Do you think fuel prices will ever drop back down to previous levels
Hey everyone, I’ve been looking at fuel prices lately and wondering if we will ever see them drop back down to previous levels, or if this high pricing is just the new normal. What are your predictions? Do you think they will go down as before, or are we stuck with these rates for the foreseeable future? Would love to hear your thoughts!
ELD Errors
What are the most common driver violations investigated during DOT inspections?
Qry
Hello
8 months since I switched dry van → flatbed. The honest version
Get asked this at every fuel island so here's the whole thing. Money: my average all-in rate is up about 18% vs my last dry van year. That's real. But add tarps, straps, chains, edge protectors — call it $4k of gear the first year — plus the physical work. The part nobody says: tarping in July is a workout you didn't sign up for, and securement mistakes aren't a fine, they're a funeral. I spent my first month terrified and I think that was correct. Would I go back? No. But if you hate physical work or you're not going to learn securement properly, the 18% isn't for you and that's fine.
Decoding job ads — what does 'family atmosphere' actually mean lol
Six months in, already shopping for my second company (first one counts my paycheck in vibes). Reading job posts and I swear they're written in code: 'Family atmosphere' — ? 'Unlimited earning potential' — ?? 'Home time that works for YOU' — ??? People who've been around: teach me the translation table before I sign something dumb.
Those of you running 3-10 trucks: when did truck #2 stop being a money pit?
One truck, one year in, numbers finally boring in a good way. Everyone at my home terminal says the jump from 1 to 2 trucks is where dreams go to die — you inherit a driver, a second maintenance schedule, and none of the control. Fleet folks: how long until #2 actually carried its weight, and what would you do differently on day one?
Boots that survive summer asphalt — mine are melting and so am I
Third pair of boots in 18 months just delaminated. Between dock plates, hot asphalt, and the occasional trailer roof check, I apparently destroy footwear on an industrial schedule. Requirements: composite toe (dock requirement), survives 100°+ asphalt, doesn't feel like concrete blocks by hour 11. Budget flexible because I'm done buying twice. What's actually lasted for you?
Factoring — necessary evil, or training wheels you never take off?
Coming up on renewal with my factoring company. 3% non-recourse. It's been painless — money next day, they eat the credit risk, I don't chase anybody. But 3% of everything is starting to feel like a truck payment I don't have a truck for. Guys with direct customers tell me real shippers pay net-30 like clockwork and factoring is a habit, not a need. Who here actually got OFF factoring, and what did the transition look like? Cash cushion? Quick pay? Divine intervention?
Took $1.87/mi on a 940-mile run back to ATL — talk me off the ledge
Sat in Joplin MO for 26 hours waiting on something decent. Broker calls with 940 miles back home at $1.87 all-in. I took it because sitting costs me about $210 a day before I eat anything. Old company-driver me says any load home beats a layover. New owner-op me is staring at the fuel receipt doing sad math. Was this the right call or did I just train that broker to lowball me forever?
Truck stop food power rankings — this is a hill I will die on
Six months of professional research (my cardiologist calls it 'concerning') and I'm ready to publish findings: S-tier: any truck stop with a real grill and a waitress who calls you 'hon' A-tier: the loaded baked potato situation at certain TA locations B-tier: rotisserie anything C-tier: the entire roller grill category (fight me) F-tier: gas station sushi. I don't care that it exists, THAT's the problem Corrections and additions welcome. This is peer review.
APU vs idling in this heat — diesel at $4 says APU, payback math says 2 years. Tiebreaker?
Even an old dog does math. Idling through a southern summer runs me about a gallon an hour, call it $28-35 a night, every night, June through September. Decent APU installed is $11-13k. Payback pencils out around 2 years IF nothing breaks, and I've heard plenty about APUs that break. Who's actually lived with one 3+ years? Real maintenance costs? Or do I keep feeding the big engine like it's 1998?
Dispatchers: what actually gets a driver the good loads?
