Where are the inbound trucks?

[loaders]

It has certainly been awhile since we've seen such a shortage of available trucks for inbound loads. If trucks are having difficulty getting out of Canada obviously they won't be where you need them in the US.
Some of our points that were well serviced up untill recently, have become vitual "ghost towns", with the nearest Canadian truck 200+ miles away. In most cases, our US customers are experiencing the same difficulty getting their US loads covered, and as a result are willing to pay higher rates to Canada. However, even with a premium rate, if there are no trucks, what can you do? Our most troublesome regions at present are; Central TN to S. Ontario for full van loads and Southern AR to S. Ontario for flatbed. If any carrier members service these areas, even semi-regularily, please PM me.

 

[mrspeed19692006]

We all decided to park our trucks until the outbound rates are where they should be. It's great as a carrier, especially when we have people paying for round trips just to get their loads back here. But seriously, there's no outbound even worth pulling right now.

 

[lowmiler88]

That Central TN is a killer and has been for a while, we have anywhere from 4 to 10 loads a week out of there and we can't get our trucks near the place and like you said finding trucks is like pulling teeth no matter the price you are willing to pay. We run our own trucks from Florida up just to get the loads which hurts with the rates out of Florida at the moment.

 

[loaders]

Your right lowmiler88, once you throw the seasonal produce loads into this mix, some areas become really, really dificult to get covered at any price.

 

[alx]

Seasonal

What are all these seasonal trucks doing when it's not their season???

Maybe they are pulling all kinds of freight for lower rates than those of us running legitimate businesses. Thereby killing the rates, once their produce is running , they are no longer loyal.

This may just be part of our problem.

 

[Inbound Specialist]

Irony

I have been saying this and warning broker and shippers for a while.

If brokers and shippers didn't start to protect their relationship with carriers then not only would their rates for inbound loads go up, but availability in general would go down if not disappear completely.

As a carrier if you've survived this long I think we can almost say that the worst is over and things can only improve. Hopefully I'm not jumping the gun with saying this.

I find it very ironic that for the last 2 years, Carriers had to desperately seek outbound freight, and now Brokers are the ones desperately seeking inbound trucks.

Also it is pathetic that Brokers threaten you with not giving you outbound freight if you don't give them your truck when you have an inbound truck available. From a Logical point of view, why would any carrier want to deal with someone who would blackmail and threaten them.

If I was an "A" Hole I would keep those brokers who call for your inbound trucks on hold and after 5 minutes come on the line and tell them "The truck is covered" and hang up on them very rudely, just like so many brokers had done to me when I called for their outbound freight they posted. Unfortunately I don't have the heart to do this to any person as I believe in treating people how you would want to be treated.

Anyways.... Good luck to all!


Inbound Specialist

 

[theman]

As a broker, I've been warning my customers that this was going to happen for quite a while now. It still sucks though ... the worst thing is when you can't fill the orders customers want to give you.

As far as the brokers not giving outbound to carriers who don't give them inbound trucks ... well, that's the way it's gotta be. It's called leverage, not blackmail, not being an a-hole. Everyone has a job to do.

Personally I have always found that there was better money in marketing inbound freight ... we market the outbound freight mainly to create synergies for the inbound. At least where I've been anyway.

It's quite possible that customers will start having to pay round trip at least through the spring, after that the market is going to decide -- are Canadian carriers or American carriers going to be the primary providers for northbound freight to Canada????

 

[Nawk]

Relationships guys.

Deal with reputable carriers and take care of them... in turn they'll take care of you.

If you've been beating them down on the rates in the past... why should they help you when you need an inbound load covered?

If you quote a customer a rate and every time they get you to come down 100.00 (narrowing your margin) and only giving you the crappy lanes... giving all the good stuff to another broker, would you help them if they were in a spot? If you could... you'd likely bump up your rate wouldn't you?

It's not so hard really...

 

[ranger_dispatch]

inbound freight

Relationships guys.

Deal with reputable carriers and take care of them... in turn they'll take care of you.

If you've been beating them down on the rates in the past... why should they help you when you need an inbound load covered?

If you quote a customer a rate and every time they get you to come down 100.00 (narrowing your margin) and only giving you the crappy lanes... giving all the good stuff to another broker, would you help them if they were in a spot? If you could... you'd likely bump up your rate wouldn't you?

It's not so hard really...

I agree with you 100% Nawk. Pay a good rate going outbound, and carriers will definitely work with you on the inbound.

 

[theman]

In a perfect world ...

I think if you're market correct on the round, then you'll be OK. But no one provider can change the market, and the market in general will not allow higher outbound rates.

We have no problem raising the inbound rates to cope with what's going on with the southbound -- but we can't do it alone.

 

[Freight Broker]

One solution is rail...much better rates and the service... although not as good as truck..is acceptable..especially when you factor in how long it takes to get a truck for loads. I have volume shippers in the south central US that have gone to rail three months ago...no looking back...its working great. Rail is much improved since the 70s... lots of interest about rail now..

 

[brwnee]

Inbound Freight

I think part of the capacity crunch has to do with seasonal shipping ie: produce - but I also think in speaking with a lot of US drivers freight is really picking up in the USA - point to point USA loads that is - and if American drivers can stay busy within the US - you will continue to see less available trucks for Northbound load because the US companies will not run the trucks to Canada - that is my thought for the day.

 

[theman]

Both brwnee and freightbroker have points.

On rail, I think it's temporary. The same thing happened in '08. The rails noticed that Canada is a black hole where they can't get out of and then they raise the inbound rates accordingly.

Also the SE USA market isn't great for intermodal because you have to run west then east again. And intermodal containers are starting to get tight too.

USA trucks to stop coming here? Well, most didn't anyway ... but the Americans have an advantage. They can pu in the US and deliver in the US... so their average deadhead given current market conditions will be lower than ours ... unless we make adjustments to the market to make sure the supply-demand evens out ... it will, but not overnight.

 

[doxilica]

Irony

I have been saying this and warning broker and shippers for a while.

If brokers and shippers didn't start to protect their relationship with carriers then not only would their rates for inbound loads go up, but availability in general would go down if not disappear completely.

As a carrier if you've survived this long I think we can almost say that the worst is over and things can only improve. Hopefully I'm not jumping the gun with saying this.

I find it very ironic that for the last 2 years, Carriers had to desperately seek outbound freight, and now Brokers are the ones desperately seeking inbound trucks.

Also it is pathetic that Brokers threaten you with not giving you outbound freight if you don't give them your truck when you have an inbound truck available. From a Logical point of view, why would any carrier want to deal with someone who would blackmail and threaten them.

If I was an "A" Hole I would keep those brokers who call for your inbound trucks on hold and after 5 minutes come on the line and tell them "The truck is covered" and hang up on them very rudely, just like so many brokers had done to me when I called for their outbound freight they posted. Unfortunately I don't have the heart to do this to any person as I believe in treating people how you would want to be treated.

Anyways.... Good luck to all!


Inbound Specialist

I really feel the same way very well said!!!!!!!!!!As far as treating people I am very polite person and I could not do that ever to anybody even there are times when some people do not deserve our respect at all.