Best States To Be A Truck Driver

That's what makes it tough for companies - nothing for the backhaul!

Easy solution. Charge em' double to bring their STUFF!

Easy solution. Charge em' double to bring their STUFF!

That actually happens Tractor Man! Freight rates are often very high for loads going into Florida. It is one of those market force effects that puts upward pressure on the rates. Many companies don't want to go into the southern most parts of Florida because they know they are going to have considerable trouble getting a load that will take them out of there with a decent rate. That makes those rates going in to rise to some really nice levels. Because of the fact that there are not a whole lot of loads leaving the state that initiates a bidding war on those back haul loads which forces those rates downward.

There are many factors involved in why Florida is more of a consumer oriented state as opposed to a producer of products. One of those factors is the large population of retirees in Florida who are still consumers, but not big producers of products. I often take loads down to the Miami area on this dedicated account. The freight rate we get going in is something like 3.50/mile, but if we can get a back haul it is usually in the 1.25 -1.60 area. Often times if companies deliver to the Northern parts of Florida, they will just move their truck across the Northern border of the state to find their next load. At the correct times of the year you can get loads out of the southern parts of the state that are related to the citrus/ag industry, but they are still not sold at very good rates.

Easy solution. Charge em' double to bring their STUFF!

That actually happens Tractor Man! Freight rates are often very high for loads going into Florida. It is one of those market force effects that puts upward pressure on the rates. Many companies don't want to go into the southern most parts of Florida because they know they are going to have considerable trouble getting a load that will take them out of there with a decent rate. That makes those rates going in to rise to some really nice levels. Because of the fact that there are not a whole lot of loads leaving the state that initiates a bidding war on those back haul loads which forces those rates downward.

There are many factors involved in why Florida is more of a consumer oriented state as opposed to a producer of products. One of those factors is the large population of retirees in Florida who are still consumers, but not big producers of products. I often take loads down to the Miami area on this dedicated account. The freight rate we get going in is something like 3.50/mile, but if we can get a back haul it is usually in the 1.25 -1.60 area. Often times if companies deliver to the Northern parts of Florida, they will just move their truck across the Northern border of the state to find their next load. At the correct times of the year you can get loads out of the southern parts of the state that are related to the citrus/ag industry, but they are still not sold at very good rates.

S. Florida outbound freight is considered GAS MONEY GIGS. Shippers know all you want to do is get the hell back in the freight lanes - and their rates are set accordingly.

Most O/O's I'm friends with, do their drop and run empty back up north of I-4 - making sure their rate INBOUND is enough to compensate for deadheading outbound - rather than sit and try to find a $1 per mile run that is an insult to their intelligence. And as OS elaborated - the inbound freight to SoFla is a little higher than national average, for just this reason.

Very little manufacturing going on down here (in comparison to other regions). Most of the port traffic (Port Of Miami & Everglades/Fort Lauderdale) is local consumption or intermodal. The stuff that comes into Port of Miami, is mainly the FLOWERS from S/Central America (hence the Prime Floral Division out of Miami), which for the most part is seasonal, and some produce. What you DO SEE coming out of SoFla is TONS of containerized freight, going right out on the two rail lines we have down here. In fact - Port Everglades expansions is putting the rail spur RIGHT IN THE PORT (instead of trucking it out 1 mile to the spur).

I know about the ports - because I've been a member of the Longshoremans Union down here for the last 6 years.

Rick

Thanks OS and Rick. Always willing to learn something new...........and I just did!

Rick, without getting into politics, maybe a yes or no answer, somewhere i read that Trump will expand the rails to allieve the traffic of trucks. Heard anything about that?

This topic is "Best States to be a Truck Driver". How did we end up spending so much time talking about one of the worst states?

Sorry, Nancy, I think your question is just too "hot" right now.

Sorry

I think the Rails move all that is possible. Tracks generally run to Huge DC'S and warehouses. Trucks will always need to deliver to the Millions of retailers and move freight between Warehouses/ DC's. IMHO Trains have already put as big of a dent as possible. Trust me. If they could move more freight, and do it cheaper than Trucks, it would already be happening. Trucking will never be in peril, as long as WE keep buying stuff!

Rick, without getting into politics, maybe a yes or no answer, somewhere i read that Trump will expand the rails to allieve the traffic of trucks. Heard anything about that?

Trump (even if he gets in) won't "expand" the lines. And this really has nothing to do with politics one way or the other.

The lines have been expanding, and even a few trucking companies - have switched to MAINLY intermodel (Watkins & Sheppard for example) and are putting non-time-constrained freight on trains, because it's cheaper than running it on the road. I'm seeing many "road trailers" (not shipping containerized freight) on flatbed rail cars.

Will it REPLACE TRUCKS on the road? Don't think so. Will it "alleviate traffic" - don't think so there either.

Even if you get the trailer closer to final destination on a train - it still has to get where it's going ON THE ROAD, behind a truck.

Where you see congestion that you can attribute to TT traffic - is going to be in the metropolitan area's - and most rail yards where the trailers are going to be coming off the trains aren't going to affect the number of trucks that contribute to this traffic at all.

That - and it's easier to add lanes to a road (for the most part) than to run a new rail line into an area. We ARE seeing an expansion of rail infrastructure down here - but it's mainly because they want to do a high-speed PASSENGER train on the Flagler Line (the rail line that runs on the most eastern side of SoFla) because it runs through what is now all the DOWNTOWN AREAS (business districts). So that line is going from 1 (in some places) to 2-3 sets of tracks to accommodate traffic in both directions.

Rick