Some Minor Layoffs In Trucking

OS, have you seen any impact on your end as you're dedicated?

Davy, I'm keeping as busy as I want to be. To clarify that... I'm on course this month to clear 12,000 miles. I probably won't reach that, because I'm taking about five days off next week. The last two months I did the same kind of miles.

They have kept me very busy. I can't answer for some of the other drivers on this fleet, but we've only got a small percentage of us who are part of the revolving door of malcontents. Since most of our drivers have been here a fairly long time, I'm assuming they are busy enough to keep them content.

I’ll weigh in on this thread, I’ve had very little activity here posting but I frequently read the topics. Approaching my 2 year mark with Swift currently I’m running dedicated Hershey freight on the west coast. Hershey has abandoned dedicated contract carriers effective May 4th, from what the account manager told me and I’ll give good reason why I trust him, he was told that all contract carriers are affected. Prime Inc, Pride Transport, Swift, Schaffer/Crete and Knight all are no longer going to be running contractually, Hershey believes they can move their freight on the spot market at cheaper rates, while true at the moment won’t last and customer service my AM says will take a massive hit.

While I’m very annoyed with this the ethic and the attitude I’ve approached this career with has given me an in on another dedicated account I’ll be moving to, I was given the option by him to move to an account of my choosing regardless of the amount of trucks currently seated on the account I wanted, in addition with a lapse of Hershey freight he rewarded me with a change of scenery before the massive change, I told him I’d like to run to the Midwest and back a few times which turned into 4 brokered loads totaling just under 8400 miles the last 2 weeks and 3 days. The final run was a reload in Washington Court Ohio with a delivery in Auburn Washington totaling 2503 paid miles empty and loaded combined. While my teammates on the account got roped into local intermodal work I ran brokered freight that Swift made no profit on, and a lot of that had to do with my attitude and ethic this last year on the account.

In addition to all of this my current DL who has been employed with Swift for 32 years is being let go, one of the other DL’s over the Midwest Hershey region that sits next to her is also being let go, there is not a seat available in the office for them to move into. I’m noticing that the ethic and attitude of certain drivers is starting to play a more critical role in how those drivers are being treated, how they are being ran and the opportunities being provided to them verse the individuals that are less willing to attempt tight schedules, adverse hours and conditions and so on. I am noticing many drivers at Swift that are sitting for several days on end, and I know a mentor with a current student in the team phase that have waited for 2 days without a load. While drivers in the OTR/Regional sectors are struggling to remain moving the dedicated sectors are still doing well over here and Swift is pulling brokered loads quite frequently on the dedicated side to keep the dedicated drivers moving back to the contracted customer to keep that dedicated freight moving.

Point is overall I guess that I’m finding it imperative to continue to build my reputation, provide the best service that I can, and be as positive as I can be regardless of any situation I’m in. Run Legal, safe, hard, and find every possible way that I can to maximize my efficiency, and above all, stay in the dedicated lanes until this nationwide market starts turning upward. I only have just about 2 years of experience, not a lot and I started in the COVID era when freight seemed much better than it is currently, but I’m noticing a major downward trend in miles with most drivers here and I’ve found myself fortunate to be in the situation I’m in.

I'll chime in with a tidbit of info as well. While I can't say whether Knight is shrinking or growing their fleet, I can say with certainty that they are currently hiring. I've taken a break from Knight while running uber-locally at U.O. for a bit. I've been considering going back to OTR for some time, and as such have been talking with my recruiter at Knight the past few weeks. I will be attending DQP next week at the Lakeland terminal , so should be able to follow up later next week to report how many folks are in attendance for the class.

Hey Jay bird, that was beautiful!

I’ve had very little activity here posting

That needs to change. You certainly understand how this career works.

I’ve found myself fortunate to be in the situation I’m in.

You are fortunate, but it's because you've made the right moves.

I’m finding it imperative to continue to build my reputation, provide the best service that I can, and be as positive as I can be regardless of any situation I’m in.

You're nailing it! I love your attitude and your observations. Hang in there brother - you are building your own brand of success. That's how trucking works.