In article
,
MFOgilvie wrote:

On Apr 2, 10:34*am, Kurt Ullman wrote:
In article
,

*MFOgilvie wrote:
But by the same token, aren't the independents in control of their own
shipping rates? *It's reasonable to assume as one's operating costs
increase, the cost of their good services increase accordingly.

* * * You would be very wrong on your assumptions. Price is not only
decided by cost of goods. Demand is down related to the slow down, there
are too many trucks chasing too few loads, so they have to get what the
market will pay.

I understand all of that, but those prices are not etched in stone,
either.

Nope. But they appear to etched in stone given the current
conditions. Otherwise the truckers would be in a position to get more
than they are. They are in control of their own shipping rates. But if
that means take the current deal or sit out for awhile, the real world
options may be a limited.