I've been looking at some things lately, and i'm begining to wonder about the future of this industry. The news out of dearborn is fueling the fire. What really caught my attention though, was that recently, i was looking at the landstar load board and noticed tractor trailer rates are up around $1.50 to $3.00 per mile. Now, not so long ago, i used to be able to tease t/t drivers that my straight truck was getting better rates than thier t/t. It seems that is no longer the case. Also i find, that t/t freight is widely available. I can do a 50 mile radius search from almost any city, at any given time, and find 20 or 30 loads available, going in any number of directions. Talk about being able to pick and choose your loads! Honestly though, i've never had any desire to drive t/t, but, as more and more people enter this field i'm beginning to wonder. It seems to me that from what i've been hearing, alot of folks taking those early buy-outs from ford, ( G.M. and chrysler also! ), have been looking toward expediting as the ideal second career. Not only does it give them a source of income, but it allows them to travel before they're physically incapable. Now, i think that this saturation of drivers and simultanious closing of plants is hitting this industry two fold, and as a result, we're no longer that little "niche" industry that was providing specialized service at premium rates, but now, we're becoming the "norm". We're being asked to do more in the way of specialized service than your average t/t, but it's just expected of us, it's the "new" norm. It's how things are done. Let's face it, the baby-boomers are of the age to be in control of most industrial company's, and they, (we), want what we want, when we want it. It's a normalized standard of thinking. I think we expediters, as a group, are no longer being considered as such a "special" thing, but more as just another tool to get things done with. We are slowly becoming de-valued. Hence the reason my rates have dropped over the last ten years. I used to get perks too! Imagine that! At R.E.I. in 98 we used to get two checks, one to the truck and one to me. The one to me had taxes taken out, social security. My taxes were so much easier to do every year, and proving my income,. getting a mortgage or car loan was'nt the production it is now. We had health insurance and a 401 k. Workmans comp and life insurance. Now every company has divorced itself so much from any individual, not only for the sake of monetary gain, but for immunity from lawsuits. Maybe it's just my own dissilusionment with the industry, but i feel the tides are turning. I could be mistaken, but i think you can buy a nice tractor for about half the price some of these guys are spending on the more fancy of the D units. Maybe i'm wrong though?
