The story of inflation & cost to do business continues to get bleaker for our carrier friends out there. With most freight I see on the board barely being above this $2.27 operating cost estimate is the damage more then people are aware of to the carriers? https://www.ccjdigital.com/economic-trends/freight-demand/article/15678318/permile-cost-of-trucking-hit-record-high-in-2023?utm_medium=email&utm_content=06-26-2024&utm_campaign=CM_NL_CCJ+Daily&utm_source=CM_NL_CCJ+Daily&ust_id=3c8edb5b1c3638e951e9bedb13d445f98bb2419a&oly_enc_id=9629J8650390I5N

We got New Winners!! @Bill Robinson is our leader on the 30 day Leaderboard. Thank you for your active participation. You already have a hat. When you got minute send me a selfie with the hat on please. The next 3 on our list get a Free Hat or Shirt for your community participation Congrats @Melissa Rosenthal @Lisa Taylor @Robert Petersen In chat here on Skool send me your address that you would like your swag mailed to. The pic shows the front and back of the shirt and a hat. Let me know if you want a hat or shirt. (Sorry ladies the shirts are just normal T-Shirts not ladies cuts) but we have Medium Large XL 2X in sizes. The hats are banded EZ Fit. Let me know. Also if you receive swag we expect a picture of you wearing it. lol Anybody want free Freight Skool swag? Need be active in our community like these 3 winners. Be at the top of the leaderboard over the next 30 days and you will get free swag! Thanks to all our Skoolmates for your active participation in our Skool community you guys are awesome!

A little plug as I have enjoyed the show since the inception. Have been fortunate to have been a guest twice. Today I will be doing a show with Rob and Hunter. This show subject matter was fully brought to light by @Robert Petersen . Ron can confirm if show is live, will throw a teaser, trucker, lawyer, Rob, Hunter and myself. I will be learning more today and flattered to be asked to take part. Believe this one will be very informative to all in SKOOL if your time permits.

By now y'all know how ANTI-EV I AM but I am also a huge proponent of a viable & sustainable option to diesel trucks. One of these options I'd like to see to continue to evolve & hopefully take the forefront are the CNG/LNG engines. Unfortunately our Govt. isn't throwing billions of tax incentives & touting it like they do the alternatives so it's mainly up to the private sector. Yes we face some of the same issues like lack of fueling stations & the costs of these tractors are a little high, however the push for CNG is nothing new & there are already many refueling stations already built with more planned. Now the cost being a 1/3-1/2 of what an EV does mean a savings. Not to mention that current diesel engines can be retrofitted for CNG further cutting your costs VS buying new. https://www.ccjdigital.com/alternative-power/natural-gas/article/15671115/cummins-x15n-raises-the-profile-of-natural-gas

A post in here about drivers being late triggered this thought & inquiry to you drivers out there. HOW DO YOU TRIP PLAN? I'll begin.... 1) I looked at my HOS to make sure they would align with the PU & DO times and that I had enough to do the load period without a repower or reset. 2) I'd look up the route in my Atlas to include my DH & wrote down the route in a notebook I kept on my dash. (Yes ATLAS, I never used a GPS to guide me) 3) I knew I could drive 650mi a day no problem so I divided the total miles by that to give me a timeline of how long it would take to do the load. This is my "rough draft timeline". 4) Then I checked every road I wasn't familiar with for low clearances, no truck routes, weight limits, tolls, etc. Also if the route took me on US highways or on back roads I'd add a little time for that too. 5) Check weather conditions along the route to see if anything may hinder my schedule. 5) I then call the shipper to get directions & make sure the info I was given was correct for the appt times, weights, destination, etc. 6) Arrive at shipper to load 7) Redo my "rough draft timeline after I'm loaded to make sure I'm still on schedule or need to make adjustments. I would redo this any time I stopped for more than 30mins to keep a constant updated ETA for myself. 8) Call the receiver to get final mile directions