Shippers Might Be Taking Over Trucking: Will The Market Ever Get Better? 

Bottom line. A shipper has a load for $1 RPM ( or less). We all know this is a total loss for a carrier but someone takes this load to off set fuel costs. 1) the shipper learned they can get it moved for $1 or less. 2) shipper won’t want to lock in on a contract rate when they see it will get hauled for $1 or less on the spot. 3) shippers will have the same costs as carriers to set up or expand their own fleet. If we loose at $1 RPM so will they. So save money put it on the spot for $1 and it will get hauled. For this market to turn ALL carriers need to stop hauling cheap freight. Let it sit and rot on the dock. Shippers want to starve us out so time to flip that switch. Stop hauling cheap freight NO EXCEPTIONS! My definition of cheap freight is a RPM that does not cover ALL costs of moving that load with with some profit. This idea of I got $3 going out and $1 getting back gives you an AVERAGE of breaking even is ridiculous. EVERY load you load must be profitable. If not, you are the problem.

We are based on the US/mexico border. Mexican fleet owners have taken over, they cross the freight across and deliver themselves, taking advantage of the growing demand using cheap unregulated,unsafe, underpay drivers. They are buying American used trucks and taking them to Mexico. We are not seeing the benefits of this growing demand. Plus they stay in the U.S. and work under other MC to haul freight. This needs to stop it’s hurting our industry.

We just cant take 2 million drivers and find unity in such a diverse industry. If we all worked for one company then there could be better balance. As an owner operator....im at the mercy of my customers! Everyone is my customer and im only responsible for myself. Moving freight is my specialty. Miranda brings up what most drivers never see or understand.... Control is only an illusion. Driving still remains the dream.

Shippers will be outraged at how long their trucks are held up at receivers and back haul shippers 🤣😂😂. Their fleet won’t be available in a timely period to haul another load. They can’t afford to pay their own drivers properly during those away from home down times

I am a former focus broker, fleet manager and account manager for a mega carrier but now I own a small carrier and been in this business 17yrs. This is a really bad time. And the people that make it through will reap the benefits on the other side. But here’s the thing. There are only so many private fleets. You have to think about the volume of freight that has to move daily. The private fleets can’t get trucks or trailers fast enough, let alone be able to afford to grow it bigger or fast enough. Let’s say a private carrier wants to add 1000 trucks which usually takes years. You’re looking at 150 million for trucks 50million for 1,000 trailers. So at 200million from the jump. That doesn’t include recruiting, pay, incentives, 401k match, insurance (most are self insured so add a billion in the bank for those 1,000 trucks) don’t forget if any lawsuits happen due to an accident that’s variable really but I think y’all get the point. Private fleets, mega carriers, midsize to large carriers dipping into the spot market is literally nothing new. Usually they do it during peak spot market rates but now they are drowning along with everyone else. They just have a lot of money to lose but some obviously haven’t. So all that to say this. We are in a recession. Most people right now are either out of work or lost their full time job to work 3 part time jobs. Everything is political. Trucking literally rises and falls on politics, regulations, etc. I don’t see how people don’t get that. Trucking will recover. My business is doing very well. If I could lease on more people I would. Part of my company is in a niche with great customers. Do we have to take crap pay on some loads, yes. But they still pay a lot more then spot.

When they start noticing how expensive it is to fix the trucks when they break down, paying drivers and insurance I’ll be shock if that don’t change their minds

The reality is that drivers is only one in the industry who’s not paid for overtime and plus market going constantly bad even diesel price going down,we must or stop driving or start to protest peacefully ( stop driving at least for 3 days) ,they need to hear us otherwise they will continue to 💩 on us !

These shippers will learn the hard way what happens when thier private fleet drivers decide to go Union. This is a lesson they will not enjoy but it will take time to work through.

Have anyone noticed shipping and receiving times are ridiculous? They literally make it impossible to reload with these time gaps and loading and unloading times. On top on that brokers are penalizing us carriers for not making on time PU or delivery. We need to ban together asap to combat the brokers as well as the Shippers. We have the power to bring them to their knees if we unify instead of just waiting for them to cut us a break🙏🏾

There is a reason shippers reduced their fleets to begin with. It’s just those in charge don’t remember that reason.

