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Issues in the trucking industry

that sound like a lot to be out there 24/7? I used to say that drivers are good at what they do, but not always good accountants. My facts come with 32 years of experience, have over 1700 owner operators leased to us and I have owned and operated multiple trucks.

Where do the brokers come up with their rates? I've heard them offering freight out at less than a dollar per mile. That would not even be enough to cover the operation of the truck. That would not even be minimum wage to the driver. Many drivers are already forced to live in their truck in order to send some money home and stay in business. Now there is not even enough money to send home and more drivers than ever are losing their trucks.

We must do something now to help the trucking industry or we will have no trucking companies or drivers left. Free enterprise is one thing, but people that do not own trucks or are allowed to obtain a brokers license should not be allowed to offer what would not even cover costs or pay minimum wage. Record numbers of trucking companies and owner operators are going out of business right now.

We must either start regulating freight again, stop brokers and people from quoting and offering out cheap freight-or we will have to sit idly by and watch as some drivers take freight to keep moving, only to put the money back in their truck, not into the economy, and then have no boost to our economy and no one left to move freight.

Even carriers that should know better (since they own trucks) are brokering freight out. People that find freight on the Internet should, at the very least, offer loads that would pay minimum wage to the driver. Again, right now these loads are being offered for less than the truck makes.

Watch a video from Good Morning America and ABC News titled 'Economy: Sectors to Watch:' - get to know a face this effects directly as this process is called low-balling or repressing an industry and again, only hurts all of us. As bad as things are already, this will eventually put America out of business. A manufacturer wouldn't sell their product for less than it costs them or they need to make so why should a driver run for less than they need to make? Many reliable sources say as much as 78% of everything we use is delivered by truck. So, in order to help trucking and our economy we must deal with this now!

Learn more about this author, Mike Kennon.
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Issues in the trucking industry

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