Itchavi

Looking for better weather this #FursuitFriday 📷 @CaptainChaotika

@FreightAlley It's fun looking back on this. Honda cancelled its EV plans just a few days before this map and the OH valley where they were building for them cooled immediately. It makes me curious how sensitive the market is to regional news like that. autonews.com/honda/an-honda…

Flatbed rates continue to firm across the US. A few weeks ago, we saw the rate pops concentrated to the rust belt and Texas. Now we are seeing sharp flatbed rate increases take over most of the country. Map: shows which lanes coming out of various markets are experiencing increases or decreases.

@FreightAlley Why would the drivers face civil liability? The FMCSA showed the guy was an active SAP, why would they need to check anything other than that? It's not their job to decide whether an SAP is operating legitimately or not.

1 in 85 truck drivers that had previously failed their drug tests went to "bruh" to get cleared. He turned in "clean" drug tests so that the drivers could return to work. The problem? Most of them wouldn't have passed.

Arrrffff im puppyyy 🥺

@adamlwingfield I think the DOT is even more aware of box trucks right now. All of ours were getting pulled in for Level 1's at least twice a week. Finally got inspection stickers in all of them so they just laugh and let us go now. Our drivers tell us it's clear DOT has a target and it's not us

There are roughly 177,000 Non-CDL holders that operate equipment between 10,000-26,001 pounds operating on our highways. Is the same enforcement of the rules being applied there? 🧐

Time to push the button. 😁

@FreightAlley We had a shipper change their tactics. Rather than send over an RFQ like they have for the last 3 years they have started to just send the shipment over and say "Please book this for [last month's rate]." We've had to consistently tell them no.

Shippers that didn’t prepare for higher transportation costs this year are about to have their budgets blown out.

@TMSuccessful You have to be careful. The last BCA we were handed had late fees at the "whole actual cost". That meant if the shipper panicked and ordered an expedite air freight shipment the carrier would be charged for the full recovery expedite.

Part of me hopes this is fake. Part of me thinks this is probably real. Imagine a broker deciding to cut your rate by 79% as a late fee. If real, I can’t help but wonder: Was this guy like a month late to delivery?

@John__Ferguson @FreightAlley Why would they need to control O/O's? Just work with those that do what you want. Those that don't will either change or attrition off.

There are ~1 million independent owner-operators in the U.S., and people think brokers can control them better than the FMCSA?

After the event the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Just before the end of my birthday and #FursuitFriday! Thank you all that made my birthday so memorable <3 🦅🪡: @Wolfbird_NLCC

@ApexDaGryph Happy Birthday!!

So many balloons :>

@thefreightnerd First it was seasonal, then it was the weather, and now it's fuel. The part that's left out is that if you stand on a shipping dock or read forums the vibe has shifted. Carriers don't feel oppressed anymore and that feeling alone is starting to be enough to push rates up.

The positioning of the last few weeks of freight rate conditions as a bull v. bear interpretation moves beyond rhetoric. I believe that touting the recent uptick in total rates as anything but fuel-driven is a direct misrepresentation of reality and could cause material financial harm to anyone who disregards the fuel impact. Linehaul rate are still up double digits over last year, but that spread is compressing as fuel eats into the gross profit of the carriers. Brokers must recognize that, while their revenue per shipment is increasing, that effect is driven by fuel prices and can evaporate quickly. Shippers are seeing contract tender acceptance rates increase as contract carriers shift their focus away from the spot market where fuel isn't recaptured. The parade of volatile shocks to the freight system has made it very difficult to parse signal from noise the last two quarters. Those that are placing their trust (or their P&L) in the hands of folks who claim to know with certainty what's going to happen next are doing so at the risk of great peril.

@FreightAlley It's the new "I found a cheaper option" we heard all last year.

Pay up or freight is gonna stay on the dock

Happy Friday! #FursuitFriday ⬅️ @ElijahHusky 🪡 @FFAFursuits

@TMSuccessful It's funny that the line is "Do they treat me better than 'Kate from Emerge'?"

No matter how much I vent about certain brokers, it never fails. At least once every few weeks, a unicorn broker comes along: someone who is an absolute PLEASURE to work with. Sadly, when I say "unicorn broker", I mean someone who is actually a decent human being. That's it. A decent human being with proper business etiquette. Sad how rare this is.

Hey, my odometer turned over. 😁

@FreightAlley The temptation to go cheap is strong and it's an addiction that's hard to break. Cheap freight is great until cheap freight is all you've got.

This is far more common among freight brokers than anyone wants to admit

@FreightAlley Brokers subsidize shipping costs across multiple shippers. By dedicating to it they're able to maintain more carrier relationships and (theoretically) produce better results at lower costs. They also free shippers' high value employees to focus on revenue rather than shipping.

Trying to explain the role of a freight broker to anyone outside the trucking industry is…. Challenging.

@SageOutcast @TMSuccessful @FreightAlley @Andersonj2273 @lets_truck @dr_phil_truckn @FW_Truck @freightcaviar @garrett_makes @thefreightnerd @maybedanielleee @dartinguphill @Channel19S @m I think the box truck/cargo van market will become a lot less appealing. The bottom will fall out of it more than it already has and I think that will drive most people out to other fields.

@itchavi @TMSuccessful @FreightAlley @Andersonj2273 @lets_truck @dr_phil_truckn @FW_Truck @freightcaviar @garrett_makes @thefreightnerd @maybedanielleee @dartinguphill @Channel19S @m But non CDL job in the USA is still better money then going home so why would they

@Andersonj2273 @lets_truck @dr_phil_truckn @FW_Truck @freightcaviar @FreightAlley @TMSuccessful @garrett_makes @thefreightnerd @maybedanielleee @dartinguphill @Channel19S @m