set out to be the largest LTL carrier, but apparently, they are.
I can't see how this relates to PSR. FedEx has too much business to handle right now, so they are prunning back the business that takes the most work and puts the least on the bottom line. It's nothing new and it's not unique to transportation. In my industry- building materials- every manufacturer right now is doing similar things to their customers and their product lines. If you are a small-potatos buyer, right now the chances are you are a no-potatos buyer. If you want shingles, the manufacturers are cutting out production of all of the slow moving products to concentrate on making more of the fastest moving products in the 4 or 5 popular colors. Take it or leave it. What the article didn't mention, and what every other FedEx customer can see coming like a freight train, is price increases. Take it or leave it. They just left 1400 customers, so the remaining ones know where they stand.
A great recipe for creating a competitor instead of (as Peter Drucker advocated) creating a customer. It sure is tempting to kick the little guys to the curb in times like this... but things can change alot quickly.. in six months they may very well wish they'd done more to keep them. Every new business that comes along to pick up what's been jettisoned is a vote against the incumbant and the status quo...
No one here has ever accused top management of being 'brainiacs'.
Murphy Siding greyhounds I like PSR. I know a lot of you don't. But I believe it to be a good concept that has had some faulty implementations. So anyway, today’s Wall Street Journal reports that FedEx just told 1,400 LTL customers that the FedEx freight trucks won’t show up anymore. I’ve noticed a whole lot of FedEx trailers and containers on intermodal trains. They say their system is getting overwhelmed and they’ve jettisoned 1,400 customers to deal with that. The report also says that FedEx is the largest LTL carrier in the US. I don’t know if they set out to be the largest LTL carrier, but apparently, they are. greyhounds I like PSR. I know a lot of you don't. But I believe it to be a good concept that has had some faulty implementations. So anyway, today’s Wall Street Journal reports that FedEx just told 1,400 LTL customers that the FedEx freight trucks won’t show up anymore. I’ve noticed a whole lot of FedEx trailers and containers on intermodal trains. They say their system is getting overwhelmed and they’ve jettisoned 1,400 customers to deal with that. The report also says that FedEx is the largest LTL carrier in the US. I don’t know if they set out to be the largest LTL carrier, but apparently, they are. I can't see how this relates to PSR. FedEx has too much business to handle right now, so they are prunning back the business that takes the most work and puts the least on the bottom line. It's nothing new and it's not unique to transportation. In my industry- building materials- every manufacturer right now is doing similar things to their customers and their product lines. If you are a small-potatos buyer, right now the chances are you are a no-potatos buyer. If you want shingles, the manufacturers are cutting out production of all of the slow moving products to concentrate on making more of the fastest moving products in the 4 or 5 popular colors. Take it or leave it. What the article didn't mention, and what every other FedEx customer can see coming like a freight train, is price increases. Take it or leave it. They just left 1400 customers, so the remaining ones know where they stand.
greyhounds I like PSR. I know a lot of you don't. But I believe it to be a good concept that has had some faulty implementations. So anyway, today’s Wall Street Journal reports that FedEx just told 1,400 LTL customers that the FedEx freight trucks won’t show up anymore. I’ve noticed a whole lot of FedEx trailers and containers on intermodal trains. They say their system is getting overwhelmed and they’ve jettisoned 1,400 customers to deal with that. The report also says that FedEx is the largest LTL carrier in the US. I don’t know if they set out to be the largest LTL carrier, but apparently, they are.
That right there is the entire OTR industry right now. We are so freaking stretched out capacity wise at my work that it isn't funny. Right now everything that can run is literally on the freaking road for us. The supply chain has been busted due to the freaking pandemic restrictions and now that everything is reopening well let's just say there's not enough product to meet the demand. What's killing us is one thing the backlog of shipping coming into the USA. Then when a needed product gets into this nation it's a freaking madhouse to get it distributed as fast as possible to where it needs to go. Then throw in all the ransomware attacks the shortage of certain items and your going to be short capacity as you're equipment is tied up waiting for stuff. Just in time supplies became just not there right now.
The difference is that the railroads park locomotives and lay off employees so that they can't haul anymore. FDX is running full bore and doesn't have the equipment or employees to handle more freight.
Murphy Siding I can't see how this relates to PSR. FedEx has too much business to handle right now, so they are prunning back the business that takes the most work and puts the least on the bottom line. It's nothing new and it's not unique to transportation. In my industry- building materials- every manufacturer right now is doing similar things to their customers and their product lines. If you are a small-potatos buyer, right now the chances are you are a no-potatos buyer. If you want shingles, the manufacturers are cutting out production of all of the slow moving products to concentrate on making more of the fastest moving products in the 4 or 5 popular colors. Take it or leave it. What the article didn't mention, and what every other FedEx customer can see coming like a freight train, is price increases. Take it or leave it. They just left 1400 customers, so the remaining ones know where they stand.
That's PSR in a nutshell.
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