Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/71813
SPEAKOUT Regulate the brokers to fix system When will the researchers look at what shippers pay and the percent that the brokers take? The brokers and the carriers have very little overhead and no responsibility for the freight. Yet, for what they do (a phone call and a fax), these uncontrolled, unregulated folks are taking all of the profit. As an example, an agent for the carrier I was leased to called with a load that picked up in Florida and delivered in Houston. It paid $2,100. The next day another make any money and don't get any breaks and I'm tired of it. It's work, work with no breaks. It's crazy. " ultimately shutting down a $1.4 billion road project for a few days. Windsor, Ontario, across the border from Detroit, telling a reporter why he and the other 140 drivers went on strike, — Tom Faubert in " SHARE WITH OVERDRIVE 84 OVERDRIVE JULY 2012 We don't agent for the same carrier called with a load from Florida to Houston that paid $2,600. It turned out to be the same load. I called the first agent and asked if he still had the load. He did, and it still paid $2,100. I accepted the load from the second agent, but then got a call from the first, who told me I couldn't pull the same load from the same customer from the same carrier through another agent (who worked for my carrier), because I was "his" driver. He gave me the load for $2,500. A friend later told me that the customer paid the agent/carrier/ middleman $3,200 for that load. So Broker A gets the load for $3,200, pays a driver $2,100 and is left with $1,100. The driver then has to give back 26 percent (13 percent each for the carrier and the agent), so Broker A gets $1,373, the carrier gets $273. After subtracting my truck, trailer and fuel costs for the trip, the agent makes more than I do. The system is broken. Regulate the brokers. independent owner-operator Cottondale, Fla. ED BURNS What is your concern about increasing limits for weight and length on over-the-road trucks? "The roads are already torn up, and there's no government money Springtown, Texas | Southern California Transport company driver to repair them when loads get even heavier." RICKY HENDRIX "There are plenty of limits already, and parking lots and roads aren't JUSTIN TRETEAULT | Nashville, Tenn. Owner-operator leased to Landstar designed for anything heavier, longer or wider. We are having a hard enough time finding a parking space at all." "We push a lot of weight already, and it's hard to stop the truck safely." JESURUN WILLIAMS | Atlanta, Ga. Owner-operator leased to Landstar because of it. If weight limits increase, the public needs to be educated on drivers and how difficult it is for us to drive "It's going to make it a lot harder to maneuver. Small towns aren't made for big trucks, especially [ones] with increased weight and length limits." RANDY JONES | Canton, Ga. Independent owner-operator "We haul produce, so length doesn't affect us as much — but the weight is tearing up the roads. Leave the limit as is." "Less drivers, less jobs — an increase in weight and length will decrease the number of drivers needed to haul freight." NIKKI STEWART Landover, Md. Albritton Farms company driver BILLY FOSTER Panama City, Fla. Owner-operator leased to Paschall Truck Lines Send your letter to Overdriveonline.com under the Contact menu or mail it to Overdrive, P.O. Box 3187, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403. FIND US AT: OVERDRIVE MAGAZINE TWITTER.COM/ OVERDRIVEUPDATE