Miranda is 100% correct. I work for a paper and cardboard company that owns it's own truck fleet. In the past 2 years we grew from 500 hundred trucks to 750 trucks. We would broker out a couple hundred loads a day in the past. Now we hardly ever broker out loads except on the weekends when our drivers are going home for the weekend to restart their clock. Also other companies and brokers reach out to us begging us to pickup their loads as backhauls for us.

It seems like a good idea. Problem has been that running their own trucks seriously detracts from their core business. I asked a shipping department gal one time why they don't have their own trucks. She said they tried that. It just didn't work out. Think about all components to creating a fleet, keepin trucks busy 10 mos out of the year & in months they slow down. Keeping drivers is a big problem, maintenance, not just like a shipping dept like they have now, but another whole huge department for shipping. Theres many more points but to little space & time to write it out. Look at it this way a big corp would really have to buy another big corp like Swift. Cutting down on their own growth factor.

Hey Miranda, I have worked for Walmart for about 5 years. I am relatively sure the company does not look at the spot market for backhauls. All of the stuff we pick up to take back to the DC's are regular vendors Walmart uses. Also, most of these vendors (shippers) use Walmart's information for verifying pickup information. I can't say for certain that it never happens, but I have never seen it. Also, most of the inbound freight to the DC's is shipped via outside carriers. I have no idea as to the amounts or percentages shipped via spot or contracted freight. The private fleet really carries a limited number of products from shippers. The main purpose of the private fleet is to maintain inventories at the stores. Anyway, I enjoy your videos. They really help by providing current information about the industry. I also hope those freight rates improve soon!

Everyone needs to stop focusing on market rates and focus on what it costs to run a business. Look at what you're paying for items that you want or need and ask yourself is it justified knowing how much market rate is to haul that product. The answer is no. So obviously the shipper or customer is paying more to haul that freight then what carriers are getting. Stop hauling freight that is under operational cost. Operational cost is around what fuel cost is.

Listen hopefully we are all grown ups here to take good and bad news , great video. Peace 🙏.

Yes this has been going on and Amazon has the biggest impact.

I used to work for Batesville casket co and they considered backhauls a 100% profit because when they built the price of the casket in it was round trip. They used to be a top notch company then they went on the nyse and now they treat the drivers like common folks.

Always great content 🥰thankyou!

47 cpm to 54 cpm? Is what they are offering drivers. Im seriously refusing to drive a semi. I will deliver pizzas. Absolutely highway robbery. If you go to the store the cost have gone up. So explain the cost goes up but the wages go down?

Good Evening, I believe the shippers are looking at cost of course, with that said it is just a matter of time before they eliminate a vast majority of their broker business. Technology has obviously vastly improved and our industry has become more streamlined by the day. Why deal with brokers going out of business when they could post their own loads and don’t have the fear of paying twice if the broker bails or girls for bankruptcy. Trucking is no longer a career, too many unknowns and given thy I would advise anyone to purchase a truck. Just think we are two weeks away from the speed limiter announcement, what will that do everyone’s business? When I started in 96’ you made a decent wage, nowadays one could argue and be correct that trucking isn’t worth the time anymore. Stay safe.

Thank you so much for the information.

You’re not doom and gloom you’re making us look at things right now what we need to be saying on our business with and I thank you for that😎💯🚛

Thanks for the heads-up..i had my suspicion since i been seen this playing out with our Walmart accounts

I don’t think you’re doom and gloom you’re the highlight of my day when I’m driving 😂🎉

Over the last few years I've had a few customers that have started their own fleets. I've even had a couple of them call me to see if I had any loads for them for a backhaul! The thing to keep in mind is that, as a shipper, it's a lot easier to save, or even make money, with their own fleet, when freight rates are high. The state of the industry right now won't be kind to their bottom line any more than it is to ours. Of course, the Amazons and Wal Marts of the world would love nothing better than to 100% own their own supply chain, eliminating any outside market forces entirely, but most companies aren't anywhere near their size.

The rail comments make sense. I'm an OTR driver but I've only moved 3 conventional loads this last month. The reason is I'm about to move our 5th power unit from Houston to Chicago for local Drayage work on the railyards.

Some insider information from a friend with one of the leading truck manufacturers. November will mark the turn around in freight rates.

