Truckers Finally Seeing Higher Rates… But Carriers Are STILL Going Bankrupt

Añadido: 2026-05-31

[00:00:05]Good morning you beautiful bunch of [ __ ] and welcome to my world. I'm your host Kevin Ruford. It's Thursday, May 28th. Time for some technology inefficiency.

[00:00:18]We've got the uh we've got the dedicated people here today. We're a little light.

[00:00:23]We've got Joel and John here. I'm here.

[00:00:26]That's all we need. No, we need you. We need you to pick up the phone and give us a call. 855-9503835.

[00:00:36]I think Henry and Yansu are on vacation.

[00:00:39]Um, we also will not have rolling toe for two weeks. I think Kevin has some family issues to take care of.

[00:00:49]Um, so no rolling toe for two weeks, but we're here. We're live. Pick up the phone and join us. John Joel, good morning.

[00:01:00]>> Good morning.

[00:01:01]>> Good morning.

[00:01:02]>> And Joel, um, if you're gonna send me all kinds of homework to nerd out on, which you did, >> you you also need to send me an extra day in the week to read it all.

[00:01:19]>> Well, you got it as soon as I got it, so >> Okay. Well, it looks like really good stuff. I'm excited. But um it's it's just I'll just throw it on top of my pile and and I'll have to get to it.

[00:01:32]>> So I I think I think we need to do a disclaimer though on the show since it's just me and John. Um we're going to talk about Volvos and I know that pisses a lot of people off. They get their their panties in a bunch over that. And yes, we we are Volvo people and we do we do favor Volvos. We're a little biased on on this show when it comes to the the Volvo stuff. So, um I guess if you have a an inversion or you just can't stand it, might as well just click it off right now because you're having right.

[00:02:04]>> Yep.

[00:02:04]>> Well, if I if I speak to anything else, I I'm going be really I'm kind of I don't know it that well. I you know, I work with leased operators, but I don't know it that well. So, I I'm not going to be excellent advice there.

[00:02:19]>> Yeah. Well, well, you know, the interesting thing, how far back I go with this, the very first time I stepped on stage to talk about this stuff, it was sponsored by Volvo. And I was a huge Volvo fan for years. The only reason I bought any other truck was not because of the truck. It was the engine.

[00:02:42]>> When I bought Volvos, I could put Detroits in them. Absolutely loved them.

[00:02:46]You couldn't have gotten me out of those trucks for anything until they said you just can't have that engine anymore.

[00:02:53]>> Yeah. Yeah. How how do you that same you know they tried hard Kevin when they did that like when they uh switched Detroit took us to the factory and everything else. But and then uh we got hit up by the freight liner to come and join and and we we stuck it out. But, uh, it was, uh, How do you, how do you and Joel get these big checks, though?

[00:03:19]>> That's a secret. We can't give away all of our secrets.

[00:03:23]>> Oh, just check it because >> Come on. H, you have to sign a You have to sign a pledge that you will never talk positively about any other truck manufacturer at all, and you will tow the Volvo line for life. That's the only way you get the big >> All right. Right.

[00:03:44]>> I shouldn't I shouldn't let any I shouldn't let anybody know we just bought five internationals then I'll get fired. Right.

[00:03:51]>> You're going to lose the big check now.

[00:03:54]>> Yeah.

[00:03:55]>> Yeah. Damn.

[00:03:56]>> All right. Be before we get too deep into this, I I do have a public service announcement today. I realize it is not um it it is not health day, but I I just want to mention this and it was just a simple blurb I I saw online right as I was coming on the air, but it it really this is a thing and people believe this and this is sad. In fact, before I say what I'm going to say, I'm going to encourage everybody right now. Whatever you're doing, stop what you're doing.

[00:04:30]Walk outside in the sunshine, hopefully sunshining here. Get your bare feet in some grass and take off as many clothes as you can take off without being arrested.

[00:04:41]>> And then just stand there and enjoy the sunshine >> and do it every minute of every day. If you burn, it's because you eat seed oil.

[00:04:52]So stop it. Wait two or three years and you won't burn anymore. I don't, which is incredible to me. I I talk about it all the time because it's one of the most amazing things to me that happened in the whole health journey that I can now go outside, red hair, freckles, white skin, I can go outside for eight hours, no sunscreen, no shirt, I just tan now. That to me is incredible that that happens. But I saw a post and it's unfortunate. The guy's a veteran. He's several tours in Afghanistan and his dermatologist told him, "I could put you in the dark and your skin would still grow stuff for 10 years." That was the phrase. "What the hell does that mean?"

[00:05:37]And then he said, >> "That's a good question."

[00:05:40]>> He told me, "I'm paying now for a lifetime of sun exposure."

[00:05:46]Do we really believe that human beings should not be able to be in the sun?

[00:05:54]>> We evolved in the sun.

[00:05:56]>> We didn't have sunscreen. We didn't wear hats. We We lived in the sun all the time. The sun is it's so good for us. If I could tell people anything right now, if you want to be healthier, if you're not going to do anything else, well, although if you're still eating seed oils and you go out in the sun, it can damage your skin, but it's not the sun's fault. It's the seed oil's fault, >> but nothing can make you healthier than getting more sunshine and more grounding.

[00:06:29]>> I I got to guys, I got to add this.

[00:06:33]There's a big thing for big pharma to get in here. We should get on a subscription with a pill so we can go in the sunlight.

[00:06:40]>> Oh, they have it. There's a new peptide now.

[00:06:43]>> There's a peptide now. Yes.

[00:06:46]>> Oh, >> yeah.

[00:06:49]There there is a peptide on it. I don't know that big pharma has it.

[00:06:54]>> Um, do you guys understand how the whole peptide market works? That's bizarre, too.

[00:07:00]>> Yeah, a little bit. which did >> I do not >> so GLP1s all the weight loss drugs are peptides >> so glucagon like peptide is what GLP stands for peptides are short chains of amino acids that's it it's like a small protein >> just a short chain of amino acids but here's the difference we have natural peptides that our body produces somewhere between four and 5,000 of them >> those are totally natural GLP our body produces GLP um if it is a naturally occurring peptide and we can just take it out of food in because the each amino acid has to be in the right sequence too. So some of these things just occur in food and we can take them out and synthesize them like a supplement. Some of those work pretty well very few side effects or none. um when we rearrange the molecules in unnatural patterns, it's still a peptide, but now it is supposed to go to the FDA for approval because it's now considered a drug and it can have nasty side effects. They're not natural.

