Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/893962
October 2017 | Overdrive | 25 Owner-operators can expect a more favorable market, said Todd Amen, chief executive offi cer of ATBS, the largest owner-operator fi nancial ser- vices provider. During an Overdrive Part- ners in Business seminar at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas in August, Amen revisited his forecasts from last year. He also made some new ones: • "Net income's going to start going up for owner-op- erators" and will continue to do so into 2018, Amen said. Owner-operator net income in 2016 topped $60,000 for the fi rst time for ATBS clients. It's since dipped. • "I believe rates are going up a ton," Amen said, acknowledging that many industry observers disagree. He forecast an increase of at least 10 percent by mid-2018. Amen admitted his similar forecast made in August 2016 was too early because it assumed steady adoption of electronic logging devices, but it's actually been much slower. • ELDs will create "frag- mented capacity." Due to ELDs' restriction on legal miles, runs requiring slightly more than one duty cycle might have trouble fi nding a carrier. • The level of enforcement accompanying the Dec. 18 start of the ELD mandate will determine how much it aff ects rates. For example, if an owner-operator gets three or four log violations in a matter of months, his carrier could see insurance cancella- tions and, in turn, might cancel the owner-operator's lease. Another reason for optimism about rates and net income is that Truck- stop.com's loads-to-truck ratio has been high, Amen said. – Max Heine Forecasts on owner-operator income, rates, ELDs To see a video of Amen's presenta- tion at GATS in which he reviews trends in owner-operator miles, net income and costs, visit you- tube.com/OverdriveMag and search the "Industry Speakers" playlist. tube.com/OverdriveMag and search VALUES+ PROGRAM™ 11R22.5 OR LP22.5 INCREDIBLE VALUE FROM THE LEADER IN RETREADING LOW PRICES ON BANDAG QUALITY TIRES $169 Cap & Casing $189 Cap & Casing $199 Cap & Casing B195™ Trailer B726™ Closed-Shoulder Drive WHL Open-Shoulder On/O Road Drive 11/32 nds 22/32 nds 26/32 nds Lifetime Limited Warranty* Assembled in America Grade A Casing Bandag Quality Tread Designs & Compounds State Of The Art Bandag Manufacturing Process © 2017 Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC. All Rights Reserved. AT PARTICIPATING BANDAG AUTHORIZED DEALERS. OTHER SIZES AND CASING GRADES MAY BE OFFERED. *Certain conditions and limitations apply. See Bandag retailer or warranty manual for details. Bridgestone_Bandag_CCJ0817_PG.indd 1 7/20/17 11:11 AM