Stay strong We depend on your reports

A shipper will have to purchase a truck, multiple trailers, insurance, driver, develop a safety program, a transportation manger, fuel, maintenance, regulations, it's cheaper for them to continue the way things are, doesn't seem cost effective

Miranda and folks, What is the longest time-frame you can imagine before Artificial Intelligence makes the truck driver obsolete... and what is the shortest? (For these purposes, let us rule out thermonuclear war and starting over again from flint stones.) So, we probably all agree that the transition will not be completed over the next five years. And probably we all would agree that there will not be commercial truck drivers a hundred years forward, the way things have been going. Anyone want to take a guess at narrowing this window, with supporting arguments and information?

You said it all in your last video when you said volume is down 23% in the last 5 years. When you add to that if things were growing slowly volumes would have grown 12% over those past 5 years. I think it’s reasonable to assume that shippers are going to have the power for some time

Company driver here - I see shipper with there own fleets Walmart, Amazon.. also I see carriers become there own cold storage facilities like DOT logistics.. DOT logistics has it own cold storage with there fleets attached. ** rail and inter-modle is where i physically see the volume and trend heading.. there will be only so many for hire fleets after shipper get retooled….

I think that's going to hit Mega carriers mainly. Shippers that I haul for are usually small, and I don't see them dealing with the cost of operations of a fleet of trucks. On the other hand, it is good to see shippers that never had a fleet dealing with DOT Blitz, EPA, IFTA, California Clean Truck Program, Driver Qualification, expensive fuel, overpriced parts, low quality remanufactured parts, high insurance costs, equipment breakdowns by designed...

In addition, to operate in the spot or contract markets, they will need to register with the FMCSA as a for-hire carrier as well as a Private fleet. That will require a different organizational setup, if any available, which also will have additional cost and regulatory burden.

I’m always excited to see a shipper expand there growing fleet it promotes better pay, home time, consistent pay, but at the same time turn over rate, overhead pay, and available freight at the time might lead to a greater expense shippers might not be ready for. As a swift OTR driver our first quarter we were down 2 billion and I’m still doing well and have a job. Not a lot of trucking companies can afford the loss with the gain.

interest rates are extremely high to curb inflation. that price trickles down to the general consumer/trucker

Very lovely 🌹

Today I saw a train loaded with 53' domestic containers. All the big trucking companies had their names on those containers.

Very true : shippers are taking over . This trend has been obvious here in Canada since last Spring . LOBLAWS and JBS , some of the biggest here are building their own fleets Thank you for your videos. Very interesting and well done !

I like reality. If I know the truth, I can deal with it. Thank you ..

Absolutely a concern. Basically, competition that only has the concern of breaking even. They don't need to make a profit in trans, just save on cost. We complain about $1.50 a mile, but if the shipper can break even at $1.40, then guess what, $1.50 is too expensive...

Bigger problem is what JB HUNT is trying to do with its intermodal network.

I leased my truck to a private fleet. Doing well, just did my numbers. 2.28/mi for the last 4 weeks after all expenses other than my truck payment and only 6 more payments to go. I'm at .33cpm on fuel. I run short loads only in the midwest so I get home every weekend. Drive less than 2000 miles a week at 60-62mph. So... trucking isn't dead and learning to be hyper efficient will save you. Funny thing is 95% of trucks just keep blowing my doors off every day so the rates must be amazing.

this is the thinning of the herd and those who can last will reap those benefits. I believe there is a hurricane of freight coming. Like when the water is dried out and pulled back before this hurricane hits. Get your equipment in check your going too need it. Stay strong 💪

you are NOT doom n gloom. Heck, i quit my otr job 2 weeks ago because i REFUSE to sit in these dock doors anymore. I want "normal" again. I still like n watch your channel.Company i was drtiving for (based out of Farmington, NY) is a sinking ship and per the vp of operations, "yes, we are taking on water." It has changed to forced dispatch (seeing as how i got my butt chewed for denying two overnight loads that I DO NOT do.) I bailed out a week later when it took them a week to get me home to fl from gettysburg.

