@venuspcs, You've certainly given a great inside look at what it's like to be a truck driver. I commend you and the others on the road for the work you guys do, and still be able to put up with the bullshit from everyone (dispatchers, shippers, receivers, brokers, etc.)

I run a small family-owned transportation brokerage base right here in Colorado and we certainly see some of the dirty side of trucking, but nothing in comparison to what you, the driver, has to deal with.

Everyone is in the business of making money and it's always the drivers that get shafted when things go wrong. We have a contract with every single carrier/driver that loads for us and we guarantee a minimum rate per mile paid for full truckload services. 30 years in operation and we're still at it. My first day on the job the one thing I was told, that I will never forget and continue to tell everyone in the industry to this day, is to treat everyone equally, no matter who is paying the freight bills. The drivers are just as important to the job as the customer and they should be treated as such. I hear stories from my drivers about how demeaning some brokers are and how they talk down to the drivers like they're not even human. Its discussing. A lot of other brokers out there give us a bad name because of they way the treat drivers and the greed that comes of the profit to be made.

We've definitely seen quite a change in the industry in the last 10 years. Those large companies (whom we will not name) have really made an effort to monopolize some zones/regions by promising discounted rates to the shippers so that no other brokers (such as myself) can compete with the rates. Eventually it gets to a point where those large companies control the majority of freight in the area which leaves drivers limited to 3 options:

1. Take the cheap freight
2. Park for a few days and hold out for something that pays better
3. Deal with bouncing empty to the next load

The rates are so cheap that I can't compete with them. Once you give a shipper/customer that cheap of a rate they'll never be willing to spend more money again for better service. Not only that, I'd never sleep at night knowing how cheap a driver is hauling that lane for.

Several of the companies you previously worked for have hauled for me at one time or another. There is a very good chance that I have loaded you at one point and maybe even talked to you on the phone!

Thanks for sharing your story with us and I certainly hope things start to work out better for you. Best of luck, and if we ever get the chance to hook up or you get your own authority and equipment we should talk about getting you set up so you might some day take a load for me!