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Ok, I’m dumb. Could someone explain why free-market principles aren’t working here? If product isn’t moving, it seems that those who could move product would

Ok, I’m dumb. Could someone explain why free-market principles aren’t working here? If product isn’t moving, it seems that those who could move product would be worth more and could charge more.

ThrustVectoring 5y ago
Time mismatch between the underlying issue and the investment necessary to fix it. It costs $X to do the business expansion required to move the product, and you expect to get $Y from it until things return back to "normal", and relevant business management believes that $X >> $Y.
deanputney 5y ago
Part of it seems to be that the truckers have no negotiating power. They can't raise their prices without collective action.
pastacacioepepe 5y ago
Remember, when the market fails, it's NEVER a fault of the market. It's usually due to the stars alignment or some evil government's insane actions. Nevermind that governments are the puppets of the market. It must certainly be the stars alignment then. Perhaps the moon's gravitational pull??
- pjscott 5y ago
  Market failure is real, but this is a situation where I wouldn't expect to see it happen naturally.
throwaway984393 5y ago
Does the driver charge for their services? Or does the trucking company decide what they can charge? The free market pretends everybody has agency, but reality shows that there is a natural imbalance of power dynamics which determines how the system operates. Regulated markets are one example of a response to unequal power dynamics. The article enumerates the ways that the trucking companies have more power than truckers and thus dictate terms.
- bezospen15 5y ago
  Neither! Freight brokers handle it all and take most of the profit. TQL is a horrible horrible company
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
lostdog 5y ago
Free market principles are "working" here! The free market has correctly found that there's a large supply of people who can work as a trucker, but not a huge demand. The market has "correctly" set wages at a subsistence level for these workers. The slow shipping times are fine too! The market has correctly determined that waiting for goods is preferable to spending more money to guarantee meeting delivery timelines. Great going market! In seriousness, when you cut compensation to the bone you get impoverished workers and a brittle logistics system. Capitalism pushes companies too far into cost-cutting, and the regulations and unions that used to counter problematic cost-cutting were stripped of power in the 80s.
kdot 5y ago
I'm not sure I believe this article, if you are a truck driver an aren't making $2,500 per week in todays market you are not paying attention. Truck drivers with 2 years of experience are getting 10k+ sign on bonuses now. And if you own your own truck your walking away with 7k - 10k+ per week, per mile rates are the highest they've been in years.
- vba616 5y ago
  >if you own your own truck your walking away with 7k - 10k+ per week, per mile rates are the highest they've been in years. Do you "walk away with" your per mile rate? Or do you have to pay for gas and other things first?

ThrustVectoring 5y ago

Time mismatch between the underlying issue and the investment necessary to fix it. It costs $X to do the business expansion required to move the product, and you expect to get $Y from it until things return back to "normal", and relevant business management believes that $X >> $Y.

deanputney 5y ago

Part of it seems to be that the truckers have no negotiating power. They can't raise their prices without collective action.

pastacacioepepe 5y ago

Remember, when the market fails, it's NEVER a fault of the market. It's usually due to the stars alignment or some evil government's insane actions. Nevermind that governments are the puppets of the market. It must certainly be the stars alignment then. Perhaps the moon's gravitational pull??

pjscott 5y ago
Market failure is real, but this is a situation where I wouldn't expect to see it happen naturally.

throwaway984393 5y ago

Does the driver charge for their services? Or does the trucking company decide what they can charge? The free market pretends everybody has agency, but reality shows that there is a natural imbalance of power dynamics which determines how the system operates. Regulated markets are one example of a response to unequal power dynamics. The article enumerates the ways that the trucking companies have more power than truckers and thus dictate terms.

bezospen15 5y ago
Neither! Freight brokers handle it all and take most of the profit. TQL is a horrible horrible company

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

lostdog 5y ago

Free market principles are "working" here! The free market has correctly found that there's a large supply of people who can work as a trucker, but not a huge demand. The market has "correctly" set wages at a subsistence level for these workers. The slow shipping times are fine too! The market has correctly determined that waiting for goods is preferable to spending more money to guarantee meeting delivery timelines. Great going market! In seriousness, when you cut compensation to the bone you get impoverished workers and a brittle logistics system. Capitalism pushes companies too far into cost-cutting, and the regulations and unions that used to counter problematic cost-cutting were stripped of power in the 80s.

kdot 5y ago

I'm not sure I believe this article, if you are a truck driver an aren't making $2,500 per week in todays market you are not paying attention. Truck drivers with 2 years of experience are getting 10k+ sign on bonuses now. And if you own your own truck your walking away with 7k - 10k+ per week, per mile rates are the highest they've been in years.

vba616 5y ago
>if you own your own truck your walking away with 7k - 10k+ per week, per mile rates are the highest they've been in years. Do you "walk away with" your per mile rate? Or do you have to pay for gas and other things first?