30 years ago, family dollar and dollar general nestle had their own drivers. Then they did away with them and went to a third-party carrier for their store delivery. And now they are back with their own drivers again. Cost are high to keep third party can't blame them

Companies are moving freight with private fleets it and for backhauls rely on spot market. Supply shifts in the supple and demand curve because of private fleets.

A change in supply is not to be confused with a change in the quantity supplied.

Most of the big business had their own fleet years ago. The only constant in trucking is change. As the cost of trucks go up. It will change back.

Miranda tells the Truth, The Truth delivers Freedom, Freedom is beautiful, Miranda is Beautiful!!! Gotta Love Miranda...

Hey LEEETSSSS GOOOO!!!! Thank youu🎉🎉. Shippers expanding their own fleets. Is a recipe for disaster. Imagine having 300 trucks that you didn’t before. Now they will find out the ridiculous maintqnce costs.

This is exactly what I mentioned about half year ago, more and more shippers are making a pool of their own traiers however they don't wanna by trucks and deal with all this "carrier business", istead they are offering PO contracts

After re-listening to the video here are my thoughts. - I believe most shippers will stick to shipping, now could they try and hire more last mile drivers, yes. - I also do not believe most shippers want to be in the recruiting driver arena. They have enough on their plate trying to hire/retain warehouse personnel. - I think it does make sense however for the shipper to trim the fat if you will with outside shipping costs ie..broker business. - Why haven’t the brokers stood up and screamed the past two years regarding speed limiters? I think this is the biggest heist that is or will be occurring very soon, why? - If the speed limiters are implemented what value proposition statement can a broker provide to the shipper? All trucks will travel the same speed, all trucks have tracking and all trucks (most) are air-ride nowadays. - I believe that, yes the carriers will pay a price with speed limiters but the brokers will be most impacted. - Freight waves had a survey recently and to sum it up, the most important metric for a shipper is cost; it’s not tracking or are you wearing boots or flips flops; it is cost. - I do believe in time (not sure when) that mega-carriers and others, by the way it is already happening; they will not be able to put bodies in seats. The sacrifice vs reward vs risk just isn’t there any longer. - Recruiting or lack of is why we will see major changes in our industry. They’ve gone through in my opinion the last generation of youngsters who want to try and drive truck. - The lack of pay, the expense of being an OTR driver and giving up your life is not appealing to the masses. - If speed limiters are adopted I believe OTR in general will become a thing of the past eventually. This has been talked about since I started in 96’. - Trucking is in for a ride the next 5-10 years and unfortunately the men & women who are sacrificing their family life and their own livelihood will suffer the most. Let’s face it most of these companies are not in my opinion willing to take in the risk associated with the transportation well risk. I hate to say this, but they also do not want “us” to be the face of their company either.

My two cents is once these shippers see what exactly is involved in keeping huge fleets going and keeping drivers and dealing with accidents and law suits plus compliance they will re-evaluate if it’s cheaper when risk is involved. Not to mention there are so many little manufacturers who don’t have fleets already and who don’t have a clue what is involved that they will loose money trying to save money.

You killin me smalls 😠😠!!

If shippers expanding their fleets are a concern, then thats a win for company drivers that would have even more options to choose from. If each shipper can't woo enough drivers, then there will always be hired freight to haul.

The only markets that I can see being affected is Dry Van. Shippers will not do flat bed ,tanker or hardly even reefer in masse. JB is doing some bulk tanker and hopper bottom,but it would be insane for them to expand to such a needed level in order to put the megas and medium size fleets to the torch. The secret now for all of us is diversification in what we will haul and to where we will haul. Owner Ops need to sacrifice their home time and standard of living if they wish to survive.

If these shippers can take away all the loads from the brokers and carriers for hire and offer great hourly wages for their truckers, with a pension plan, health benefits and a great work life balance… as ex truckers. I would definitely dust up my CDL A and jump on board. Brokers carriers for hire and government oversight has WRECKED this industry.

I really appreciate the info you present here! If companies are trying to grow their private fleets, seems like the additional expense of new equipment would eat up any saving/ profits?? Other than WalMart and Target, who are the private fleets trying to expand?

Those private fleets won’t make a dent in total spot market capacity. They might do backhauls with a nearby supplier or bring back used dunnage and packing materials, but I don’t imagine they’ll be a lot of these private fleets. That’s nothing to go crazy over. All the major private fleets still do business with the mega carriers and spot carriers when it’s convenient, albeit on the cheap.