[00:08:12]They're synthesized in a factory and they're different than the natural form.

[00:08:17]But then there's the third group which is the the biggest which are gray market peptides which should be FDA drugs but they're just coming from China and other countries and they're basically illegal but all kinds of people are taking them >> and we mix them all up together. Like everybody says, "Oh, it's a peptide." Oh yeah, but you got to understand what kind of peptide. Um the the the pharmaceutical peptides are dangerous. They have horrendous side effects. The gray market's even worse.

[00:08:52]You don't know what you're getting. The stuff's coming from China >> or some other crazy country.

[00:08:58]>> Most of them that are tested aren't even the right sequence. You're not even getting what they tell you you're supposed to be getting.

[00:09:04]>> They may work. They may work really well. They may have horrendous side effects, but that's the that's the new push now is all the peptides, but most people don't even understand what they're taking.

[00:09:19]>> Wow.

[00:09:20]>> Yeah. Scary stuff.

[00:09:21]>> Yeah, >> scary stuff. So, get out get out in the sun more. Skip the peptides.

[00:09:27]>> All right, that's it. Or this will turn into a health.

[00:09:31]>> It was just a public service announcement. Yeah.

[00:09:36]>> I was wondering, Kevin, is there one thing we could add on the group? You know, we always have the group shot go group chat going on during the show.

[00:09:45]Could we add photos to that because it would be very beneficial to people are going live. If Joel's talking about something and he had that chart, if you know he wasn't driving or whatever, he could add it. Or, you know, if I'm talking, I could put the snapshot up. I think it'd be great for having engagement, >> you know. Let me check something here real quick. Um, admins >> if you can. I'm too stupid to do it.

[00:10:14]>> Yeah. No, admins can post photos in there. Let me just go make sure. Um, >> you know what I'm talking about, Joel. I think it'd be handy because I don't know if you follow that much, but I I a lot of time if I'm in the office, I I I will follow the conversation and answer what I can on that.

[00:10:36]>> Yeah, >> 90% of the time I'm driving so I don't get to see it all that often.

[00:10:40]>> I I I can look into this. There may be some settings we can change specifically and there although I think what this is I think this is a limitation of our platform. Admins can put up photos in any discussion anywhere, but I don't think members can. And I don't know if that's something I don't think we can control that yet. It may be a feature we haven't gotten. I'll double check. Um, >> and I know in the live now in the live stream itself, if that's what you're talking about, in the chat room itself, >> even admins can't put Oh, yeah. Even Even I can't put a photo in there.

[00:11:21]Oh, okay. That is Well, it just be neat.

[00:11:24]>> I agree. I went to do it the other day and I'm like, "What do you mean I can't put it?" I didn't even realize you couldn't.

[00:11:28]>> Yeah.

[00:11:29]>> And I went to put something up and I'm like, "Wait a minute. Why can't I do this?" And then I had to go check and it's just a limitation of the platform.

[00:11:38]>> A picture is worth a thousand words.

[00:11:40]>> Absolutely. I'm uh I'm going to be in and out here, guys. I'm going to have to load up here. I'm hauling canola and uh we're John I've been teasing everybody.

[00:11:50]You see me out full time double dipping.

[00:11:53]>> That's the stuff that that caused me to sunburn my whole life.

[00:11:58]>> How dare you hold that stuff around for a profit.

[00:12:02]>> Yeah. Yeah. That's right. That's right.

[00:12:05]Yeah. So, I'm going to load that up. And uh uh we've been going I've been using I've been running this uh day cab here and I have we have never ran a tune all our life.

[00:12:20]>> And hey, John, I >> I got to warn you here.

[00:12:25]>> You're wandering into territory and you better be careful how you say this. You better be careful how you say this or Joel's going to jump all over you. So go ahead.

[00:12:35]>> Yeah. Yeah, it's a tune. But I got the tune box in here. It is a safe none of the safety, none of the emission stuff.

[00:12:44]Nothing's touched on that end. I checked it out very thoroughly. I even checked it out with uh uh Volval Engineering, which I Joel knows about this one and I >> Well, I talked to Dwayne about it too, Joel. You're aware of that. And we went through it first.

[00:13:02]>> I But here's the thing. I ran it with 735, which is what I would call one of our earlier generation optimized units.

[00:13:10]It's running an AirDog 500, 1900 plus, 336 gears. And him and I got to run about 100 miles at 140,000 lbs the other day. And with the drive line efficiency of this 6x2 250 direct, uh he I ran with him. He couldn't catch me at all. And so we turned it around uh later and I was creeping up. I kept creeping up on them. It I knew it was pulling really strong and I'm still getting 7.2 which is 6 miles per gallon US. And remember guys, I'm doing 12 to 13 corners on 40 to that was my longest one of my longest hauls I've done. But I've been hauling, you know, 40. I guess that one I better say was close to 100 miles. But I was running loaded both ways and it's it's I'm really quite impressed. Um, a few things I've noticed though with the automatic transmission uh learning it and it it keeps getting better, but it'll accelerate so hard when I'm loaded that it almost thinks that this is pretty easy. it likes to bring in the skip shift and with this shift um with the logic I'm running Joel like you said the first bottom gears are torque calculated so when it does shift it doesn't use all the power to bring it back probably makes it a little worse so I got to feather it just right unless >> unless I go in Joel it might be worthwhile I can I need to know which one it is but I think I could turn the skip shift completely completely off, right?

[00:14:58]>> Uh on that one, you can you can put an actual progressive shift in there. Yep.

[00:15:03]>> Okay. I should maybe try that because Okay. Will the progressive shift though still >> That might actually work. Well, I'm going to have to get a number on that.

[00:15:12]Uh or do some digging and try and find it. But it's now Kevin because that was my one of my biggest things is everybody told me that this project there wasn't enough horsepower to even make this you know a real thing. Right.

[00:15:31]>> Yeah. Right. It's not a real truck.

