AH, THE JOYS OF THE OWNER-OPERATOR. The freight biz has changed over the last 30 years; railroad freight declined, and humongous 18-wheelers took over. With the advent of cheap PC's and bookkeeping software, the corporate accountants realized that they could get rid of all the fleet driver jobs and capital acquisition costs: enter the "independent" owner-operator, who gets to finance that $150,000++ tractor and worry about maintenance costs, like, say a new clutch for the Fuller Roadranger 13-speed transmission (depending on the rig, a clutch can run from $1,500 to $3,500, just the parts cost — then there's "Re & Re", aka labor, on top of that).Well, like everything, life appears to be getting tougher. JALOPNIK's Dan Hanson has a thoughtful piece, worthy of your attention: "What you don’t know about the truck driver you just flipped off". Why should you care? Depends on how good you are with "situational awareness" — it's your butt, do check your six before you wish you had.
Everything you buy at the store and everything you order online moves by truck. Planes and trains can't get it to your house or grocery store. We are dependent on trucks to move product from the airport and the rail yards to the stores and our homes.
Every day, experienced and qualified drivers give it up because the government, the traffic and the greedy companies involved in trucking have drained their enthusiasm for this life.
They take a job at a factory if they can find it, and are replaced by an inexperienced youngster dreaming of the open road. This inexperience leads to late deliveries, causing shortages and higher prices at the store, and crashes that lead to unnecessary deaths.
Times change. It seemed a little more human, before the accountants got at the industry.