I Dub you ❤Hot and Spicy news🎉❤

I think the trucking industry needs to become reunionized!!

Peace Peace Ms info thank you..

Employees are a pain in the ass for a company that could do with outside labor. There are risks like liability and lawsuits in what is the most dangerous profession, minimum wages and employment overhead such as taxes, and insurances, and the always present threat of DC and politicians passing laws to protect the employee such as paying for detention, overlay and overtime. In many ways is shipper to pay more to outside carrier or contractor to haul the load without all these liabilities.

Spot rates do suck, and contract rates do too…but there’s good freight still to be moved. You need good relationships with agents who’ve got the best freight, but the spot market isn’t probably the place to find it.

I have a customer that I haven’t run for in a while, who is sending their OWN in-house drivers home and selling their loads on free market because “it’s not worth sending my drivers when I get such cheap rates right now”. So he’s actually doing the opposite and making his fleet smaller at the moment.

I think the number of trucks, truck payments,fuel cost, Insurance etc is going to be way to expensive for private fleets over time vs a one time payment to a for hire carrier that really the $ is in their control (shipper) unless it's a hot load. It will eventually get to a point where they start having too many loads in house and will need to move loads through for hire carriers anyway.

The size and geography of North America allows and makes convenient for huge amount of freight to be shipped via railways.

Those already entrenched or with money and connections (the new ones) will rise to the top and dominate. I think the typical smaller company will "just get by" in this market. The smaller ones may be able to "partner up" or grow through merger and consolidation but fighting with only rates and prices sounds brutal

That’s really getting on the professional end of it because you have to have drivers. It’s gonna take care of your equipment number one. You have to have experience drivers to make sure that the load can get there and get back if you got everybody coming in beat up your equipment. It’s gonna cost them shit load of money, and they won’t make it

I wonder about all this. I realize I've been involved in the trucking industry for fifty years and have seen things that worried me all along. I also realize I'm currently involved in a niche market, (moving livestock feed manufactured by big companies). I will say this, in this segment of the market I have seen manufacturer/shippers try about everything. Owning their own trucks and trailers, to getting rid of their own trucks and trailers. Currently one of the prominent ideas is to get large contract companies to take these problems off their hands. Well that worked to begin with, but then these companies started demanding rates made it possible to take care of both their drivers and the bottom line. The upshot of that is many of the receivers are buying thier products to be picked up at the plant instead of having it delivered by the manufacturer. That's where we come in. By not gouging our customers and providing them with good service, we still get the freight we need.

Cutting out the middleman has never hurt the commerce (historically).

I work part time for a broker and wanted to show what someone texted me while posting a watermelon load out of eagle pass TX to Terrell tx for a reefer.

Do you talk about car hauling and where that might be headed ?

When shippers have to deal with the company driver and driver retention etc. There will be room for others

I would be nervous but I don't think they realize what's involved when it comes to owning a fleet. It's very expensive and mismanagement can have you end up being in a worse situation than before. Owning a truck is very expensive and they will find themselves breaking even or taking a loss if they don't know what they're doing

I think, is nothing to worry about it is almost compare o said that electric truck would take out all the spot carries loads. Here no all the shippers has the capacity and money to build a private fleet Don’t panic and be proactive

Doom Queen ❤

They said the intermodal was gaining more traction. JB Hunt has cornered the market. Also WALmart is going to completely prioritize there loads. I work for SWIFT. They stated intermodal was picking up faster than anything.

Shippers are also opening up in house brokerages.

Nah! Not worried at all. They don't want the risk or the lawsuit that follows

So here’s what I think some shippers will go in-house maybe a 20% increase overall but a lot will get scared when they see the cost of liability. I do think that Brookers will go all the way of the dodo bird in about 10 to 15 years owner operators will have no other choice, but to go directly to the shippers. Also let’s not forget the fact the trucks will be driving themselves in about 15 years so they won’t need Owner operators

dont ever apoligize- for giving truth let the ego struggle

Unfortunately in this scenario owner operators are quickly exhausting their utility to the shippers. Shipping companies like Amazon for example are growing so quickly and settling up Distribution Centers locally. It will eventually be more cost effective to just hire truck drivers at this rate. Their goal is to increase volume in order to scale and report positive quarterly earnings to shareholders.

