Why Small Trucking Companies Are Often A Disaster Waiting To Happen - Article By Brett Aquila

I had a non preventable accident last night and this morning was told another truck was coming to get my load. Hours later, he still wasn't here but was supposed to only be a few miles away.

The driver arrived and said, "Sorry, I was stuck at the weigh station all this time because my company didn't pay their tickets, all drivers are being held at weigh stations in VA. I have one more truck payment left, and this wait is going to put me behind this week". He was glad they didnt decide to do a full inspection that can take 60 to 90 minutes.

This is a smaller company with 340 trucks that runs Prime freight. It has a small, old, dirty terminal with potholes and is mostly lease/lease purchase ops. Seriously the couch and TV there are older than my real age (not the 29 years old I tell people lol).

VA is tough on smaller companies. Look at most weigh stations, they inspect smaller companies more often because larger ones take care of their equipment better. That eats up your 70 clock and your wallet if you havent learned to do a proper inspection. Learning "not cracked bent or broken" is one thing, but experience gives you the ability to notice if a torque arm 3mm out of alignment.

He apologized to me for arriving bobtail , not realizing I get paid for the miles to get the trailer, it isnt a big deal to me. And I felt bad for him that a few hours delay would put him short of his goals.

The longer I am at my mega carrier, the more I have no intention of leaving. Seeing what some of these other companies/drivers go through, it would seriously take a family emergency of some sort to make me leave for more home time.

I had a non preventable accident last night

Kinda nonchalant tone, so I'm assuming you're okay?

Really made good article

Rainy said...

This is a smaller company with 340 trucks

Now I know that compared to the mega carriers 340 trucks may be a "small" company, but anything 100+ is pretty big. My company has about 350 units, and I must admit, it is far easier getting things fixed, etc, than it was at Swift. Granted, we are part of a bigger family of companies, but we operate mostly autonomously.

I know that I have asked this before, but at what number does the term "mega" enter in to the term?

I know that I have asked this before, but at what number does the term "mega" enter in to the term?

There's no hard and fast rule for it, but I think making relative comparisons works well. Consider that 91% of all trucking companies in America operate 6 or fewer trucks, and 97.3% operate fewer than 20 trucks. So even a company with 100 trucks is probably in the upper 1% of companies in the nation. There are only maybe a dozen or two companies that have over 1,000 trucks.

When I refer to "large carriers" I'm basically talking about companies with maybe 150 or more trucks. I think you could fairly say that "mega carriers" are those with 1,000 trucks or more.

Just from what my dad told me when he used to have a part time job as a mechanic for a independent truck shop I would never work for a small company. They had to have one truck towed out the brakes where so bad and and the owner refused to fix them, maintenance is not a pirority and you can forget about driver comfort items being fixed.

Just two or so weeks ago my Qualcomm/ELD was busted for about 14 Days. I ran paper for the allowed 8 days and then told dispatch I wouldn't run this specific truck anymore until it was fixed. They didn't have a loaner available so I sat. Not only did I receive breakdown pay, I was also paid the miles to bobtail to two different shops to get the darn thing working again. At the end of the week my paycheck was about 50-100$ less then usual even though I only had about 1200 miles (almost all bobtail with no load). How many "small" companies will take that good of care of you?

Hey Gang, It's been a while since I've had a chance to respond to a topic but here goes. First Brett I think your article and many of the responses have been insightful and right on the money. The one thing not mentioned, and probably because most new or newer drivers don't get this exposure, are the specialized/ niche companies. Yes, they are oftentimes not huge...20 to 40 trucks...but they also provide services not seen at the mega carriers. It's not in a mega carriers interest to invest in say, heavy haul equipment for example, because the business model they are using doesn't work as well in that world. I'm sure there are big, or huge, or even mega carriers doing that stuff, but most of what I've dealt with from them is traditional 18 wheel commodities. ( Many of the specialized companies are o/o trucks leased on to them ) What I have been doing has been 10 axle to 13 axle heavy haul, with loads in excess of 235,000 lbs and 200 feet long. The company I'm presently with has a small division that supports this while they focus much of their efforts on their primary freight. I have found that "smaller" companies actually can thrive in a "specialized" world, but their requirements for drivers is out of reach for newer drivers. The owner operators I deal with all make money. Let me repeat that... they all make money. But...and here is the catch...they also have 200 to 400 thousand dollars wrapped up in their rigs and they have lots of years of experience. I guess my point is this; owning your own truck to haul everyday normal commodities is a recipe for disaster. One cannot compete against the mega carriers. So, you are right. But, there are a few people out there who are doing very well indeed and yes they own their own truck...they don't haul regular stuff and they offer services and experience that are hard to come by. I got very lucky. Not sure what my end game is going to reveal but I do know that in the niche I'm in...there is a very lucrative future. You all take care, be safe and I look forward to reading more of your articles and forum chats. Tony

I hope everything's alright Rainy

Yes Rainy... Thanks for the reminder Junkyard Dog... I too hope you are ok. Sorry to hear you were in an accident. Hang in there, Tony

Funny since I've been in school, too many these youngsters are talking about just this topic! They know so n so who owns and runs, makes bank,wants me to join em yada yada yada!

I try to telling them the reality, even though I haven't even driven yet, I still know enough, to know better than fall for some he said, he knows someone, who knows someone else who'd doin' great as O/O

Again today a couple newer students talking about this as well. I give up trying ! Just let em find out for themselves the hard way...... Same as those "thinking" they are ready to DMV test for CDLs......8 went last week (5 failed ALL on air brakes) 8 again tested yesterday, only 1 or 2 of those passed!