How much is the lack of auto sales effecting the business? 45% lower sales over last year in the auto industry. I am lost for words when my drivers call and ask about whats going on. I am getting a bit worried about getting decent loads in these poor economic times. It's bad enough that the trucks are not moving, but even worse I could have drivers walk away for higher paying jobs at home.
You can tell your drivers what they probably already know. The financial crisis and economic slowdown (recession) is reducing the amount of freight that is available to haul. You can't haul what they don't offer. If the freight isn't there, it isn't there. You would not be giving good news to your drivers but you would be telling them the truth. They may very well be better off finding higher paying jobs at home.
It is not just in the automotive sector that freight has slowed. It is in most if not all sectors. I know of fleet owners that are leaving the business today, not because they had to or because they failed, but because they see what is coming and have the option of avoiding it. They have had a good run in the business but have concluded that this is a good time to call it a career. I admire their choice. Why push a rock uphill if you don't have to?
Diane and I are choosing to stay but are looking ahead to slower freight and longer waits between loads. These are the slow times that people warned us about when we were researching the industry. We took those warnings to heart and are prepared.
If you are not prepared, I don't know what to say that will make things better. The recession is squeezing a number of people out of the business and presenting new challenges to those who stay.
Speculators take risks with their money, but only to a point. If the markets move against them, the smart ones cut their losses and stand aside. Parking your trucks for a year in a slow-freight market may cost you less money than running them. Selling them at a loss and standing aside may be the better decision still.
Doing something different, like getting your own authority, may be a good choice. But I expect there will be a bunch of folks doing that, which will make things less lucrative and more competitive for everyone in the business.
In the long run, getting your own-authority may turn out to be a worse choice than parking your trucks or getting out. Running successfully under your own authority requires a different focus and skill set than running under a carrier's authority. While it is an option, getting your own authority may only prolong the inevitable and increase your losses along the way.
Getting your own authority because you are intellectually and emotionally drawn to that kind of business, and you have customers you can develop and a plan for success can be a very good thing. But getting your own authority because you are being squeezed out someplace else is different. It seems to me that the own-authority play is best made when you are on the offense, not the defense, and when you know what to do with the ball.