[00:15:35]>> And of course if you then drive it you are not a real truck driver.

[00:15:40]>> Yes. Yes. No. have to remember that >> it is. It It's worked well. I'm having no water temperature problems. I got about 40° warmer in the pyro. I may see one or two pounds extra boost, but one place I do notice the boost is when it pulls down. It seems to uh give me a little more boost in the low RPM where the truck runs, which you guys seen on those that I've posted that where the truck runs and everything. I've seen it sneak up a little bit with the with this uh slightly, but man, it might not all be that. It seems like we cannot get rid of wind up here. You know, we're we're talking uh 20 to 30 mph winds consistently. It's just it's been a lot of battle with with wind.

[00:16:30]>> So, this this D11, what is the the horsepower and torque at now? Uh they're they're rating now is 510 1850 and I have the air dog bow steps in. I have the I have the experimental or the new one coming the secondary system too. The new one MVP I believe they call. I have that on and it idles so smooth and it the truck is just a giggle because you know 250 direct drive 6x2 on a set of trades. This truck is everything that's not supposed to work.

[00:17:09]>> Yeah.

[00:17:10]>> Really? It's everything that you and you know and I'm hauling you know guys are 35 36 on this secondary route. I'm 38 to 39, which you know, it just baffles them. I'm I'm I'm weighing heavier uh single trident weight on my tear weight. So, we've been it it's been a lot of fun. And my new battery in the search of weight savings and playing and uh researching, I removed I already had two AGM batteries that we talked about. We ended up pulling them two out of putting one little battery, one lithium battery in it, which has 150 more cold cranking amps. And here's the neat thing. When I shut down, I'm still the truck sparked. I'm still at 13.5 13, you know, 136 volts because they retain the voltage better from the charge. And I lost 135 lbs, which may not sound like much, but when you're building a truck for bulk, which you guys may not have been quite as such importance to, you spend quite a bit of money to lose 135 pounds.

[00:18:24]>> Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[00:18:28]when it impacts revenue. I I worked with the fleet in Orlando uh fuel haulers and it was incredible how hard they would work to get that tractor and trailer lighter.

[00:18:40]>> Yeah. Yeah. And my new trailer will be coming here next month, which is going to I I'm we're going to be somewhere between 800 to 900 lb lighter with the next trailer, too, which I'm pushing the end I'm pushing the envelope on this. This is big.

[00:18:59]>> We have worked on it. We have worked on everything. We moved the axle back so I could get rid of the big under bumper.

[00:19:07]You could use the tires. Uh but we moved it ahead. I added a little to the spread, which uh I kind of like the narrow spread on the back, but I'm also run lift axles when I'm empty, and the bump of a, you know, 85 pounds to get rid of that back bumper was pretty substantial. It was cheaper.

[00:19:27]>> Yeah.

[00:19:27]>> Uh now I will not be able to unhook load it. I don't unhook load it.

[00:19:34]>> I'm using the velocity, guys. Do what we do now. You know, build for what we do 99% of the time. Correct.

[00:19:40]>> When you have to do that, they know I've never unhooked loaded. So I'm I went to an aluminum slide in jacked legs and uh so the legs are going to be right out of way. It's going to be nice unloading.

[00:19:53]It'll be out of the way. Uh big substantial weight losses. So we're it's going to be different went to different flat packages. And I'm bringing the fly swatters on not looking for the huge weight savings.

[00:20:09]Yeah.

[00:20:09]>> I'm looking for the weight savings, not for the big, >> you know, oh yeah, yeah, that's, you know, that's going to be a big side benefit that we never even saw come. But I, let's face it, arrow's terrible on here. Yeah, by the way, that 735, that other truck I ran with the other day, full wheel covers, nice tight gap, roof kick, uh truck wheel covers, uh Dr. Preloaded, like the trailer was essentially the same trailer as I did, except uh he has wheel covers on. So he definitely had a arrow advantage and we could see that when we were down in the rollies uh when we went into equal roll it did seem to pick up a little more speed than I did even with the 6x two Joel and I presume it was the arrow advantage not much but it just seemed like he rolled out a little faster but uh to a higher top end I might accelerated faster but it seemed you know quicker when we were talking live all the time it seemed think I would accelerate a little quicker down the downhill, but he managed to carry a a faster top speed because I presume that was probably arrow guys. So, >> well, it's your your gap between the dayc cab and the trailer is pretty much putting a a parachute up there and that that's why I'm sure.

[00:21:32]>> Well, these trails are parachutes anyways. But, uh yeah. So, well, I'm pulling on the scale here, guys. So >> yeah, >> I think we have a bin bottom, but uh I'm I'm just full of stuff here. So >> I'll let you go. But it's uh it it it was exciting to run with that other truck and finally have that time to do that because I felt it was comparable and uh it proved to be so. So, I'll uh >> interesting >> and I will let you go. Which of which may be exciting for some of these guys is you could still these trucks are still selling for 12 14,000 if you if you go on the auctions. Uh they're still selling these trucks.

[00:22:21]>> Yeah, that that D11 is is a gem and it's cheap and in the like marine marine applications, they go to 700 horsepower with the same internals as the truck all the time with the D11, >> right?

[00:22:33]>> So going to 500 1850 is not a big deal at all. And if you are in a duty cycle that needs that 500 horsepower, >> this is a a a truck that you could literally go out and spend $12,000 on, replace the entire mission system and put the little box on like John has and have a legitimate 500 horsepower 1850 truck that's going to run forever.

[00:23:01]>> Yeah.

[00:23:01]>> And get really decent fuel economy doing it. And it's lightweight.

[00:23:05]>> Yes.

[00:23:05]>> Yeah.

[00:23:06]>> Yeah. I >> B guys Bolt guys are amazing. That's where the big one is.

[00:23:11]>> I felt the same way about the 11 liter Detroit. I was so sad when that engine went away.

[00:23:18]>> Yeah.

[00:23:20]>> Yeah. No, it uh No, it's it's like I said, I I heard somebody say, you know, not talking. This is cheap entry.

[00:23:29]>> This is a you know, this is somebody told >> I had a little bit of warranty when we got it. The other day I I said something about really really good $30,000 trucks.