All it would take is 24-48 hrs for all drivers to shut down and not accept any loads to help the rates and show them the impact of truckers but they continue settling for low rates so its just going to get worse. Sadly

Id say, its going to be interesting as to who will survive the high interest rates environment. According to the producer manufacturing index, shippers are in no shape or position to start private fleets. Id go do some research on the trucking companies and owners who survived the Paul Volcker era, and use their strategies. If they were, private fleets will become unionized lol.

I’m not sure that is what’s happening. Some Shippers, etc may have private fleets but many big shippers like General Mills, Kellog, Lowe’s don’t have a private fleet (albeit Lowe’s stores have local delivery trucks) and the cost of equipment and all the costs of labor it doesn’t make sense to me that that is the way things are going. Freight rates are low enough for the big shippers why would they want the costs of new, equipment, hiring , labor costs, etc.? Now as far as rail and all that, for non time sensitive freight , I can see Shippers going that route. The amount of Carriers (probably mostly one truck type operations or very small ones) going out of business may be increasing but many may be going back to company driving positions which shifts but doesn’t shrink overall capacity . Hang in there, Miranda!

Hey Miranda ! Been watching every video,just been in Panama. I know you have been wondering were i have been,but worry no more 😂😂😂😂. But seriously, shippers growing their fleets is not just about the obvious cost they will have to obsorb. You can have the largest fleet in the country,but can you get drivers to fill those seats ?!?! 5,000 trucks does not mean 5,000 drivers will be in them ! If it were that simple,it would already be happening. The turn around rate is to high to sustain a growing fleet when drivers change companies for different reasons all the time. So nothing to fear,just alot of propaganda to have speaking points. Remember, there are hundreds of new trucks sitting at dealers,and orders cancelled. If shippers are going to increase,wouldn't it be wise to get those great deals now ?!?! I had a NOTHING BURGER for lunch today,& i think the shippers made it ! HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND !

Some shippers will do it for a short time til they find out their not efficient enough. Takes a lot of personnel to plan,move and maintain trucks. They can't nearly be as efficient as a company that's only purpose is to move freight.

If the shipper or Broker has no way of moving the load, they would have to re-negotiate with the shipper or the shipper would just have to pay more because without us, their loads won’t move. But unfortunately, with truckers being so desperate, either with high payments and insurance and caught in the trap. They’re going to take those loads. And end up going out of business, because we have way more to pay. Then everybody gives us credit for. You make barely enough to pay your truck payment your insurance maintenance but they don’t care about family, which we still have to support.

The most significant aggravations you deal with on a daily basis are when a shipper throws a load out to twenty brokers. These twenty brokers then take up your time getting twenty different rates from carriers. Per your remarks, we don't need brokers. Cargo should be negotiated between shippers and carriers.

Don't listen to them. I love the way you don't candy coat things.

A typical company says a driver earns 1 day off per week. We are an 8 day week organization, thus 45.6 days. Companies believe that is too much. For the first time, I might get that time. Because of age and medical issues. Based on the life cycle, I am living on borrowed time.

I've seen more and more brokers I used to book loads from with their company names on the sides of trailers

Not only are companies self hauling.. There backhauling through brokers.

Private fleets will divest in the long run. All the overhead of trucks, fuel, drivers, maintenance, insurance. Besides, it is no longer a ‘private fleet’ if they go to the spot market. The rates still need to support costs. Private fleets aren’t immune to costs so eventually it’s better to pay for hire carriers to dispense with overhead.

These changes are all cyclical. Shipper will add equipment to do their own movements and a few years later they decide to stick to their core business and hire for transportation. They realize that managing equipment and drivers is a big hit in their P&L and leave the transportation to shipping companies . I’m more concerned of government working with mega suppliers and pushing the little guys out. Even this would be cyclical bc some transportation companies can’t manage growth but short term it will hurt the little guys. Supply and demand works its way out unless government keeps meddling in the equation .

In a video you showed how to get direct shippers on dat but how do you find direct shippers on truck stop also thanks

The truth always seems to hurt ppl.

The economy is in a rescission, that's why trucking is sucking