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Independent truckers stage rally along Houston freeway to protest low pay

The drivers displayed a large banner reading, “We are the resistance. Honest prices on loads. Fair fees from insurance companies. Broker regulations.”

Addiel Santos was one of the dozens of truck drivers protesting in Houston yesterday. Image: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

A group of around 75 truck drivers stopped traffic along a Houston freeway for about three hours on Tuesday, protesting low cargo rates and high maintenance costs.

The drivers, mostly independent owner-operators, parked a long line of trucks along the right shoulder of the 610 East Loop in Houston, forcing police to shut down the freeway during afternoon traffic.

“What happened this afternoon after 2 p.m., we received reports of about 75 commercial vehicles blocking the 610 Loop, we responded with officers and got the trucks off the freeway and onto an adjacent parking lot,” said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo during a press conference after the protest ended.

Addiel Santos said the protest was aimed at letting people know truckers want to be paid more for hauling freight.


“The brokers are the ones who are breaking the economy and breaking truck drivers; they are killing us, literally,” said Addiel Santos, an independent owner-operator based in Austin.

“Brokers are paying for trips from Houston to Midland-Odessa like $1,800 to $1,900 before. Right now they are paying $700. A trip from Houston to Odessa costs me $400. If I get a flat tire, need road service, I have to pay out of my pocket, and still only get $700,” Santos said. 

Santos added that many brokers are not paying for detention time.

“People need to think more about truck drivers, because we drive for days, a week. We get tired too. I know other jobs are hard. But we have to be on the road all day, concentrating on the road,” Santos said.


Many of the protesters displayed homemade signs during yesterday’s demonstration in Houston. Image: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

Santos, along with other truck drivers in Houston, wore black T-shirts with the word “Resistance” across the front below an image of Guy Fawkes, a popular symbol of protest.

“We are the resistance. Honest prices on loads. Fair fees from insurance companies. Broker regulations,” a large banner at the center of the protest read.

Drivers also displayed homemade signs that read “Cheap Brokers” and “Raise Rates or No Haul.”

“These are independent drivers who were protesting nonpayment by companies that have hired them to move goods,” said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo. “It’s an ongoing problem, but this is no way to fix that problem, by engaging in an illegal activity.”

Stephany De La Caridad, one of the protest leaders, was arrested at the scene, according to Santos.

Acevedo confirmed a woman was arrested “for inciting a riot and obstruction of the highway,” but did not release a name. Acevedo said the woman was transported to the Harris County Joint Processing Center where she was booked.

Acevedo added, “Everyone that was blocking the highway in protest has been cited with a Class C misdemeanor. We now have their driver’s license and truck information, and if they do this again, they will be arrested and their trucks will be impounded.”

Around 75 owner-operators said they were protesting broker fees and high maintenance costs yesterday in Houston. Image: Jim Allen/FreightWaves


83 Comments

  1. Alec

    If these guys were truly independent owner-operators, how can they protest low pay? To themselves?

    If they’re upset that the market dropped like everything else and did not anticipate the freight market’s cyclicality, who is responsible for that? The market? The government?

    When freight market rates were higher, did these independent owner-operators invest in their businesses to reduce operating costs?

    The real culprits are the ones who were protesting. They did not research, plan, invest, or anticipate anything akin to professionally running their business. It’s sad to see so.many struggle, to be sure, but they have nobody else to blame.

    1. Seriously!

      I call “Bullshit ” on that! Every year, insurance, repairs, parts, meals, tolls…..the list goes on and on, increase! You never know how much until they spring it on ya’ ! You look at the prices in the grocery stores….for everything! See those prices that piss you off every time they go up. Yet, the workhorses who do 90 percent of the work an shoulder ALL the liability are supposed to do the same or more for less? Especially during this national crisis? You save and plan and budget and yet it’s never enough! I get damn good rates and have worked my ass of to get them! Even now! Honesty, service and integrity is how I did it and I’m grateful I have connected with customers who are the same.

  2. Seriously!

    Supply and demand, market trends???? In the economy we were in before this pandemic, agreed. So, your telling me that the carriers and brokers, that had contracts, were all approached by their customers and those customers demanded immediate rate renegotiations because of this pandemic? Stop the lies! My customers have done no such thing and, in fact, have offered me MORE opportunities because they are being gouged by current carriers and brokers they work with other than me! Without trucks, this country stops! And during this pandemic, we have been touted as heroes. Really? So that’s how heroes are treated? By killing the rates? Driving O/O’s and small fleets into bankruptcy? That’s like a Doctor telling a Covid patient, ” I can save you, but first, you’ll have to sign over your home and your livelihood to me.” I’ll agree that some O/O’ s never prepare, never plan, and should fail but, rates like these that I’ve seen will drive out even the most prepared! I shouldn’t be surprised that this is happening though. This country, ya know…the land of the free and the home of the brave, has spit on the very service members who have given some and given all to give them.the freedom to have a free market and a free society so …….crapping all over the truck driving men and women of this country…..just par for the course!

