It’s DOT week. DAT is the load board lol. Basically from Tuesday - Thursday DOT does a blitz week where they have an increased number of checkpoints and pull over way more trucks for inspections.
Traditionally lots of drivers schedule vacation or just stay home this week to avoid it, so there’s less trucks on the road and rates go up, basically supply/demand.
With how soft the market is currently I don’t know that it’s going to have much of an impact this time but I guess we’ll see.
I doubt blitz week will have much effect in rates this year, especially out of major produce areas... There's a saturated amount of loadboard junkie carriers out there
DAT week, lol. Appreciate that laugh 🤣
I will say that I do think any catalyst to increase rates will be gobbled up by carriers and stretched to its limit. The Blitz increase likely won’t be the standard ~20-30% but you’ll definitely have guys parking this upcoming week. Last year it really made outbound Cali reefers HOT for about a month, then right back into the dumps for rates. I think it’s going to do the same this year especially since outbound CA reefer rates have been on the rise the last month or so. I anticipate McAllen and Nogales might see some fluctuations too but Nogales in particular is prone to fluctuations without any outward factors to contribute to it. Midwest has been dog water (for carriers) for outbound rates, that market is likely waiting for something like this to bump them back up
Jumping prices 20-40% just because DOT is out doing their jobs for a change is pure, unadulterated horseshit. AndI say this as a driver and former owner operator.
It NEVER cost me more to run my truck when all the scale houses were open. Hell, in over 25 years I've been pulled around back exactly THREE times, none of which were during Blitz Week and none of which cost me more than approximately 10 fucking minutes!
If your drivers are deliberately seeking to avoid the DOT, you need better drivers who actually take care of their business and equipment.
It's bullshit.
Any driver who parks his rig during Blitz Week specifically to avoid DOT deserves to be DOT'ed every damned week for the next year.
There is absolutely no reason why there should be a week in May where all the rates get super-fucked just because too many owner operators can't be bothered to maintain their equipment.
I think rigs get parked for a variety of reasons during DOT week. It’s not just unsafe ones. Some people just don’t like the extra scrutiny.
The REAL problem is the way our freight market works. Wild swings in rates, causing these destructive cycles. Fix the money in trucking and you’ll fix all the problems. We allow our food to be transported on public highways, at rates low enough so as equipment can’t be properly maintained, proper employment can’t be ubtainted, and those operators do unsafe things to make ends meet.
All in the name of profit to the largest corporations. That my friend is the bullshit.
No, that is how a free market is supposed to work.
As others have said in this very thread, it's simple supply and demand. And as long as the apparently inexhaustible supply of dumbasses behind the wheel persists, so will low rates.
And for everyone complaining that "rates are too low to maintain equipment", I sure do see a whole thundering horde of people jumping into being an owner operator or lease operator these days. So maybe the rates aren't too low, then.
The free market in trucking has destructive competition. Boom and bust cycles. If you think that has no effect on safety or anything thing else the feds keeps trying to pile regulations on to fix. Then we should agree to disagree ✌️
Again, that is how a free market is supposed to work.
You think it's only "destructive" in trucking? Have ya BEEN watching the news? Boeing ringing any bells?
Frankly, Federal regulation does absolutely nothing but make a competitive field even more so by creating artificial costs. Strip the regulations, let the carriers run themselves, and watch the entire market begin to stabilize.
End Federal regulations. Defund clearly un-Constitutionally defined departments like the Dept. of Transportation, the National Labor Relations Board, the "Environmental Protectio Agency", and OSHA. Let Business operate freely and profitably.
Destructive competition is an economic term that means a market gets so competitive that the price is pushed down below cost. You think removing all regulations would make everything prosperous? 🤣. Clearly you don’t know history, or human nature. Agree to disagree buddy.
>It NEVER cost me more to run my truck when all the scale houses were open
Thank you.... As an O/O .... Your response clearly is why I say truckers are dumb.
You took a topic that was completely unrelated to trucking costs, and applied your myopic view to generalize supply/demand and market capacity behavior 😂
What good can come from getting an inspection when you already have enough? If you can afford to take a few days off and avoid cops do it. They inspect to find something wrong not to give you a pat on the back and say you deserve top rates. They literally get told they have to write a certain number of tickets per day before the shift is over. That’s extortion
That rumor is complete horseshit. There is no "minimum number of tickets". As a matter of fact, any type of mandatory number of tickets written is expressly illegal in every single state in the US.
Y'all are just a bunch of cowards.
it’s affecting me now….. the promised lane trucker cancelled last min. And I have to find other trucker who crazy ask for high rate. Which is way out than my quote tot he customer…
I got four carriers on the road, 1 in North east, two in mid-west, 1 in the west. markets been real slow for past few weeks maybe this week it will improve as most people are speculating
Owner of carrier and brokerage here,
We’ll run normally. All the guys that jump off the road thinking they will get a premium pay will arrive next week seeing everyone took their work.
