this is rough. ive actually been seeing a lot of 18 wheelers on the side of the road, being pulled over by state troopers, etc. i was curious about it, someone told me that the trucking companies are pretty much not doing proper maintenace...i dont know what the situation is with self-owned trucking...there was a case here on the local news about a fatality with a self-owned truck. :-(
blah blah blah...praying, most definitely. please keep us all posted on how his situation develops.
Basically, if you own your own truck, you need to contract to a good company.
If we look at the core trucking industry that transports the common commodities that are shelved at all the grocery stores across America, we see that it is down to a science with regular dedicated routes that run like clockwork.
After deregulation, trucking companies got big, really quick and underbid each other for these routes. These routes are the bread and butter for all large trucking companies.
They found out that they didn't have to make much profit if they could increase their profit. In the 90's, after expenses the company made half a cent per mile. In other words, if you had a flat tire on the road, it stole your profits for the next three routes.
This drove quality with the large trucking companies who purchase their fleets for less than they sell them used. Let me explain with fake numbers to illustrate a point.
A truck sales for 100,000 new. The same truck sales 3 years later for 80,000.
Company A who owns a fleet of 3,000 trucks makes a deal with Kenworth (Major truck brand) to purchase 1,000 trucks a year for 78,000 each. Kenworth makes their profit on volume, not the individual sale.
Each year Company A sales its used trucks for $80,000 and purchases its brand new trucks for $78,000. Company A is making money from each truck they purchase.
This allows them to lower their rates for dedicated routes and it almost eliminates breakdowns which leaves them with standard maintenance items like tires, brakes, oil changes etc.
However, when they sale them, warranty just ran out and that's where the expenses really go up.
Because a new truck would cost $100,000 which is 20,00 less than a good used, most independent drivers go that route.
Where it gets ugly is when an independent purchases a used truck that's been through multiple owners and they become their own primary mechanic. Rates for routes are already low and they don't have a truck that's reliable enough to keep the good, well paying routes.
It's a tough business and DOT knows many independent truckers can't afford to maintain their equipment to safety standards, so they are easy targets to generate state revenue which adds to the financial pressure they already have.
