By Paul Benfer –
Perhaps I missed something, but when did a regulation demanding that owner-operators accept whatever rate a broker offered become law?
When discussing 371.3 it is important to remember it was written in 1980 at the birth of trucking deregulation in the United States. Unfortunately, many outdated rules and laws remain on the federal register. This is one of them.
The idea that any business reveal their gross margin, excluding fixed and variable costs, runs counter to everything a free market economy is based upon. No other similar industry in the U.S. is subject to the reporting requirements that the OOIDA and SBTC are demanding in their petitions. For that reason alone the FMCSA should reject their request.
Take a moment and think about the hundreds of thousands of transmissions that would be created by adopting the petitions. Who would pick-up the costs associated with the rule and what benefit would be derived from such a mountain of paperwork? I can tell you. It will be American businesses and consumers.
Right at this moment, freight rates have more than doubled due to a lack of capacity in the marketplace. Do you currently see trucks parked around Washington D.C.? The obvious answer is no. Why? Because the market adjusted as demand came back online.
Freight brokers are the life blood of OOIDA members, providing loads and opportunities to profit and grow their small businesses. Why they would attempt to move forward with more government regulation based on a red herring (profiteering) that doesn’t make common or economic sense.