[00:23:40]Double what you're talking about for one of these. I was being conservative.

[00:23:45]There are really good $30,000 trucks on the market right now.

[00:23:48]>> I was told I was insane. I didn't know what I was talking about. They're all junk.

[00:23:55]>> Yeah.

[00:23:56]>> Okay.

[00:23:57]>> There's a lot there's a lot of homework.

[00:24:01]A and the the weird thing is prices of used trucks just went down again.

[00:24:07]>> I actually thought they were going to start climbing and they they went down again last month. Um along with that, I listen to this. Um and this is coming from freight waves by the way. Um for the last several months, trying to remember how far back it goes. Craig Fuller, the CEO over at Freight Waves, he posts a lot and he posts a lot about numbers and that's why I follow him because I like to see all the numbers and the pattern has been very clear for a while now. Every day there's a new record. Oh, flatbed, you know, just set a new record or we're approaching a record or um tender rejection rates.

[00:24:50]Have you guys ever followed that?

[00:24:53]>> My brother here. Yeah.

[00:24:55]>> Yeah. The first time I heard that, I'm like, "What are you talking about? I don't even understand that phrase at all." And it's really just companies with contract freight rejecting their contract freight and not hauling it. And it's an indication that the spot market is better rates than their contract. So, they go haul. So, we watch how big that number is. It's been setting records for months now. Just yesterday, I saw Craig post another >> record. But then listen to this article from Freight Waves.

[00:25:33]>> Well, the same company, a different writer says, "Freight market pushes another wave of trucking firms into bankruptcies. Regional carriers, oil field haulers, and 3PLs all appeared in bankruptcy courts during May." I I get that. You can have a really good market and people will go bankrupt. I get it.

[00:25:52]especially when you're coming out of a really bad market.

[00:25:56]>> But then when I read the first paragraph, >> now this is the same company who every day for months has been posting about record freight rates, volume, demand.

[00:26:08]The first paragraph of this article says, "Another wave of trucking and logistics companies sought bankruptcy protection during May as carriers across the US continued grappling with erratic freight demand, soft spot rates, and elevated operating costs.

[00:26:28]Are they schizophrenic? We either have a strong market or we don't.

[00:26:34]Soft soft spot rates.

[00:26:37]What does that mean?

[00:26:39]>> I Yeah, that I I don't I don't necessarily agree with, but I do know on the contract side, just before the the spot market took off, people were just cutting each other's throats to get customers. And now you've got people that went in super super cheap. And that's is why tender rejection I think is so high right now because they can't make any money because costs have went up right and and they are going and they will continue to go out of business for for quite a while yet. The people that done that right there when everything was [ __ ] there for a while they came into the contract market and and I mean they just they just butchered it. I mean >> some of our longtime customer I mean it was horrific what happened. And I'll tell you something else that's we're seeing and and Jerry has lost a lot of freight to is they're moving [ __ ] to rail already.

[00:27:37]>> Um one of our customers I rolled in there the other day to deliver and I'm not kidding you. They have a row about a hundred slots on the back side where they drop van trailers. They were all containers. They literally had a hund and they've never had containers in there before.

[00:27:54]>> When all the owner operators and small carriers were cheering and celebrating the Scotas ruling on broker liability and I said this is bad in so many ways.

[00:28:06]I know you want to stick it to the brokers. You always think that they're the bad guys, but this is not good for small carriers. I said one of the first things I could see happening is they're going to put more freight on rail because they have almost no liability there.

[00:28:22]>> Yeah, we're seeing a lot of that right now. Um places where I've customers where I've never seen containers, all of a sudden there's 50 containers sitting there.

[00:28:32]>> So there's that that's happening quite rapidly in our area. Actually surprising >> on that load. What are you ever going to get sued for on that load if you put it on the rail? Right.

[00:28:47]>> Right. Right.

[00:28:50]>> I did just see another big nuclear verdict today in Florida, like 10 million. Um >> Really?

[00:28:58]>> Yeah.

[00:28:58]>> Later.

[00:28:59]>> Yeah. So, um but I I I will agree with the phrase erratic freight demand, but not low or soft demand. There's plenty of demand. There's freight everywhere.

[00:29:12]>> Um, >> but it's shifting around. Have actually changed a lot.

[00:29:20]>> That I would agree with too. But I do know on the contract side, it it's nothing like what's happening over on the spot market. The spot market is, you know, the rates are going up. It's getting strong, but the contract stuff is still sorting itself out. And it will come along because as tender rejection goes up, that means less and less people are hauling that contract freight. And at some point the people that need this stuff moved are going to say, "Oh, look, I can't I'm gonna start, you know, gonna Right." Right. That's And that's what this is just an indication of. It's It's coming. It's not here yet.

[00:29:52]>> But the people that are bailing are the ones that came in and just cut everybody's throat and and and it was horrible the last, >> you know, six months ago. I mean, it it was just it was a it was just terrible.

[00:30:06]people coming in just slashing rates and it was it was just stupid, >> you know. Crazy.

[00:30:11]>> I'll give them two out of three. They said grappling with weak freight demand.

[00:30:16]I >> actually I can't give them weak freight demand. Erratic. I thought I read erratic somewhere. I It is more erratic.

[00:30:24]I wouldn't call it weak. Um soft spot rates. That That one makes no sense at all. These are not soft spot market rates. They're >> screaming hot. um an elevated operating cost. I'll give them that one clearly.

[00:30:38]>> Um >> yeah. Yeah, for sure.

[00:30:40]>> Then when I look at some of these um final liquidation of Georgia standard forwarding freight, I've never heard of them, but they are a 92year-old regional trucking company that abruptly shut down operations late last year.

[00:31:00]They had 14 terminals across the Midwest, 230 drivers with a fleet of 302 trucks.

[00:31:09]>> Well, there's a problem right there with the numbers.

[00:31:14]>> Mhm.

[00:31:14]>> How do you have 302 trucks and 230 drivers?

[00:31:19]>> Mhm.

[00:31:20]>> You got a lot of spares.

[00:31:22]>> Yeah.

[00:31:23]Yeah. Yeah. Well, recruiting is an issue. Recruiting definitely an issue.

[00:31:28]>> Wow. 92 years though. Isn't that crazy?

