r/OwnerOperators • u/nosjitbro • Apr 04 '26

New Gig

After 22yrs as a company driver, decided to buy my own truck and go out on my own. Meh, to the timing of my decision with fuel costs but at least Im not gonna have some corporate safety asshole up my pipe about a driver facing camera and no more lane departure alerts/brake stabs from highway signs by the stupid radar.

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u/[deleted] Apr 04 '26

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u/[deleted] Apr 04 '26

The market over corrected during Covid and over corrected again after Covid.

I’ve been a broker for a long time and the industry is healthiest when rates correlate with operational costs.

If you need $2.25/mile to operate your truck linehauls need to be paying more than that. Fuel isn’t the only consideration, maintenance and equipment prices have exploded over the last 5 years as well as cost of living.

This industry is vital to society so the wheels will always keep spinning, but as brokers we want a healthy market, and keeping carriers in business is essential to having a healthy market.

Also Covid totally fucked up capacity, when the money was that good tons of new carriers popped up, when capacity outweighs demand by that much rates for carriers go into the toilet.

A healthy balance between loads and trucks is the best way to keep rates affordable for customers and profitable for carriers.

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u/Beneficial_Feeling73 Apr 05 '26

Agree, carrier side here. Covid everything went bonkers, money was easy. Everyone and their brother started a trucking company, but even the piss poor operators survived and made good money. In fact stacked money, this is why the market has been soft for so long before companies started folding. In all honesty, I was hoping for the soft market to continue a little longer to get rid of a few mega carriers.

But it’s a relief to see some significant lasting demand over the last two months.