4200 Jobs Cut In Trucking In The Month Of September

Is the trucking industry in a recession?

You cant post a thread like this without posting up with a source of your statement. It would help.

Is the trucking industry in a recession?

Phillip, let's call it an adjustment. Trucking has always been very cyclical. Commodities businesses are generally tough. Trucking is no exception.

Here's what's going on. Last year demand peaked, but capacity was not up to the levels that would cover the demand. Consequently, rates went skyrocketing up to easily profitable levels. We saw a lot of people jumping in onto the new wave of trucking profits. All of a sudden there was more capacity than demand. People started scrambling and cutting their bids just to get work. Consequently, rates dropped very quickly in the spot market. Contract rates have held up fairly well, but the spot market is where many new carriers and/or small carriers get their work.

New companies with little experience and/or poorly managed ones with insufficient cash reserves are getting hit hard. It's merely an adjustment. We see them happen regularly. Good drivers are still really busy, just like they always will be. Solid trucking operations are in no danger. Trucking jobs, and trucking futures are still very promising.

Bullitt, his source is an article that I saw myself. It's accurate, but not indicative of a recession in the industry. I'm trying right now to find it. I'll post a link if I come up with it.

That is a good question. There is no short answer. Alot of companies have gone out of business or cut back. The reasons are probably varied. Falcon went out of business a few months ago. They relied heavily on the automotive industry and when it slowed down they lost big. Stevens Transport is closing its tanker division next tuesday. That is 586 jobs lost. They state it is due to a slow down in the oil industry. Roadrunner just cut 400 some positions.

When the news says x amount of trucking compaines went out of business they rarely state specifis on the demographics of the company. It could be a 1 truck operation or 1000 trucks. The majority of trucking companies are small.

My company is struggling right now. We enjoyed a great year until 2 months ago. Part is the economy, part is the political climate, part is the gm strike, and we normally slow down in the 4th quarter every year anyway. So is it a recession or just things in general??

I’m thankul for still working and paying the bills. This business does run in cycles normally so this is just another year in my opinion.

I can't get the link to work for some reason, but I saw this at "Business Insider" They repeatedly used the words "trucking recession" in the article, which I found a little misleading. The commodities business is ruthless, always has been. The strong survive, the weak fall away.

In my opinion this is just another typical adjustment of the trucking industry. It will pass and there will still be plenty of demand for the kind of drivers who know how to get things accomplished out here.

Thank you OS!

I love reading up on things up for discussion. Why i asked for source. I wasn't implying anything.

Bullitt, his source is an article that I saw myself. It's accurate, but not indicative of a recession in the industry. I'm trying right now to find it. I'll post a link if I come up with it.

I totally agree. Having the source is both valuable and helpful.

Business Insider 4200 jobs lost

A couple more related articles

Business insider link 1

Business Insider link 2

Is the trucking industry in a recession?

No. Is there a slowdown due to uncertainty? Yes.

Who is getting decimated are the undercapitalized small trucking firms (read as owner/operators) who are forced to take lower and lower amounts for their services. Classic Supply and Demand.

The good thing is that once this works its way through the industry and trade agreements are signed trucking will come roaring back.

FWIW - my location with FedEx Freight has been going gangbusters only slowing down the past week or two. We normally slow down this time of year until late Winter/early Spring. We pare back overtime but management tries to make sure we get our 40 each week. In 5 years with the company I've never seen a layoff.,