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On Trucking

snowingpine.com

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Re: On Trucking

#21

Post by mjg59 »

forgetbook wrote: post #14
readthenotes1 wrote: post #2

Pet peeve: every time I get on the interstate I think they should have driven 90% of the 18-wheelers on to a train. Or at least have tracking software that fines them heavily for leaving the slow lanem

Isn't there a 'last mile' problem that differentiates trucks and rail?

Given the density of the US rail network it's rather more than "last mile", but yes - rail depots are not where you actually want the goods to be in most cases, and you need to do something about that. The question is more whether it would be more efficient to only truck goods as far as the nearest rail freight node and then have it shipped that way rather than via interstate. The article here suggests that's not viable because many vendors are shipping quantities that aren't economically viable given rail freight costs, but doesn't really address why that's the case.

Re: On Trucking

#22

Post by braveyellowtoad »

cobertos wrote: post #17
waiseristy wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They used telephones & personal/professional connections

If they were using telephones, then there were people operating call-in centers for this pool of owner operators? If this was pre-90s, probably not even cell phones but, pay phones/physical phones? And if personal/professional connections, then there were meetings where owner operators get together? How would they schedule time for all of this, or coordinate it? I'm having a hard time picturing either of these method…

Yes that’s correct. If you were owner operator you might be aligned with a particular firm (their name on your truck) and their dispatch would find you loads or you would also know people. You could have a dry van and look for generic loads but lots of guys I knew had specialised equipment (flatbed, tanker, etc) and over time you locked in good lanes and repeat customers. I met a tanker driver once who started in Florida, took orange juice to Canada, picked up some food ingredient in Canada , drove it to somewhere in Tennessee then took something from there to Florida. And repeat. He did that triangle for 10 years. Shipping used to be a real people business. If you had an unusual or unexpected load you’d call your 5-10 providers and they might have capacity or not, or do you a favour and call their buddies for you or not. That would almost always work out, if it didn’t you’d call the sales person from the new 3pl or trucking company who had been wanting your business and he/she would move mountains to get that chance. Definitely an interesting industry full of problems to solve. Don’t think it’s the same any more.

Re: On Trucking

#23

Post by adaml_623 »

gnfargbl wrote: post #19

The article claims about 3 million truck tractors on US roads, and puts the cost of each driver at about $65k/year. Am I correct in naively calculating something like $200B/year on the table for full-self-driving truck technology?

Truck drivers do a lot more than just sit in the cab and drive.

Sure I guess there are operating models where you don't need one driver paired all the time with one truck but definitely can't just replace drivers IMHO

Re: On Trucking

#24

Post by adaml_623 »

yafbum wrote: post #3

Great rundown. "Factoring" sounds a bit like a euphemism for payday loans!

There was an interesting sentence in that section. I thought that factors shouldered the non-payment risk but article seems to imply that non-payment would come back and bite the truckers

Re: On Trucking

#26

Post by mrhektor »

Super interesting analysis of the trucking market.

A couple of questions would be:

* At what speed is the industry going to embrace self-driving / "augmented driving" in trucks? I'd imagine a driver would still be required at the wheel in case of emergencies for the foreseeable future. What new skills would truckers have to learn?

* Given the environmental impact of trucking (self-driving or not), what are some interesting propositions that climate change startups could come up with? Do any players in the value chain even care about climate impact? Clearly, given the cut-throat nature of the business, there would necessarily need to be a revenue impact otherwise no one is going to use the proposition.

* I find the insurance part more interesting that the factoring part. Given the generally poor service quality of insurance companies, I'm wondering if there is a possibility of a "Lemonade" like insurance company in this space? Lemonade started out as a home insurer I believe. What is the killer proposition for an insurance company in this space?

Lots more thoughts come to mind. Again, great writeup, thanks!

Re: On Trucking

#27

Post by dazc »

nerdponx wrote: post #20
UncleEntity wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pet peeve: no matter what you do in a truck someone gets mad. You’re either driving too fast or too slow. You try to stay in the slow lane but catch up to the person going 45 on the interstate who speeds up as soon as you get next to them trapping you in the fast lane until you give them ‘incentive’ to let you back over. I could go on and on but my government mandated 30 break was over six minutes ago and there’s peo…

People are generally oblivious idiots, but I've also seen some truly insane truck drivers on I-84 in CT, stuff like tailgating people in the left lane at 70+ at night.

Indeed, it's as if some truck drivers are guilty of the same bad behaviour as regular car drivers.

Re: On Trucking

#28

Post by bsenftner »

mjevans wrote: post #6

"90% of owner operators fail in their first year - trucking is incredibly cutthroat." Maybe the disruption this market needs is a set of unions rather than just trucking companies. It would be nice if unions were limited such that... E.G. they could not grow to larger than 15% of the workforce for a sector in any single union. Contracts would need to be approved by... some number, lets say 2/3rds of all workers acros…

I used to work for Jimmy Haslan, owner of the Flying J truck stops. The guy is a billionaire and hard as nails. I suspect the trucking industry is exactly how he wants it, and anyone making changes is going to have his attention faster than they can react. And, so you know, he is extremely high tech, he also owns multiple state of the art AI companies.
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