[00:31:33]>> Yeah, that is. That's a long time.

[00:31:35]>> Yeah, it is.

[00:31:36]>> I've never heard of them, but >> they have 14 terminals. That's a good size operation.

[00:31:43]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:31:44]>> Oh.

[00:31:45]>> Yep.

[00:31:46]>> Well, that's and you know, they're they're get >> kind of an odd number. 230 drivers in 14 terminals.

[00:31:57]Well, yeah. What they're considering a terminal is probably a two or three truck >> operation out of a Yeah. Yeah. Right.

[00:32:04]Out of a drop lot, most likely. Yep.

[00:32:06]>> Yeah. Huh.

[00:32:07]>> Yep.

[00:32:08]>> It's a It's It is a crazy market. That's for sure.

[00:32:13]>> It is. It it's hard to get your mind around because one area seems so strong and you would think that, you know, oh, the recovery is finally here and and uh it is in certain circumstances, but then it's as bad or worse when you go over to the other side and and you get into the contract side of things and it's it's still sorting itself out. And that's not unusual during a recovery. It's almost always the spot market recovers first, then you get your tender rejections, then the contract rate comes back up, then the freaking then the spot market fails and falters, and then contract stays stronger, you know, and and it's just that's the way that cycle runs. One follows the other. At least it's the way I've always seen it run.

[00:32:57]>> Yeah. You know, it it's interesting. I'm I'm getting a little taste of a different side of the market now. So, one of the things I've I've often said is I I think I have a good perspective on how freight moves because I I've moved it from both sides, from a carrier side and a broker side. So, I I get it.

[00:33:16]I brokers aren't evil people that we wouldn't we wouldn't have a market without them.

[00:33:21]>> Um, now I got another side of the equation.

[00:33:25]>> We uh all last week I sat here listening to Lisa argue with freight brokers.

[00:33:32]We got it. We're now a shipper and or more of a receiver than anything. Most of our all of our shipments go out on package carriers, but um we're a receiver and sometimes we control the freight.

[00:33:45]>> So, we were ordering our product which is mine fuel and it comes out of Canada.

[00:33:51]>> Um the only place you can get coconut oil or mine fuel is from the tropics somewhere. You know, we don't grow coconuts here. M >> um and it just worked out better that it came through Canada.

[00:34:04]>> Then we got hit with the tariffs for a while which was a problem.

[00:34:08]>> Then we of all things lost our bottle. I don't know the whole story behind that.

[00:34:14]Bottles and caps are a much much bigger business than I ever realized.

[00:34:19]>> When you buy bottles, they don't come with caps. You buy a bottle and then you buy a cap. And it is a big thing. spent a lot of money and time trying to find the right bottle and cap and then it goes away for some reason and you got to go do it again. So, we got through all that. We got through the tariffs then I think we had to change a supplier. I don't know what happened, but we we have been out of mine fuel for a while, and it's one of our major products. And then we finally got everything worked out.

[00:34:56]Lisa had uh carrier. We were going through a broker and we did the the stuff didn't show up and we found out it had been stuck at the border for a week because somebody screwed up the paperwork. And of course, the broker blames the shipper and the shipper blames the broker and somebody blames the driver and then somebody blames >> the customs and in the meantime we've got orders sitting there and our freight stuck at the border.

[00:35:25]>> So now I have the perspective from the shipping side as well >> and it's it's it's a different perspective. You're >> a well-rounded individual, right?

[00:35:37]>> Right. It is exactly right. It >> it truly is. It's It's a different game from depending on what seat you're sitting in. That is for sure.

[00:35:45]>> Yeah.

[00:35:46]>> Yeah. And it helps to understand the other seats.

[00:35:50]>> It does. It does. Yep.

[00:35:52]>> Yeah. Hey, let let's grab >> it. Gives you a little more confidence in >> Go ahead. Go ahead.

[00:35:58]>> Yeah. Finish that.

[00:36:00]>> I was just gonna say it gives you a little more confidence when you understand the entire picture. when you're negotiate with somebody, you know, is is this guy really giving me the the straight, you know, dope on what he's trying to say or the position he's trying to take here when you understand the whole picture. Otherwise, you know, you don't know if you're getting taken to the cleaners or not. And a guy that has that perspective is a real valuable person really in in that type of situation for sure.

[00:36:26]>> Well, the the biggest shock was, you know, when I had when I started growing the fleet pretty quickly. I mean, I only had one truck for 11 months. It was less than a year. I bought my second truck 11 months after my first one and then bought like five more in a couple years.

[00:36:45]I mean, it grew way too fast. Um, >> almost went bankrupt. But it was, and we're going back to >> this is early 90s, actually late 80s. I started early 90s. I started getting enough trucks that finding freight was a problem. Much much bigger problem than it is today.

[00:37:07]>> Freight is everywhere now or or access to freight is everywhere.

[00:37:12]>> Um back then >> y >> do you realize in the early 90s brokers in the spot market only accounted for 3% of freight moved.

[00:37:22]Today it's over 30%.

[00:37:25]That has been a huge huge shift in our It might be closer to 40 now. It's in there somewhere.

[00:37:32]>> Um, but back then brokers did not move a lot of freight. There weren't any load boards.

[00:37:38]>> DAT had just started putting the monitors in truck stops. DAT dial truck.

[00:37:46]>> That was the whole, you know, monitor in the truck stop and 37 payones. Um, freight was hard to find >> and brokers were kind of a pain in my ass back then.

[00:37:57]>> Um, and then I became one >> and I immediately realized, you know, why it was like that. It was very eye opening to see it from the other side.

[00:38:10]>> Right.

[00:38:12]>> All right. Jay's here with us.

[00:38:13]>> You always learn something.

[00:38:15]>> That's right. Jay, good morning.

[00:38:19]Good morning.

[00:38:20]>> What's on your mind today?

[00:38:24]>> I got a question, two questions about my Volvo, which uh if John's listening, 2018 BNM. I talked to Joel about this one before.

[00:38:34]Um D11 250 ratio with the 12-speed automated.

[00:38:42]Um, when I get the 50 mph after it went to the dealer, it starts beeping and I'd like it to stop.

