Is There Any Truth To The Stories Of Truckers Being Laid Off By The Thousands Due To Tariffs?

I constantly see stories (TikTok, X, Facebook) about truckers being laid off due to the tariffs and lack of freight volume?

Is there any truth to this? Are they making it seem worse than it is? Or it’s not really that bad?

Trucking has been bad for 2 years. It is easier to blame Ttump. Did u know that Biden extended Trump's original tariffs and raised them 4 times? Bet ya didn't.

Did you know 88,000 trucking companies went bankrupt in 2023 and 8,000 brokers also? Nope. Bet ya didn't. Why? Media.

There are some companies and divisions doing really well right now, and some doing terribly. A CDL will be a job for life if you keep your record clean and always deliver on time.

First off your listed sources of info are pretty crappy to start with.

As Kesrsey said the industry has had major challenges for the last 2-3 years. Given Trump has just passed 100 days I can’t see it being due to his efforts.

We’ve all known and been dealing with the challenges and those thatdo it better are still here. Those that haven’t handled it well are done or heading toward being done.

This industry is always a series of ups and downs. Those who roll with the punches the best stay in business.

Big companies tend to over promise and under deliver. I always under promise and over deliver on my word.

My friends that run LTL are reporting some reduction in hours…

In other news, with Trump's latest E.O. on English requirements you would expect at some point that foreign drivers without domicile CDL's will decline in the U.S. With that, if Canadian Freight Brokers lose some of their grip on the "low ball" freight rates, in theory, the major carriers employing domestic drivers should see some relief from the recent rough years that have been noted. That would be my layman's prediction.

On another note, it can depend HEAVILY on what your carrier hauls as it's primary freight base. If you are hauling consumer staples (food, paper products, etc) safe and top performing drivers should have no problem getting miles.

Here is a piece of advice. Everywhere you go, be a "brand ambassador" for your carrier. Provide exceptional service to all your customers. If you get a good compliment for the job you did, tell the shipper or consignee you'd love to do business with them again, and then have someone at your carrier's business development follow up with the customer to see if they get that lane as a regular route. Sound like b.s.? I literally did exactly this in January. Went to my regular consignee in North Carolina and got into a discussion about the empty containers they had for the product I brought every week and they said it goes right back to the facility that I pick up my load from an hour from my house! Handed that over to our director of business development and BOOM now we have that backhaul and every week now I get 2300 miles with one stop that I can do in 4 days and either spend 3 days at home or run freight all day on day 5 for around 2700-2800 miles a week. The point is, look for opportunities on your routes and report them back to your office. Even if something doesn't pan out, it shows your carrier you are being proactive for growth and THAT makes you a more valuable driver as long as you are running a safe and profitable truck.

Yeah, I've seen those posts too — hard to tell what's real and what’s just panic.

I try not to rely on social media drama too much. Instead, I usually check a few tools and forums that give a better feel for freight flow and what’s happening where. One app I use actually has a pretty solid map for tracking fuel prices, truck stops, even live traffic cams it's Trucker Guide. Honestly, I keep an eye on this one blog that breaks down industry news in a way that actually makes sense, helps me stay in the loop without all the noise.

As was said, freight markets have been catastrophic for several years. The good thing about this is that it makes no difference to you other than you need to fight for your career every second of every day. You won't be efficient enough for a while to even run the loads you do have. This job is so much more complex, nuanced and very counterintuitive than people realize coming into it.

You do this by becoming the highest performing driver that's safe and easy to work with. Most drivers fail to go their first year without at least one incident or accident, if they even make it a year. Strive to be that driver that does it perfectly. It's attainable if you have the right attitude.

Never be late. Be early if you can and on time at a minimum. As soon as you see the thunderstorms of delay and confusion in your forecast, communicate these to your office. Be flexible take whatever loads you get and run them flawlessly. Do it with grace and professionalism.

Be safe, run a tight ship, clean logs, trip plan and execute with precision.

Don't worry about brown nosing and excuses and other superfluous crap, your company will see through it anyway and you will have your hands full just simply trying to survive each day without screwing things up too badly. It's crucial to prioritize and you first years priority is to perform at the highest level you can.

If you can attain a consistently high level of performance, with no safety incidents and accidents and are easy to work with, you will always have high paying work while the bottom and mid ranks fight over the scraps.

Its too soon to tell but there are reports of fewer container ships and less cargo. I would expect less freight to be moving in another month or 2. I have heard the reduction will be similar to covid times.

I constantly see stories (TikTok, X, Facebook) about truckers being laid off due to the tariffs and lack of freight volume?

Is there any truth to this? Are they making it seem worse than it is? Or it’s not really that bad?

Yeah and there are reports of companies already moving to US which means flatbed will increase with construction.

Wait n see. China is having protests due to jobs being affected.

This whole thing will take years to play out as far as new manufacturing goes unfortunately

Yeah and there are reports of companies already moving to US which means flatbed will increase with construction.

Wait n see. China is having protests due to jobs being affected.