Once again, there are people in the trucking industry saying the small independent motor carrier is a dying breed. From my experience working with this so-called dying breed, nothing is further from the truth.

Now to qualify this, it also depends on how we describe an independent trucker. If it’s the person who decides one day he’s going to become a motor carrier and in three weeks he’s looking for broker freight on load boards, running an operation without a plan, without a freight lane, and by the seat of his pants, then these types have always been a dying breed. Kind of like bugs; the current ones seem to die off fairly quickly, only to be replaced by others.  The death of this type of "independent trucker" would be a good thing for the industry as it’s these individuals who don’t know what they don’t know, and are also the ones who drive the rates to the bottom of the barrel. They, in a word, let others determine their hauling rates, while they don’t have a clue what their rates need to be in the first place.

But if you describe an independent trucker as a true entrepreneur who has done his research, sees a niche the big carriers either can't or are unwilling to fill, and has spent the time developing a business plan: his company and others like it will grow into the medium and large carriers of the future.

I work with trucking entrepreneurs on a daily basis. The successful ones (and there are many) are providing logistic services with which the big companies can't even begin to compete. The entrepreneurial truckers with their skill, knowledge and determination have the big carriers beat hands down when it comes to quality of service.

The trucking industry is changing. What was fairly easy for many lease operators wanting to go it on their own has also been changed by this new economy. If a trucking company doesn't know what it costs to provide a service, have a  plan on how the company is going to grow, understand the market they service and know how to set a hauling rate range  that is competitive in the market they choose, they will fail. But that doesn't mean just because a trucker is a small independent, he's going the way of the dodo bird. What it does mean is large or small, a trucking company will fail if the business isn’t managed correctly. So to make a blanket statement that independent truckers  are a dying breed is about as naive as saying the trucking industry is dying. Neither is the truth; they're changing with the times. But reports of the pending death of independent truckers are premature.

Good loads and safe roads, everyone.

Timothy Brady
©2009