[00:38:51]And I'm I'm not sure if it's something that I need to take it to them to to make that happen or if I can get >> No, you you need to switch out of the It's a Is it a 6x2 lift axle?

[00:39:01]>> Yes. Yeah. You're in the wrong mode.

[00:39:04]You've got it in the 5050 mode or you've got an extended traction. It's a three-position switch. If you put that switch in the center, it will not beep when you get uh to 50 m an hour. They can in the parameters um extend that that speed out a little bit, but that beeping is just letting you know that you're not in the center position. You're either in the 50/50 mode or the extended traction mode.

[00:39:30]>> Okay? You're either you're either up or down. So, when you put it in the center, you should be able to go as fast as you want without that beep. But that's all that beep is there for is to let you know that you're not in the the regular running down the highway mode.

[00:39:45]>> Okay.

[00:39:47]Excellent. Um, yep. The other question, I talked to the my local dealer about turning it up to 425 and 1550. And >> of course, he doesn't know exactly what the VIN is, but he's like, I might have to put in a work order to uh see what Volvo says if it's going to need a different turbo and and No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, it won't. Now depending on what year it is there for a while the top horsepower on the D11 and this was when it had the unit injectors it was 4051450 and then when they went to the common rail then you were able to go to 4251550 with it. So if you have the the uh the common rail in it um you should be able to go to 4251550 on a flash.

[00:40:42]>> Yeah. Okay. Yeah. and my I I haven't had a chance to work it as much as I want want to yet, but um >> uh the next I have been able to work it.

[00:40:54]I just uh took 78,000 plus up north last week and um you know otherwise it did fine on the stock setting which is 385.

[00:41:07]>> I think that's 1450. I'm not sure but um uh 385 is 1450. Yep.

[00:41:13]Yes. You had recommended uh Paramount in North Carolina.

[00:41:20]>> So, I have a couple other things that I want want him to do. I haven't been down there yet, but that'll be the next >> Okay. Yeah, Clint's real good. He'll be able to take care of just about anything you want done on a Volvo. It shouldn't be a shouldn't be an issue.

[00:41:36]>> Excellent.

[00:41:37]>> Well, thank you for that info.

[00:41:39]>> Yes, sir.

[00:41:40]>> Anything else today?

[00:41:44]That's it.

[00:41:45]>> All right. Thanks for the call. Uh, phone lines open. 855-9503835.

[00:41:53]Jump in. It's kind of a free-for-all today. Anything goes. It's a little weird day. Um, Joel, when was the last time it was just you and I on the show?

[00:42:02]It's been a long time.

[00:42:03]>> It's been a while.

[00:42:04]>> Yeah.

[00:42:05]>> I love having all the rotating co-hosts.

[00:42:08]It's really nice. get a lot of different perspectives and yeah, a lot of good conversation.

[00:42:13]>> Um before we go to some calls, >> um are you familiar with um >> Desiree? She started the group called Real Women in Trucking, which just annoyed me because it was it was kind of a slam on Women in Trucking.

[00:42:31]>> I I've heard the name, but I I don't don't know. No know.

[00:42:35]>> Yeah.

[00:42:35]>> I've just I've heard the name before.

[00:42:37]You should probably follow her on X just for the fun of it. Um, it's at Trucker Desiree. She slams me constantly. She has, you know, Trump derangement syndrome, right?

[00:42:53]>> Ah, okay.

[00:42:54]>> She has truck parking club derangement syndrome. She thinks they are the evil empire, the worst thing that's ever happened.

[00:43:02]>> She The posts are are horrendous.

[00:43:06]Um her and and how about uh Bone Head Truckers? Do you know that guy?

[00:43:14]>> I I've seen an occasional video, but I I don't know him know him though.

[00:43:19]>> He He's another one. Slams Truck Parking Club. He did this whole post where he swears he has a former employee, but they won't name him. And that truck parking club makes $8 million a year on Super Ego.

[00:43:32]>> Um which is laughable. Um but anyway, sometimes I just get in that mood where I just like to aggravate people. Just like hit and run and then I I never really interact with him. So, um Desiree I I swear her truck parking club thing she never lets up on it. So, today she posted a picture. Um I am going to say it's a Volvo, but it looks like a Johnny Cash Volvo. Um the hood and fenders are white.

[00:44:02]>> The rest of the truck is red. Um, the bumper looks like it was put on with duct tape. I mean, it's pretty rough looking. I get it. And it's in a what looks like either a hotel parking lot or maybe an office parking lot. Um, and her post was, "This is not an authorized truck parking area. I understand the driver wanted access to Cracker Barrel because it's nice comfort food on the road, but at least park your junk, right?" So, I I'm ready to hit the button right now. I was going to forward this with the tag that he should have used truck parking club.

[00:44:41]>> Should I do it?

[00:44:44]>> Of course you should.

[00:44:45]>> There it goes. It's live.

[00:44:48]>> Of course you should. There you go.

[00:44:49]>> It's live.

[00:44:50]>> Awesome.

[00:44:51]>> Yeah. I just thought that was hilarious.

[00:44:54]They're in a truck parking club. That's the whole point.

[00:44:59]Do >> you know what their argument is?

[00:45:00]>> Jesus. Wow.

[00:45:01]>> Do you know what their argument is?

[00:45:03]I I would I would love to know.

[00:45:05]>> I know because I I I was blindsided.

[00:45:09]I've had controversial partnerships over the years. When when if you partner with with a broker >> or the TIA, >> the brokers association, which we partnered, yeah, I expect I'm going to get heat over that. There's no doubt about it.

[00:45:25]>> I expect if I promote Volvo as heavy as I do, somebody's going to say I'm getting paid, blah, blah, blah. I I expect all that. M >> there are some products that I never you know one of the products that I never took any heat over and thought I would have not once not one complaint not one pro air tabs >> air tabs like the easiest product ever nobody ever complained about it nobody said it was snake oil uh people would say I don't know if it helped my fuel mileage or not but I can see in my mirrors better there was you know all kinds of stuff >> right >> um I did not expect truck parking club to be controversial Never once did I think >> you would >> this is going to be a problem. It is one of the biggest problem partnerships I've ever had.

[00:46:09]>> I take more heat over this than almost any other partnership I have.