  3. Ron Augustus

    This is so incorrect. This is something that has been going on for over 24 months. Not just because of the pandemic. This is an increasing problem where freight brokers undercut the independent drivers. Obviously, you are not a trucker or your comment would not be as such. We understand markets but brokers negotiate and compete to have these loads hauled but no trucker wants to pay to haul loads. We haul loads to get paid. We have a business to run and running us out of business is not the answer to the market. I will never haul cheap freight. I keep my prices the same all the way around so when I get a call I charge what I charge. There are people hauling Dallas to Houston for only 300 to 400 I don’t go below $800 – $900 and if the pricing is not there I select more profitable lanes. Once drivers stop accepting those prices the market demand will go back up and prices will be favorable again. Drivers have more control than they realize in this market. It’s called “NO” Stop expectng people to pay you fairly if you don’t even know what fair is. Just say NO. If enough drivers say no then BROKERS will put more money in loads.

  4. Chris

    My takeaway is that Santos was getting paid $1900 to move a shipment that cost him $400. Should we also put maximums on how much a truck can make per mile? Staging a protest about not getting paid enough seems tone deaf in a time when the US unemployment rate is approaching %20.

    1. Kenny

      Yep that sounds high but when you put a truck in the shop for a motor overhaul it is nothing to spend $30,000.00 on a motor overhaul and a transmission 8,000.00 and tires for a full rig is around 10,000. grand and it just goes on from there so maybe that is not so high oh and lets don’t forget about the un godly price of insurance, personal property tax on the rig Highway use tax and the high price of Tags ever year SO maybe that is not to high Just my thoughts from a independent small trucker that owns 8 of them.

    2. RCJ3

      Chris, it’s hard to say what’s included in his costs – the article doesn’t provide information that would do that – but just a simple look at cost assumptions by someone in trucking would indicate a normal driver in a decent piece of equipment that is 5 or so years old and maintained well would have costs of at least $400 to make that trip. At 6 mpg and fuel costs of $2.40/gal, fuel would cost $214 for the trip. Other reasonable cost assumptions:
      $33: Insurance (if own authority, this is way low)
      $70 (assuming $.13/mi): Maint.
      $83: Truck Pmt.
      $58: Trailer Pmt.
      $458 = cost (this doesn’t even include costs for Heavy Use Tax, ELD, IFTA, IRP, Cell, etc.). The cost doesn’t include profit (profit obviously isn’t a cost, and cost is what Santos provided).. I fully understand the free market but it would be nice to see more brokers take the perspective that EVERYONE needs to do well. I strongly prefer free, un-regulated markets but when “free markets” are unfair to one or more parties, this is usually where regulation is forced upon that market. I’d like to see some standard, similar to what we see in fees tied to real estate, financial markets, etc., where brokers in trucking make a certain maximum % of the load. This would provide an incentive for the broker to get as much from the shipper as possible and would also lead to a greater likelihood that the trucking company (or owner-op) would receive a fair amount for the load.

  5. Barbara Bernice Lampkin

    I totally agree as a wife, batteries get stolen, sometimes truckers are robbed, now they lower the payments sometimes I don’t see my husband for week’s. These truckers work hard for less pay. They don’t get a chance to spend time with their families. How do you think stuff is getting to the stores and other industries. Yes they should protest.

  6. Realistic

    Shippers hire brokers and 3PL companies because they do not want to deal with finding carriers and this also gives them protection against lawsuits in the unfortunate event that the carrier is involved in an accident, due to the Shipper did not actually hire the carrier. Most shippers pay a fair rate in return for fair service to get their product hauled, I don’t think they hire a broker or 3PL and tell them to see how cheap you can get it hauled, and hire the crappiest carrier you can find, so you can get paid. So in my view, when rates drop like this, its not the o/o fault for hauling it, its the broker’s that are price gauging and that is illegal. That shipper is still paying the same rate for that lane, but due to a national emergency, the brokers are price gauging. You say stop hauling cheap freight, but its not always that easy, owner operators and small business, do not have an unlimited credit line, they have to feed their families , so yes, instead of repairing the truck, they buy groceries. You say o/o are uneducated and should negotiate before hauling the load, but you have no leverage to negotiate. You can tell a broker you charge $100.00/detention, but it they don’t pay it, then what do you do? Their bonds do not cover accessories, just freight. So don’t make it sound so easy that you can just demand your price or not haul it. Brokers and shippers should negotiate a fair rate for the broker’s services, and the rest should have to be paid to a carrier. Same rate to all carriers, then it would be a matter of which carrier provides the best service, has the safest record and smells good.

    1. Jimmy Wells

      You act as though they are being held at gunpoint to haul for garbage rates. They’re grown men. They can earn a living doing something else. If not than they are all walking dead anyway. Only the strong survive. Begging for Uncle Sam to force someone to pay you is like going to Al Capone in an extortion ring.

