A weekend “May Day” rally in Washington by small-business truckers claiming they are being mistreated in the freight market during the coronavirus pandemic ended with a positive message from President Donald Trump.
Trump, who spent the weekend at the president’s retreat in Camp David, Maryland, acknowledged the demonstrators parked in their trucks directly south of the White House along Constitution Avenue.
“Thanks for the meeting at the White House with my representatives from the Administration,” Trump tweeted late Sunday. “It is all going to work out well!”
Demonstration organizers are hoping that an initial meeting with administration representatives over the weekend will lead to a face-to-face meeting with the president.
“Having a White House liaison come out and meet is more progress than being on the 5 o’clock news doing a slow roll,” Rick Santiago, one of the demonstration’s organizers, told FreightWaves. “I don’t expect solutions tomorrow, but we cannot haul one more week with rates the way they are.”
Santiago and others at the rally laid much of the blame for what they consider inequitable rates at the feet of truck brokers that pressure rates downward by canceling agreed-upon loads after finding another carrier willing to haul it cheaper — or by outright lying to truckers.
“I’m hoping that what we’ve done so far — asking the [Department of Justice] to step in and investigate some of these broker scams — is going to have a butterfly effect” that results in brokers having to increase their rates through tighter regulations, Santiago said.
While the Trump administration has attempted to provide relief to small-business owners through billions of dollars distributed through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Santiago said he knew of no truckers at the rally who had received stimulus money.
“We’re not looking for a bailout. Give us a hand up and let us get back to work. If our operating cost is $2 a mile, I can’t haul for 90 cents.”
Credit: John Gallagher/FreightWaves
Darrell Muller, an owner-operator who recently moved a forklift from Las Vegas to Kansas on his flatbed truck for a less than breakeven rate of $900, found out after the delivery that the shipper had been charged $2,000. “Not all brokers lie, but this is why none of us trust them,” Muller told FreightWaves.
Records compiled quarterly by the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), which represents brokers, indicate that third-party logistics companies keep 16% gross margin for their service while passing on 84% to the carrier.
Responding to charges of price gouging, “No one’s making money on this pandemic but the beer and drug industry,” TIA President and CEO Robert Voltmann told FreightWaves.
“The smaller companies can’t collude to affect the marketplace. The problem is, the market is so competitive and so transparent that when somebody is desperate and takes a load for 50 cents, everyone else knows that. There are motor carriers that should be parking their trucks and applying for PPP loans, and we can help them with that. But there’s just not that much freight out there, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
Voltmann added that his members can’t exist without independent truckers and they can’t exist without his members. “It’s definitely a love-hate relationship. No American family and no American business should go bankrupt because of a virus beyond our control, but unfortunately, that’s what’s happening.”
Santiago acknowledged that brokers are an important piece of the freight equation.
“I’m all for brokers. I need them every day. But right now we’re at the lowest we’ve ever been with this pandemic. If we, the brokers and carriers, can work together for fair rates, we can all, literally, make America great again.”
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Jeffrey J Risby
Organization is what we need. Stop taking loads for less than $2.25 per mile. If they won’t pay the freight must stay. We as organized Independent OO we can put these brokers out of business and out of our pockets period. They’re BS and are driving this BS for their pockets
James Martin
It’s not going to change , not unless are directly in contact with whom the goods come from they all are looking for cheap haulers so you being the little guy guess what JB , Swift , Schneider, USA , US Express. … they have thousand of trucks after expenses drivers wages fuel …. if they make a dollar per truck it’s a win situation for them that’s why they get bigger and bigger so price gouging yes I believe that happens but being a little man no accounts of your own you’re no competition Cutthroat business just like everything else little man loses been there done that.
Jm
If Junior was smart he would be involved with owner operators to be involved with the American truck driver I don’t care if we are independent or not he supposedly for the labor force in trucking come on Jimmy Jr .make a deal
Jeffrey J Risby
They may have the trucks but not the drivers. You might want to consider an attitude adjustment. Nothing going to change if you don’t change it
Neil
They going too sell you out they all sell out the trucker need too shut down for 3 to 4 weeks they don’t care Trump and gang they are all bully racist to the bone. Trucker out here working 7 day a week stay out you on the road for 3 week at a time well the broker sit back in their chair and rip off driver most of the driver can buy any thing too eat have too eat hot dog can’t even pay their bills bearlly making it from week to week it a shame Congress don’t care the government don’t care OIDA don’t care what do I sirpose too do with a freaking hat?????? The day is coming when all trucker I mean all six or seven million driver going come together and stand up for trucker RIGHT TRUCKER DO MAKE THE WORLD GO AROUND WHITOUT US THE WORLD STOPS??????????
Anthony E Aubuchon
The big companies should be held accountable, especially if they are getting government founding for lying about driver shortage and flooding the market so they can drive the rates down. Top that off with the government giving the foreigners the money to buy a truck and they don’t have to pay taxes for the first 5 years so they can haul freight dirt cheap and then we don’t know why we can’t compete.
bih transportation llc
We need to contact all ALL CARRIERS OUT THER TO STOP DRIVING CHEAP PAYING LOADS. WE NEED TO GET SOMEBODY TO TAKE THER TIME AND FIND EVERY MC NR AND CONTACT THEM AND TELL THEM WE NEED ALL TO UNITED TOGETHER. AND PLEASE SOMEBODY CONTACT ME WHEN THER IS PROTEST GOING TO HAPPEN SOMEWERE OUTHER.
Patrick G Robins
I been a owner operator in California for twenty years port of la and long beach I have seen the rates go lower than when I started in that’s is for one reason because the iligals drove the rates down an now you all think slow rolls in blown your horn is going to change something good luck just use common sense and shut down
Linda helm
You need to help these drivers ,they work hard and get little to no pay to their homes I seen this first hand because I am married to on. Even trucking company’s cheat the driver’s.. My husband got a check for . $ 0.25 for one week try telling me how to feed family and him at the same time will ya.
Mussi
No need for broker, from customer to trucker that’s all it needs. Broker use truck driver insurance to submit to the customer to Hole the freight so what’s the broker job is nothing.