Comments By LDRSHIP

My point is not about an economics debate. It is merely the point of deregulation allowed anybody to start a trucking company if they wanted. I’m not saying that deregulation was a bad thing from an economic stand point. I’m just saying it set the stage for all the little trucking companies that are out here today. Now, the big guys need to find the next way to stamp out the competition. It is really that simple. I am not saying the big companies don’t deserve to be were they are at. They survived, thrived and took advantage of every opportunity they could. Now they can afford those tighter controls. They already know the tighter controls will make life difficult for the small guy. It just is what it is. My tune hasn’t and will not change.

Business is a ruthless endeavor. Either you are a shark or you get swallowed. The big companies are just trying to make sure they stay that way. All about survival of the fittest.

I will be perfectly honest, I don’t see the guy I am working for as making it. I really don’t. But, then again if he shut his doors today. I would be at orientation somewhere tomorrow. I’m not worried. I’m going to have a job. I’m going to get paid.

I’m hung up on it; because, I believe it is true!! Deregulation brought the explosion of the owner op. Before deregulation happened you had ask Uncle Sam to be able to start a company. Uncle Sam told you what you could haul and what you could charge to haul said product. Companies saw dollar signs and wanted Uncle Sam to stop telling them what they could do. They got their wish. It had consequences. O/Os began flooding the market and instead of being able to raise how much was being charged to move freight; over competition happened. Freight rates went down in comparison to inflation. The very same companies that fought to get Uncle Sam out of their cookie jar, need Uncle Sam’s help to stamp out the competition.

I said the exact same thing when I worked at Wolding. When we had a discussion on their stance with the ELD mandate.

As I said all along, they are trying to squeeze out small companies. I don’t personally care either way. I will have no problem being employed. The name on the top of my paycheck is irrelevant. Their ONLY concern is too fix their mistake from the 70s (deregulation). It was deregulation that opened the door the the onslaught of the O/O. Now the big companies want them gone. It is what it is. The Trucking Alliance can parade around claiming whatever they like. In the end there is only ONE goal.

As I stated earlier, it is irrelevant whose name is at the top of my pay check. Either way, I will have a job and get paid.

Call things as they are. Larger companies can afford even thrive with further regulation. They have numerous drivers, so loads can be relayed. With massive fleets of trucks the fuel savings from a governed speed actually helps their economics. Force further log monitoring so the little guy can’t cheat. However, everyone one of these mega companies was built on drivers being creative with their logbooks. It is all about squeezing out the competition any way possible. Since the large companies don’t even make up 10% of the industry, every little company they can force to fold is more business to fuel their further growth. The big companies know what needs done. They know what holes to plug. They were built by committing the exact same violations. I’m not mad about it, but to parade around and say safety is the reason is a load of BS. As I said, let’s call a spade a spade.

Take Anti-collision systems for an example. They are more of a danger than a protection. They are constantly messing up and causing heavy braking at such things as the shadow of an overpass or reflectors in turns. On-guard and all the other various anti collisions systems are just garbage pure and simple.

Let’s cut to the chase, the ONLY thing the trucker Alliance is concerned with is doing everything in their power to make it impossible for small trucking companies to survive. Either by increasing vehicles costs or limiting earning potential.

I am sure many of those companies were probably involved with pushing for deregulation in the 70s. Now, they are pushing for more regulations since it didn’t work out the way they thought it would. They are just trying to fix their mess up and make it impossible for the little guy.

Let’s call a spade a spade.

By a rug, a couple floor mats and a small bath mat and call it a day. A small rug to go across the area behind the seats in the “no shoe” area. Just simple floor mats for the driver and passenger sides to make clean up easy. And a bath mat for between the seats as a place to take off shoes. Plus since the bath mat has a rubberized bottom it will prevent wet shoes from soaking thru and dirtying up the floor underneath.

Look the company up, they are all lease purchase. They are LEASING / LEASE PURCHASE Pete 579 Ultralofts with Cummins X15 engine and 18 spd Eaton Fuller Transmisions

Here a link to an article about the Red Giant.

The Red Giant

First thing I noticed was what appears to be an extra fuel tank behind the drives.... Probably cost's a weebit more to pull extra weight around ....

That is not the drives. That is a tag axle, lol. Just an extra axle to distribute the weight.

I am, for the most part, not governed. I set my cruise at 68. But if I am not in a hurry I will run 63. At 63 mph in the Coronado on flat ground I can get around 8mpg depending on how heavy the load. At 68mph I usually come in around 7.5 mpg. Funny thing is, if I run 70 the best I do is around 6.9 mpg. There is a BIG drop off in fuel economy once I pass 68 mph.

Also 88/290/90 section of interchanges kinda marks the “midway point”. That generally section is where inbound vs outbound direction changes. So in the morning you want to make that section by the time the rush starts. In the evening you want time getting to that point at the end of the rush. I generally use TA Chicago North (Russell Rd) and TA Gary as my “gateways”. Except if I am going on US-41, then I use Phil’s Truck stop as my southern point. I don’t pass one of those points unless I have enough time to make the point on the opposite side.

For example from TA Chicago North to 90/290/88 interchanges is roughly 30-45 mins without traffic. If you are heading south in the morning you want to leave Chicago North NLT 0600. Any later than that and you WILL get backed up traffic. If you leave TA Chicago North by 0530 you can usually stay hammer down the entire way thru on 294.