[00:46:15]>> Here's their argument.

[00:46:17]>> What are they all worked up about?

[00:46:18]>> Yeah. Here's the thing. So, I can't even keep up with the numbers and we partner with them. They grow so fast I have to go check all the time. Um they have added like I don't know 80,000 parking spaces. That number may or may not be accurate. It like >> it's a lot. Those are parking spaces that never existed. It was somebody's warehouse, somebody's drop lot, whatever. Truck parking club goes in, they contract. One of their complaints is they own nothing.

[00:46:53]>> Okay. What's wrong with that? For what?

[00:46:55]>> Do do you really expect somebody's going to go build 80,000 parking spaces and charge 10 bucks a night?

[00:47:03]>> The math will never ever work. So, this is no different than Uber. Uber doesn't own cars. Well, they they're going to eventually. They're going to own their own self.

[00:47:15]>> No different than a freight no different than a freight broker. The freight brokers don't own the freight. They're just putting you in connection. And this is the same exact thing.

[00:47:23]>> How about Landstar? You know, >> Landstar doesn't own any trucks.

[00:47:27]>> They're they're one of the best carriers in the country. They don't own any trucks. But that's but here's their big argument.

[00:47:34]>> They ignore the 80,000 new spaces and their only their complaint, but they will take this to their grave is that truck parking club manages some of the paid parking in truck stops. And they're pissed off because those used to be free spaces.

[00:47:56]That's their whole argument.

[00:47:58]>> Oh, >> and they are over it.

[00:48:01]>> So So when a when a truck stops being built, do these people understand how much it costs to put in parking?

[00:48:10]>> No, you can try to tell them that. Do you know what their answer is?

[00:48:13]>> Do you know what their answer is?

[00:48:14]>> That is not cheap stuff.

[00:48:17]>> Oh, and to maintain it.

[00:48:18]>> I gota I got to hear this.

[00:48:20]>> Yeah. Here here's their excuse about that. Why that that isn't relevant to anything. Because they have to pay $5 for a small bag of Doritos that they could get at Walmart for $139. I Exactly. There's a reason you have to pay $5 there >> because they only sell a couple bags a day and it's convenient, >> right?

[00:48:46]>> The convenience is what you're paying for, >> right? If you want your own cheap Doritos, go to Sam's Club, Walmart, wherever, and go buy them. Nobody forces you to buy at the truck stop. They're just making it easy for you. And if you're willing to pay the premium for convenience, which we always do, it always really gets me, too, cuz they'll be standing there screaming at you about how parking has always been free and should still be free and all parking should be free. And while they're screaming about it, they're sucking on a $5 bottle of water.

[00:49:16]There's a faucet right over there. Why would you pay for water?

[00:49:25]They paid more for their water than they do for diesel fuel.

[00:49:31]>> Yeah. Yeah. Way more. Yes. Yeah, for sure.

[00:49:34]>> Yes. But free parking or paid parking is evil.

[00:49:40]And they're also when they're done screaming at me about paid parking, they're probably going to watch 17 um TV subscription streaming services they have.

[00:49:51]>> TV used to be free. Shouldn't all TV be free?

[00:49:54]>> Yeah.

[00:49:55]>> Always had. Always was when I was growing up.

[00:49:58]>> Yeah.

[00:50:00]>> There was there was you couldn't pay for TV until I was about 18.

[00:50:06]>> I think that was when HBO came. This is this right. This is this is more of a this I it's not really unique to trucking, but we we get so skewed in our perceptions and our understanding of stuff and and we start thinking so emotionally and and you don't sit down and take the time to figure it out. It's it's just I mean it's this is no different than the guy that has pulling a flatbed trailer that says, "Well, I'm going to buy a classic truck because I can't get fuel mileage anyway." And he is the operation where the the aerodynamic truck is going to have the biggest impact. Even though the fuel mileage isn't going to be as good as like on a van because you're starting at that lower baseline number, it's going to have the biggest financial impact.

[00:50:53]But they just people just ignore that stuff and then they act like you're crazy when you try to break that down to them and say, "Look, I know you're never going to get 12 miles to the gallon pulling this flatbed, but if you go from from 5 and 1/2 to 6 and 1/2 because of your aero truck, >> huge.

[00:51:10]>> The financial impact's going to be huge."

[00:51:12]>> Yes.

[00:51:13]>> And they just ignore it. Just completely freaking ignore it because, you know, this this looks cool or that's cool or and I just I I don't know. I just absolutely dumbfounded when people do that.

[00:51:26]>> There's there's another crowd that the first time I saw this, I was shocked and this seems to be growing. I see more and more of this and it makes me insane.

[00:51:36]I've brought it up before this idea that we should go back to manual transmissions because it creates a better quality driver.

[00:51:48]>> That's the stupidest [ __ ] I've ever heard in my life. That one won't go away either.

[00:51:52]>> There's no no basis in reality to that.

[00:51:57]>> Let's think about something.

[00:51:59]>> Let's, you know, and I've had people say, "Well, you can't drive a Twinstick.

[00:52:03]Have you ever drove it?" Well, well, no, I haven't. I'll be honest about it. I I may have had a shot at it early on. Just never did. Um, but do you honestly think that I couldn't learn how? Do we think this is some sort of magical skill that only certain people have?

[00:52:21]>> I see I see these damn ads or these things that'll pop up in Facebook that'll show the shifting pattern for like an 18 speed and they'll say something like 50 gauges and 18 gears and only I understand how to use. Shut the hell up.

[00:52:37]That is the dumbest [ __ ] that ever was.

[00:52:40]I mean, who I it when I first started driving, I was driving at about 9 years old. Yes. And I started in a 13-speed. I could shift a 13-speed at 9 years old.

[00:52:51]Yes.

[00:52:51]>> So, don't give me this [ __ ] that this is some special skill that makes you a safe driver because it's total [ __ ] >> Yeah. And and at 12 years old, I I was racing a two-stroke 125. You want to talk about learning how to shift?

[00:53:07]>> Yeah. the the the power band was about a 100 RPMs wide and you better keep it in the power band all the time. That's how two strokes worked. Yeah. And I learned how to do that pretty damn good at >> up ankle from boom boom boom boom.