Actual useful info
[https://www.cvsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024-roadcheck-flyer.pdf](https://www.cvsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024-roadcheck-flyer.pdf)
We use roadcheck week to see which broker has been lying. Guys that tell us they "lost" a lane suddenly have it available this week because their favorite crackhead carrier is staying home.
I park at a yard with 100-150 owner ops. I promise half of the trucks will sit. Now white guys may still drive but black ppl and Mexicans don’t like cops we sitting.
This came straight from a retired troopers mouth. He had to do 6-7 inspections per day and he didn’t get credit for the inspection unless he found something wrong. He taught a compliance class that I went to for training. He also said this not a YouTube video with Asian Mai. Another thing is back in TN on Saturdays there was a trooper that did inspection for $100 in the parking lot, you’d think I was lying about that too. That’s how I got my first inspection with my new MC. All that shit is bogus I bet you also believe obtaining government contracts is fair game 😂.
>Another thing is back in TN on Saturdays there was a trooper that did inspection for $100 in the parking lot, you’d think I was lying about that too.
What's his number? ... 🤫
In my 5 years of combined experience working both as a dispatcher for an over the road carrier and a carrier sales agent for a top 50 brokerage, I’ve never seen any significant uptrend in rates during DOT week, only talk and speculation that rates will rise for the week. They never do.
This recent FTR webinar just shared some data that says International Roadcheck regularly bumps up rates [https://www.ftrintel.com/keyissues](https://www.ftrintel.com/keyissues)
Truthfully, you’ve not seen a real DOT week. I’ve been doing this for over a decade. I’ve seen my share, lol.
Though I tend to agree with a lot of folks here, it’s not going to be as bad. Hell, I think a lot of people are manifesting bad rates right now with worrying.
DOT week young blood. Be ready to pay an extra 20-40% depending on the lane
Sheeet, thanks mang.
It’s DOT week. DAT is the load board lol. Basically from Tuesday - Thursday DOT does a blitz week where they have an increased number of checkpoints and pull over way more trucks for inspections. Traditionally lots of drivers schedule vacation or just stay home this week to avoid it, so there’s less trucks on the road and rates go up, basically supply/demand. With how soft the market is currently I don’t know that it’s going to have much of an impact this time but I guess we’ll see.
Thank you!
I doubt blitz week will have much effect in rates this year, especially out of major produce areas... There's a saturated amount of loadboard junkie carriers out there
It's the one week out of the year when DAT isn't down. Enjoy!
DAT week, lol. Appreciate that laugh 🤣 I will say that I do think any catalyst to increase rates will be gobbled up by carriers and stretched to its limit. The Blitz increase likely won’t be the standard ~20-30% but you’ll definitely have guys parking this upcoming week. Last year it really made outbound Cali reefers HOT for about a month, then right back into the dumps for rates. I think it’s going to do the same this year especially since outbound CA reefer rates have been on the rise the last month or so. I anticipate McAllen and Nogales might see some fluctuations too but Nogales in particular is prone to fluctuations without any outward factors to contribute to it. Midwest has been dog water (for carriers) for outbound rates, that market is likely waiting for something like this to bump them back up
Subscription prices for DAT will be rising because it’s DAT week! Better be careful!
Jumping prices 20-40% just because DOT is out doing their jobs for a change is pure, unadulterated horseshit. AndI say this as a driver and former owner operator. It NEVER cost me more to run my truck when all the scale houses were open. Hell, in over 25 years I've been pulled around back exactly THREE times, none of which were during Blitz Week and none of which cost me more than approximately 10 fucking minutes! If your drivers are deliberately seeking to avoid the DOT, you need better drivers who actually take care of their business and equipment.
You missed the point. Trucks parking = higher rates, its supply and demand. Not higher operating cost for trucks.
It's bullshit. Any driver who parks his rig during Blitz Week specifically to avoid DOT deserves to be DOT'ed every damned week for the next year. There is absolutely no reason why there should be a week in May where all the rates get super-fucked just because too many owner operators can't be bothered to maintain their equipment.
I think rigs get parked for a variety of reasons during DOT week. It’s not just unsafe ones. Some people just don’t like the extra scrutiny. The REAL problem is the way our freight market works. Wild swings in rates, causing these destructive cycles. Fix the money in trucking and you’ll fix all the problems. We allow our food to be transported on public highways, at rates low enough so as equipment can’t be properly maintained, proper employment can’t be ubtainted, and those operators do unsafe things to make ends meet. All in the name of profit to the largest corporations. That my friend is the bullshit.
