Truckers struggle in recession, take what they can get

Nationally, about 15 percent of independent truck owner/operators have shut down over the past two years, said Norita Taylor, spokeswoman for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

The Associated Press

4/16/2009

GILLETTE, Wyo. — Truckers in Wyoming are finding the going tough in the recession, and some smaller companies are selling out.

“We’re seeing many companies that are purchasing others that are struggling,” Sheila Foertsch, managing director of the Wyoming Trucking Association, said.

The carriers that have seen hard times before now are the ones who have been adapting to the economic downturn.

Nationally, about 15 percent of independent truck owner/operators have shut down over the past two years, said Norita Taylor, spokeswoman for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

The organization lists about 160,000 members in the United States. About 680 of them are from Wyoming.

Lusk resident Terry Smith, 39, stopped being an independent owner-operator in 2007. He now works for a company that moves cargo around the state.

The change offered him a level of security because he now doesn’t have to deal with the competition for loads and the companies that issue the loads and set the rates.

Most companies can operate cheaper than a lone driver because they can buy their fleets in bulk. That leaves them with more wiggle room in determining which loads they take, Smith said.

In his experience, Smith said, national companies would rather use independent operators because they will take the cheaper jobs that bigger companies won’t.

Robert Hatnaker, 43, sat at the Flying J Travel Plaza in Gillette for two days last week waiting for a job that would pay enough to cover his expenses and that of his co-driver.

The trucker has 17 years of experience and knows he can’t take a job that won’t pay the bare minimum.

The rates he now sees for loads are sometimes less than $1 a mile, a price that barely covers his cost of fuel and his food.

He keeps a constant eye on his job prospects over his Internet connection. He’ll probably have to find one at another hub close by like Cheyenne, or Billings, Mont.

He can’t afford to be picky about what he transports. He’ll transport anything that will fit on his trailer so long as it pays decently.

“Sometimes you have to take a cheap load to get to the good areas,” Hatnaker said.

During his 40 years of experience, Chuck Rogers, 59 of Lubbock, Texas, has never seen it this bad.

He’s hauled almost everything across the nation, with the exception of a tanker. He never liked hauling cattle or hay, but now he won’t say no to a job.

Typically he traverses the roads between Texas and California, moving building products. Because the lumber industry has taken a nose dive, he’s had to take other types of jobs that have taken him to Wyoming.

“The people that can stay are the ones that are going to make it,” Rogers said.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at kevinj@thetrucker.com.