Welcome • User Guide
ToS • Privacy • Canary
Donate • Bugs • License

©2025 Poal.co

1.5K

As some of you know I operate a small refrigerated freight carrier company. We have 6 over the road trucks and refer trailers. I just got a call from my dispatcher panicked... within 48 hours the rates have ABSOLUTELY tanked, so much so that we are electing to sit in Salt Lake City and Denver. We have been getting between $3.00 - $3.30 per mile, rates are now $2.00 per mile and lower. We simply can not make a profit at this number, we are literally losing money with every additional mile. The funny thing is this is across the board, the spot market is very quick to react to market conditions and there is very little fat. What this tells me is there is NO freight to move ( we move food) and there is a serious excess capacity with trucks. Between fuel cost, increased and unwarranted insurance increases they are KILLING small carriers such as myself. I also heard that Walmart and swift are cutting a huge % of their company drivers and back filling with owner operators. My gut is the insurance and maintenance costs coupled with downed trucks because of the lack of parts makes it hard to make a profit.

I hired back a driver that went to a company that had 46 truck fleet and 18 of the trucks were down waiting for parts (3-6 weeks for some longer for others)

As some of you know I operate a small refrigerated freight carrier company. We have 6 over the road trucks and refer trailers. I just got a call from my dispatcher panicked... within 48 hours the rates have ABSOLUTELY tanked, so much so that we are electing to sit in Salt Lake City and Denver. We have been getting between $3.00 - $3.30 per mile, rates are now $2.00 per mile and lower. We simply can not make a profit at this number, we are literally losing money with every additional mile. The funny thing is this is across the board, the spot market is very quick to react to market conditions and there is very little fat. What this tells me is there is NO freight to move ( we move food) and there is a serious excess capacity with trucks. Between fuel cost, increased and unwarranted insurance increases they are KILLING small carriers such as myself. I also heard that Walmart and swift are cutting a huge % of their company drivers and back filling with owner operators. My gut is the insurance and maintenance costs coupled with downed trucks because of the lack of parts makes it hard to make a profit. I hired back a driver that went to a company that had 46 truck fleet and 18 of the trucks were down waiting for parts (3-6 weeks for some longer for others)

(post is archived)

You are currently inside a comment thread.
Click here to see all the comments (69).
[–] • 3 pts

Can you provide insight into how this is happening? I thought we didn't have enough trucks to move everything. Are people not buying stuff? Food sources drying up? Something else?

[–] • 1 pt

I honestly cant place my finger on it. My dispatcher ( who lives in Bosnia) who has been dispatching trucks in the US for 15 years says he has never seen anything like it! My concern ( and it is a concern at this point no fact) is that even with a supposed shortage of truck capacity, the available freight is falling below an even depressed number of available trucks. That to me is a signal that needs to be on everyon's radar. If the freight market is driven by supply and demand, and the rates are tanking even with a depleted trucking capacity there is a SERIOUS shortage of goods to be moved!

[–] • 1 pt

I can certainly try...we operate off of the spot market because our trucks are constantly in different locations so fixed routes don't really work for us. The market is very quick to adapt to supply and demand and is mostly controlled by freight brokers looking to move freight. Typically we need about $2.80 per mile to make a profit! We are seeing rates as of yesterday out of Salt Lake sub $1.50 per mile. My understanding is there is a definite shortage of truckers in the industry, that I can verify. Because pricing in the spot market is set by supply and demand. If we have a shortage of trucks and truckers, this is signaling to me that the movable freight is falling below even that level which is scary!

[–] • 0 pt

Exactly, I read recently Walmart paying 100k to truckers. Also, heard the industry looking to hire teenagers because they need truckers so bad.

[–] • 1 pt

Im telling you what my drivers are telling me. These guys have long hours alone and LOVE to talk. Walmart is cutting company drivers because they sont have parts to maintain their fleet and want to pass the burden on to owner operators

[–] • 0 pt

I thought we didn't have enough trucks to move everything.

We didn't, but it wasn't so bad to the point where everything collapsed like most imagine it would. It manifested in much more subtle ways, mostly a lot of really overworked truckers picking up extra shifts (not joking).

Are people not buying stuff?

Companies aren't willing to pay reasonable prices to have stuff that they bought/made moved. OP talks about getting about $3/mile with his refrigerated transportation normally, but the customers are not willing to pay more than $2/mile very suddenly, just earlier today. Could mean the companies are hurting in the wallet, looking to cut costs everywhere they can- freight is one of the first places to look in a lot of cases.

[–] • 1 pt

I wouldn't say that is how the supply chain works for perishable goods. It isn't like they are going warehouse food that will expire.

[–] • 2 pts

Most of the refrigerated warehouses we ship to are at max capacity and woefully under staffed. We are often made to sit days on end because they are ao backed up, essentially using my trailer as a next to free mobile atorage.

[–] • 1 pt

Could mean the companies are hurting in the wallet,

I don't think this is how any of it works.

When I want to ship something I compare prices between shippers and go with the lowest cost option, regardless of what the price is. Shippers compete for my buisness by lowering prices. As the lowest priced options get booked the higher priced ones are what I have to use. The less remaining capacity there is the higher prices go. And the longer it continues even the lowest priced carriers adjust thier prices up.

Similarly when shipping freight I set a low price, based on what current shipping prices are, and adjust up if no one is willing to take it at that price.

This is what dictates rates and not the .001% of freight that doesn't ship because the shipper can't afford it.

[–] • 1 pt

I'm telling you how it works. I am very close to someone in the industry. I'm speculating about possible reasons for OP's observations.

[–] • 0 pt

Correct, this has way more to dow with not enough freight leading to extreme excess capacity. Larger carriers can run a no or even negative margins just to keep the trucks moving. I cannot not!

[–] • 0 pt

I thought the same thing and read the same articles. I also read an article a few weeks back that hinted to HUGE shit in freight rates leading to extreme excess capacity. I cant make any sense of it.