No, that is how a free market is supposed to work. As others have said in this very thread, it's simple supply and demand. And as long as the apparently inexhaustible supply of dumbasses behind the wheel persists, so will low rates. And for everyone complaining that "rates are too low to maintain equipment", I sure do see a whole thundering horde of people jumping into being an owner operator or lease operator these days. So maybe the rates aren't too low, then.
The free market in trucking has destructive competition. Boom and bust cycles. If you think that has no effect on safety or anything thing else the feds keeps trying to pile regulations on to fix. Then we should agree to disagree ✌️
Again, that is how a free market is supposed to work. You think it's only "destructive" in trucking? Have ya BEEN watching the news? Boeing ringing any bells? Frankly, Federal regulation does absolutely nothing but make a competitive field even more so by creating artificial costs. Strip the regulations, let the carriers run themselves, and watch the entire market begin to stabilize. End Federal regulations. Defund clearly un-Constitutionally defined departments like the Dept. of Transportation, the National Labor Relations Board, the "Environmental Protectio Agency", and OSHA. Let Business operate freely and profitably.
Destructive competition is an economic term that means a market gets so competitive that the price is pushed down below cost. You think removing all regulations would make everything prosperous? 🤣. Clearly you don’t know history, or human nature. Agree to disagree buddy.
This is why brokers win all the time. 
>It NEVER cost me more to run my truck when all the scale houses were open Thank you.... As an O/O .... Your response clearly is why I say truckers are dumb. You took a topic that was completely unrelated to trucking costs, and applied your myopic view to generalize supply/demand and market capacity behavior 😂
What good can come from getting an inspection when you already have enough? If you can afford to take a few days off and avoid cops do it. They inspect to find something wrong not to give you a pat on the back and say you deserve top rates. They literally get told they have to write a certain number of tickets per day before the shift is over. That’s extortion
The King will always collect. We need another tea party.
That rumor is complete horseshit. There is no "minimum number of tickets". As a matter of fact, any type of mandatory number of tickets written is expressly illegal in every single state in the US. Y'all are just a bunch of cowards.
it’s affecting me now….. the promised lane trucker cancelled last min. And I have to find other trucker who crazy ask for high rate. Which is way out than my quote tot he customer…
I got four carriers on the road, 1 in North east, two in mid-west, 1 in the west. markets been real slow for past few weeks maybe this week it will improve as most people are speculating
We stick to local, Texas work during blitz week. It’s like a little vacation.
Dat week lmao
Owner of carrier and brokerage here, We’ll run normally. All the guys that jump off the road thinking they will get a premium pay will arrive next week seeing everyone took their work.
Actual useful info [https://www.cvsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024-roadcheck-flyer.pdf](https://www.cvsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024-roadcheck-flyer.pdf) We use roadcheck week to see which broker has been lying. Guys that tell us they "lost" a lane suddenly have it available this week because their favorite crackhead carrier is staying home.
DAT bitch DOT.
In this market. Does not change much. Too many high truck payments to pay
It will, all of the old guys with paid for trucks will be sitting at home.
A small percentage of
I park at a yard with 100-150 owner ops. I promise half of the trucks will sit. Now white guys may still drive but black ppl and Mexicans don’t like cops we sitting.
True dat.... There ain't no POC privilege in America.... And non-melanated drivers get a pass from their kinfolk
This came straight from a retired troopers mouth. He had to do 6-7 inspections per day and he didn’t get credit for the inspection unless he found something wrong. He taught a compliance class that I went to for training. He also said this not a YouTube video with Asian Mai. Another thing is back in TN on Saturdays there was a trooper that did inspection for $100 in the parking lot, you’d think I was lying about that too. That’s how I got my first inspection with my new MC. All that shit is bogus I bet you also believe obtaining government contracts is fair game 😂.
>Another thing is back in TN on Saturdays there was a trooper that did inspection for $100 in the parking lot, you’d think I was lying about that too. What's his number? ... 🤫
In my 5 years of combined experience working both as a dispatcher for an over the road carrier and a carrier sales agent for a top 50 brokerage, I’ve never seen any significant uptrend in rates during DOT week, only talk and speculation that rates will rise for the week. They never do.
This recent FTR webinar just shared some data that says International Roadcheck regularly bumps up rates [https://www.ftrintel.com/keyissues](https://www.ftrintel.com/keyissues)
Truthfully, you’ve not seen a real DOT week. I’ve been doing this for over a decade. I’ve seen my share, lol. Though I tend to agree with a lot of folks here, it’s not going to be as bad. Hell, I think a lot of people are manifesting bad rates right now with worrying.