Deregulation

Ya know.... I often wonder what trucking was like before deregulation. I am curious as to the need for regulation and the ultimate demise of it. What prompted regulation in the first place and what were the motivating factors behind deregulation. How many companies were lost in the transition and why. How much of a stink was made by companies that were for or against? Was the general consesus that the industry was "doomed" because of it?

Thanks for your insight into the early days of trucking. For me, the more I know about the past of something the better I can align myself for its future. I have been researching this industry since.....oh.....mid 2006.....LOL....

R/

Frat

 

If you haven't seen it already, there's a recent dereg thread on here:
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...70-deregulation-of-the-trucking-industry.html

There's some good stuff in it!

 

As southern pride said before deregulation it was extremely hard to get any authority, both intra state and interstate. You basically had to lease out to someone to haul anything. You could haul exempt commodities interstate, produce etc.The authority was worth more than the assets of a company in many cases.

If I remember right they deregulated to lower costs for transportation. Those that adapted were fine many others vanished. There used to be a big CF terminal in OKC, they had green freightliner cabovers. This was a long time ago.

 

I agree with you 100% SP....I caught the last few years of trucking before deregulation and it was no easy deal.
Most of the guys crying about deregulation ruining the trucking buisness never trucked before it was deregulated.

 

I think it's pretty safe to say that the only thing regulation did for trucking was stifle innovation and efficiency in the industry. We're all better off without it.

 

Ditto on deregulation. Opened the field for those that wanted to do business their way.

I am not so apt to step on freight brokers, though. They fill a niche. A lot of shippers do not want to fiddle with negotiating things or they do not want to waste time on the phone trying to track down carriers and such so they go thru a freight broker. The broker, just like truckers, try to get what they can for conducting business. If they get such large cuts, it is not necesarily their fault. A lot of people out here need to take a short course in negotiating so that the brokers don't get so much. Language is the key. NEVER mention words like "back haul". You have to go into the whole game just like a business negotiating for anything. Learn to negotiate a load that will put you in a place that will have a better load that will pay more to get you near the house instead of just getting a "back haul". Work with a small handful of brokers on a consistent basis and develop a business relationship. Part of negotiating freight is also to know what is going on throughout the country. If freight rates are lousy out of an area, then you have to negotiate the rate better for the haul in. Likewise, I would have no problem taking a lower paying load into an area that had high ticket freight moving out. Pre booking loads in and out will benefit more than waiting till the last minute. You have to know the market.

This is the goal of deregulation. To allow more people to do business without government restriction. Of course, it requires each person to get a little more educated on how to do business and it did allow some bottom feeders to enter the broker market. The only reason that a broker may make a large percentage on the load is that the trucker negotiating doesn't know what he is doing and gets scammed. Legally, if the trucker doesn't know how to do business and gets ripped off, it is not the broker's fault. Those that want to operate on their own authority and deal with brokers should invest a little time and money and get some good business books on negotiation. Attend a business seminar on negotiation if you can. Better yet, take the time to develop your own network of shippers and direct negotiate with them.... that is where the money is by cutting out the middle man. Truck brokers are a fact of life. When we deal with them, we have to learn how to play their game to level out the playing field. Developing good business relationships with only a few brokers can really go a long way.

For those that don't want to invest the time to become a skilled salesman/negotiator, then best to stick with lease on with a carrier. Not a bad thing. Let them do all the heavy lifting and backroom stuff like getting the freight, negotiating fuel discounts, collecting on the bill, etc. Sure, you will not make as much on the load, but when you factor in the time and cost of doing your own stuff, the net profit may or may not be that much less. But even leasing on with a carrier requires the same business skills that I mentioned earlier. Unfortunate for some, they lease on with a carrier in much the way a company driver signs on. So they get treated and rewarded not much different than a company driver and get the "one size fits all" treatment.

Either way, owning and operating a truck is a BUSINESS. Treat it like a business and think like a successful business person would, and you can actually make a decent living. Even in down economic times.

 

And they seem to want to blame Carter for it but it originally started for discussion in the Nixon/Ford WH, JC was there to finally get the act signed.