[00:53:23]>> Exactly. Uh I learned how to fly a helicopter.

[00:53:27]>> Not only do helicopters have twin sticks, the cyclic and the collective, it also has twin pedals. So all four of your appendages have to operate at the same time.

[00:53:38]>> You can't put left pedal without doing something else. You can't pull more collective or move your cyclic without moving three other things at the same time.

[00:53:48]>> It requires a lot of coordination. And you know what? Virtually every human being on the planet could be taught how to do that.

[00:53:56]>> Yeah.

[00:53:57]>> It's not a special It's a skill you learn. That's all it is. Humans are really, really good at learning things.

[00:54:05]>> If we put our mind to stuff, we can do incredible things.

[00:54:10]>> So why do we act like Yeah, but you can't drive a twin stick. Well, no, I could. I promise you I could.

[00:54:17]>> Floating the gears, floating the gears on a 13 or an 18th speed is not a a big deal.

[00:54:23]>> It's not.

[00:54:24]>> It's just not.

[00:54:24]>> You could teach somebody how to do it in a day easily. It's not even a stretch. I I have done I have done it with multiple drivers over the years. I used to train drivers. We would bring guys in that knew nothing and when we were on manual transmissions in about a week they were floating gears just fine.

[00:54:44]>> Yep.

[00:54:44]>> I mean it's not this huge skill that you have to wear around like I'm going to buy a freaking shirt and put a big old badge on there. I can drive an 18 speed, you know? I mean come on. A and let's come on.

[00:54:57]>> Um 99% of driving an 18-speed is exactly like driving a 13-speed.

[00:55:07]>> Yeah.

[00:55:07]>> Nobody splits the bottom gears.

[00:55:09]>> If you like it, >> sure, then go do it.

[00:55:11]>> No. No. But if you if you like it, I've got no problem. And I'm not saying people that like to drive 18 speeds are idiots. I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying it's not some skill that nobody else can master. Just just you could put you probably get a chimpanzeee to master it if you worked with them enough.

[00:55:30]>> Joel, you're going to have to be careful.

[00:55:32]>> You just could.

[00:55:33]>> I I went I went down that road. I'm going to get I went I used to say it all the time and I wasn't even talking about manual transmission. I was I was I was just talking about moving freight from point A to point B. The physical act of getting the freight from point A to point B is very lowkilled labor. I'm sorry. Now, does that mean that everybody that does it is lowkilled? No.

[00:55:57]>> There are some drivers with incredible skills, and I'm always in awe of them.

[00:56:01]And I think at one point I had pretty damn good skills.

[00:56:04]>> But in reality, the market only cares if the freight gets there sort of on time and mostly undamaged. that that's our standard and takes almost no skill to do that. And I used to say all the time, I'm pretty sure I could train a monkey to do it.

[00:56:23]>> It's not that far off. Yeah. And I know that's an exaggeration, but I did it to make a point. And the point is >> there isn't a human being on the planet that we couldn't teach how to do this, >> but the the thing of it is when you point out what is true and what the facts are, it hurts people's feeling. It really does. You know, look, I've been driving truck for 30, what 38 years now and around 5 million miles. Do I like to hear that truck driving really doesn't take a lot of skill? I don't necessarily like to hear it, but that's a fact.

[00:56:57]>> Well, a fact.

[00:56:58]>> Wait a minute.

[00:56:59]>> Um I I don't like to hear that either, but I my job today technically my job I can't imagine much more low skill than what I do. I talk. We all start talking at about two years old.

[00:57:15]>> We do it our whole life. Like I can't imagine a more lowkilled job than what I do all day long.

[00:57:22]>> Yeah. Yeah. I it just you know the the the facts are the facts and and you know when you it's emotional thinking I guess is we we get tied up into it and you know a lot of people see trucking as a lifestyle and you know they don't want to be considered lowkilled or or non-skilled labor. Nobody really likes to hear that but that's that's just the fact of the matter. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to to move one of these trucks up and down the road. It doesn't.

[00:57:53]I used to hear the argument all the time that the government should consider us skilled labor. What would that change?

[00:58:00]What would be different if somehow the government said that? And I don't even know what the government considers skilled or unskilled because I don't care.

[00:58:07]>> But people claim that this is considered unskilled labor. Well, it it kind of is >> to me. Here's what's really screwed up about the whole thing. So the people that really want us to be skilled labor and you know they they really want to to to make the truck driving more than what it actually is in terms of you know how skillful you have to be. What it really comes back down to is is safety and and doing things safely and doing them correctly. And them are the same people that rally against that. We don't want any speed limits. you know, we we they they want to ignore the part that actually makes you good really. You know what I mean?

[00:58:49]>> And uh it's >> it's it's frustrating to to watch that happen. And so and uh you know, we we have >> there there aren't many people on the planet that have the perspective you have on this because of what you just said, 38 years and 5 million miles. Um >> Mhm.

[00:59:08]>> I know your answer. Would you be safer if we put you back in a mechanical truck with no front brakes and twin sticks? Or would you be safer with today's most advanced truck with all kinds of safety technology on it and not needing to shift?

[00:59:25]>> There's no way there's no way you can make the argument that being in an older truck is going to make you safer. And the numbers bear that out when you look at accidents per million miles. Not the raw totals, but accidents per million miles traveled, we are safer per million miles traveled today.

[00:59:45]>> Yes, >> even with all the [ __ ] we have going on than what we were back then. And to all the people about the oh the manual makes you a better driver. If that was a fact, we would see it in cars. Correct.

[00:59:56]>> And you don't see that in cars. it it's just the opposite because now you don't have to learn the skill and you don't have to pay attention to anything. You can keep both hands on the steering wheel and both eyes on the road exactly where they belong. You don't have to watch attack and you don't have to hand have a hand off the steering wheel and it it makes you more aware and the technology makes you a safer driver or enables you to be a safer driver. and and and you have extra eyes on the road with all the radar and everything they've got going on and the cameras.

[01:00:32]>> Hi, I'm Kevin Rutherford. If you like this video, hit like and subscribe or leave a comment below. It really helps us get the show out to more people. If you'd like to get the show, the full show ad free, you can sign up with the link below.