        1. Chris

          Jimmy speaks the painful truth of a free market economy. Regulation typically breaks as much as it fixes if not moreso. The typical national emergency produces an increase in demand for drivers, and then the trucks gouge the shippers and brokers. Freght Waves produces a report that actually gauges how often drivers drop their contract freight for better rates when they can take advantage (RTI). I was quoted $10K to ship coast to coast during the Hurricane Harvey national emergency. Markets don’t have a moral obligation to price… At that time, lots of brokerages went out of business. Learn to manage the peaks and valleys, or work for someone that can. Adam Smith wins this conversation every time…

      1. Stephen Webster

        They’re are more truck drivers than freight. We have too many trucks and truck drivers at this point in time. Many truck drivers get sick and hurt and end up in homeless shelters at nonprofits and taxpayers expense. Low rates means there is not enough money to maintain trucks to a high standard and provide good medical care to truck drivers and fair wages. These substandard rates cost drivers their health and large numbers of offshore truck drivers in the U S and Canada that can not read our signs.

    2. Michael

      I agree with a lot of what you’re saying. I’m a agent/broker for a big company. I do about 100-175 loads per month for this one company. Each month they send me (and 7-8 other people like me) a list of lanes they need serviced. We all have to give our best price. In a perfect world I know we’d like to pay the drivers a good rate and still make a good $ on each load, but that’s not how it works.

      A lot of times the shipper/customer doesn’t want to pay detention. Or the people on the docks aren’t honest with when the driver arrives or leaves. Heck the driver sometimes exaggerate when they got there and left. All these little things that happens. I know you all know this. What I’m saying is that it’s not all about the agents/brokers that are trying to undercut and cheat the drivers.

      I can’t tell you how many times drivers think that it’s so easy to get these great rates from the customers/shippers. It’s not like that at all. These days the customers are trying to get their transportation cost down as low as possible. Especially if they have reg. freight. Just like there are ton of drivers trying to get freight from agents/brokers there are also a lot of agents/brokers trying to get it from the customer. There’s no solution. EVERYONE is trying to make a living and $ to do the things they need to do. Some are good with driving a Honda and others want a Benz. It’s just hard right now for everyone.

      1. Seriously!

        Not to mention, a lot of shippers add a percentage to the freight rate when they sell their products to their customers…..as much as an additional 10 to 20 percent. Ya know, to cover the occasional incidentals like oh…..I don’t know…..detention. And then, refuse to pay it. It’s all about the bottom line…..right?

  7. Chris

    Can’t blame them for fighting what they don’t understand. When supply is more than demand in a free market, the invisible hand will magically correct itself and create a new equilibrium. They’re simply reacting to a market correction that affects their paycheck. If demand stays low long enough, attrition among drivers will commence and the market will balance itself, and without regulation. This principle is older than America…

    1. Jimmy Wells

      Exactly. They should sell their trucks and find another way to make a living until things get better. Otherwise, all they’re doing is making money for everyone else like the mechanics, brokers, shippers, receivers, fuel providers, insurance companies etc etc. Trucks are the mules. When the mules is out of water it dies.

      1. Chris

        As painful as that sounds, that’s the free market… This is not unique to freight.

        Free markets come with risks and benefits. If owner ops can’t plan for the future when the benefits are prevalent, then they will hurt or go out of business when the risks bare sway. To those that can’t manage the peaks and valleys, of any market or industry, they need to work for a company that can manage it for them.

  8. Seriously!

    Well….what an interesting group of comments and cheap shots at people and their intelligence. So, let me put in my 2 pennies. O/O’s that don’t have a clue, junk trucks, hauling for nothing, bad brokers who are taking advantage of the situation we’re in and saying their customers are cutting the rates. Those of us who have been doing this for a long time, from the dock to the wheel to the desk, can smell the bullshit from miles away! Those bad apples pray on those in the industry who are less than knowledgeable about how it all works. They are only concerned about themselves. When you go to the store and pay for those groceries, you know damn well something is wrong with the system. You’ll never get drivers to stand together as a group and fight against this corrupt crap because they can’t see the bigger picture. So,take a deep breath and do the best you can. Unfortunately, our country needs us….so they say…..to keep bringing all the things they need to survive…..so they say, so I can’t say if now is the right time or not to fight. I personally think, the majority of the consumer public has no idea what it takes to get the stuff from pasture to plate, nor due they care. The bad brokers, the dirt cheap freight hauling clueless O/O’s, they are among those people. A customer of mine said the other day, ” Those carriers and brokers who were fair and honest with us during this trying time, we won’t forget them, and the ones who tried to drag us through the mud and charge outrageous rates, we won’t forget them either. “

    1. SayNO ToCheapFreight

      Wow, nicely said!
      And you’re so right about truckers not being able to stand together and protest/oppose this plain and simple robbery! Not sure why but it feels like those good old days when truckers could unite are gone. Everyone is for themself right now, which is not good. Our strength is in numbers! I don’t think there’s an industry with bigger number of members that trucking industry! I guess all we missing is a strong leader that would organize everyone to stand up for ourself !

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Noi Mahoney

Noi Mahoney is a Texas-based journalist who covers cross-border trade, logistics and supply chains for FreightWaves. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English in 1998. Mahoney has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working for newspapers in Maryland and Texas. Contact [email protected]