Serious question, no snark. Every fleet has drivers who somehow always get the good freight and drivers who always get the garbage. From the dispatch chair, what actually separates them? Asking because I suspect the answer is not 'luck' and I'd like to be on the right list.
Weirdest load you ever hauled. I'll start: 40,000 lbs of rubber ducks
1997. An entire trailer of rubber ducks for some county fair promotion, boxed floor to ceiling. Every bump for 600 miles sounded like a tiny audience applauding. Beat that. And yes I still have one of the ducks. His name is Kenworth.
My real first-year numbers as an owner-op (long post, no sugarcoating)
One year since I left 15 years of company driving. Promised myself I'd post the real numbers, because the YouTube version of this life left out some chapters. GROSS: $211,400 Fuel: $58,900 (fuel card saved ~$4k of that, get one) Truck payment: $31,200 (used 2021, 20% down) Insurance: $14,800 (first-year authority tax, this drops) Maintenance + tires: $17,300 (two surprises did $9k of that) Plates, permits, IFTA, parking, ELD, misc: $11,600 NET before my own taxes: ~$77,600 My best company year was $82k with zero risk. So year one I basically paid $5k for freedom and an education. Q4 was my first quarter that beat company money — the curve is real but it's slower than the influencers say. Staying in? Yes. Year two projection says $95-105k if rates just stay flat. But if you're jumping in expecting $150k year one — the math has questions for you.
What's your personal rule for max deadhead on a reload?
Had this argument with another driver at the Flying J this morning and want more opinions. He says never deadhead more than 50 miles, period, it's free work. I say it depends what's waiting — I'll run 120 empty to grab a reefer load that pays $2.60 all week vs staying put for $1.90 freight. My rough rule: deadhead is fine if the loaded rate covers the empty miles and still beats the local average by 10%+. Am I overcomplicating it?
DEF quality sensor throwing ghost codes in 105°F heat — third time this month
2022 Cascadia, DD13. Every time ambient goes over 100°F I get DEF quality warning, sometimes with derate countdown, then next morning it clears itself like nothing happened. Dealer says fluid tests fine. I say sensor is gaslighting me. Anyone else fighting this in the heat? I am one derate away from doing something I will regret to that sensor.
Hired my first driver in March. What I wish somebody had told me
Four months into being a two-truck 'fleet' (feels ridiculous typing that). Things nobody warned me about: 1. The truck you don't drive deteriorates faster. Not mechanically — operationally. Small stuff stops getting reported. 2. Payroll is easy. Payroll TAXES are a part-time job. Get the accountant before the driver, not after. 3. Your driver's CSA is your CSA now. His roadside inspection at 2am in Nebraska is your insurance renewal in December. 4. The right driver costs 15% more than you budgeted and is worth 40% more than the alternative. Still glad I did it. But 'hire slow' isn't a cliché, it's a survival instruction.
Spot market this week — produce season fizzling early or is it just my lanes?
Running flatbed out of DFW and even my usual steel and lumber lanes feel soft for mid-July. Friend on reefer says produce out of the Valley already cooling off, usually that holds into August. Booked TX-OK-KS triangle all last week at numbers I would have laughed at in May. Not crying yet, but the trend line is wrong. What are you all seeing? Curious if it's regional or everybody's July is like this.
Lease-purchase at a mega — everyone says RUN but the ad math looks fine?? Talk me out of it
Before you all yell: I know. Everyone says lease-purchase is a trap. But I'm looking at the actual flyer and the math LOOKS okay — $699/week, walkaway lease, 'be your own boss', fuel discounts, no money down. Six months experience, no capital, and I'm hungry. Where exactly does this go wrong? Genuinely asking for the mechanism, not just the vibes.
A dashcam saved my career last month. What setup do you all run?
Four-wheeler cut across two lanes on I-40, brake-checked, then told the officer I rear-ended him while he was 'driving normally'. My forward cam told a different story in 1080p and I drove away with zero citations and my CSA intact. I'm upgrading the setup out of gratitude. Currently just a forward cam. Worth adding side cams? Interior? What's everyone running, and what do you wish you'd bought the first time?
