YES WE NEED REGULATION

[yanis]

first of all . as of January I have been phased out of the port trucking because of the California air regulation . I always knew that will be the end of my suffering, so i took my 2006 Volvo out and bought a dry van for 5500 dollars ,got a dispatcher who gets me good loads and also helps with paper wok at 10% service fee . so far I've been averaging 1.56 a mile to the truck and that is on odometer miles. not bad at all considering the winter time and also running only 3 states California .Oregon and Washington . the summer will be even better .the only problem that I have now is not about the long waiting lanes at the port for miserable pay but the overnight parking at the truck stops , they are mostly full at 6 or 7 pm. I always had to plane ahead. I am sure that I will never look back at the port which by the way I consider as a detour in my life. Now speaking of the port trucking I see only one solution to the problem of poor pay . R E G U L A T I O N . we all know that the driver will not get together to resolve it most are stupid .We also know the companies will not do it, nor the retail association . the chamber of commerce does not care . the politicians are having their hands tight because of special interest. the teamsters have tried to move in but always being fought back. It is a mess for numerous truck owners . it is being proven that a truck owner makes way less than a company driver. then what is the point of throwing your hard earned money to buy a truck to haul container .It is a no brainer. I also have good news for every body . in less than 10 years it will be a self driving truck hauling freight from A to Z by installing a computer device on each truck for about 150000 . lifetime driver guaranteed 24/7 . by then the actual driver will gain back some years for his life .AFTER ALL don't they say that a trucker lives 10 to 12 years shorter than any other person in any other occupation due to poor eating habit, stress and poor quality of life . yes i am still sleeping in my tuck and eat junk food and every dummy treats me bad. GOOD LUCK FOR ALL AND PLEASE STAY SAFE

[tift]

$1.56 per mile for actual miles is better then most. your not into the big bucks but who is nowadays. the ticket is to survive until times improve. that will be when more freight to handle then trucks to move it. it may start to happen by fourth quarter of this year with any luck. everything points to that so now is the time to drive smart and only purchase what is needed to keep going. containers are not worth the time nor trouble to fool with unless local work. in the west the green turtles have made container hauling completely out of the question for the average joe. california has sealed their fate with so many stupid new regulations on trucks. that movement on the left coast to ban older trucks will die out there because the drive to copy those clean truck regs across america has all but stalled out. good luck on the self driving trucks. they have been talking about that for the past forty years. our government cannot even repair current infrastructure so that computer operated dream truck wont be rolling down the highway other then a test or two in our lifetime. the next big threat to us is electronic logs and speed limiters but the government still has a hard fight on their hands before pushing that garbage through. sure trucking is going to see major changes but i would not just yet retire that old 359 peterbilt with the mechanical cummins because those trucks will be running the highway for many more years to come in the hands of old school truckers who still enjoy the trade.

[Chad]

The government should never have abolished the Interstate Commerce Commission. That's been the down fall of trucking beginning in the early eighties. At least back then there was stability in the form of rate structures. Now transportation is a one sided weekly discount club manipulated by the biggest shippers.