Are things slow now everywhere?

Last week I was getting fuel and an owner operator who pulls shipping containers ran up to me at the fuel island and asked if we were hiring at Gordon Food Service. He said intermodal here in Cleveland is very slow right now so slow that he said it's almost not even worth the trouble anymore and that he needed to start making money. He said clutch goes out there's $1600 down the drain. Said the lottery isn't panning out either. I told him go on the internet and apply. We just hired a new guy I think he was a train engineer or something so if owner operators and train engineers can't seem to make it and are running over to broad line food suppliers then what does that tell you ha-ha!

 

Things died in Chicago, hear same from a lot of carriers 4-6 guys not working per day

 

Trains haul intermodal past my home daily. It's only two engines instead of three now most of the time with about 200 or so boxes on the train. Until around 2009, we had several container trains packed to the max with 3 or even 4 engines roaring to get into St Louis or Little Rock as fast as possible with like 400 boxes or more. I can tell that the truckstop in the area is rather slow. Not as bustling or busy. The phones are not yakking on the tables or booths. The money is not really moving. People are eating chili or hotpockets rather than complete meals to save a few dollars. Tractors surround the companies waiting for loads to haul.

There is always freight. Always will be. But suspect the US Government, Military needs have the freight these days. There will always be a need to haul food to sysco but people are not eating out much. They will again when times get better. If they get better. Used cars piled up in my part of the state. Dozens, hundred or more unsold quietly rusting because the dealers want cash money.

There are two industries in trucking that roll steady, agriculture is one including a fish farm to our south and gas towards the wellheads and fracking in our State. That is most active at night. Usually someone makes a screw up and rolls the rig at a certain 35 mph curve going too fast either sleepy or careless. But I see them day and night and evaluate that they have work plenty.

You can visit a site that will indicate the daily layoffs. http://www.dailyjobcuts.com/ If it happens to be a steel mill or a distribution facility or something else directly involving your company then you know already that the freight is going to slow down.

Finally but not last. Commodities. If the prices are not high it's not good. Another would be a examination of Transport index on the markets. A third would be break bulk, or baltic dry. A look at the ports such as Baltimore would give you an idea of how well or poorly things are going.

Some areas of the Nation are powerful economic engines able to keep running a truck or many trucks and trains to keep going with a needed load or loads. Those are where you want to be. Potatoes in Idaho comes to mind. Coal is another. Grain is a third. And so on.

 

I work in LTL and it has been slow since July 5th

 

I'm coming back from a month off next week I'm hoping to do long distance loads 6days a week to see if I hit my 1500 take home a week

 

We start slowing down about 2 weeks ago, but, it's also somewhat normal for April and May to be slow for containers. In almost 20 yrs of doing this, I've learned that the time just after Chinese New Year until early June can fluctuate greatly, but it's typically the slow season. This year it's hitting a little late though. I was doing a special this week, so I was gone from Sunday until Thursday, so I've got Friday off. Last two week though, while I've worked 5 days, most of my coworkers have had 1 day off during the week.

 

from what my co. says, about 15-20 phone calls a day of drivers/owner ops looking to work.

yeah, chicago intermodal has taken a massive.. and i mean massive hit.

talked to a few guys in rail yards today, a guy with roadone for 10 yrs is looking to leave... that's pretty bad.

 

Transport Topics News reported that trucking bankruptcies tripled in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the first quarter of 2015