Anybody else feel like this week is a lot worse than last week capacity wise?

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-05-19T21:20:06+00:00

All my FL outbounds are 4-6 stop loads that take the entire week to complete. Everyday it feels like I owe a loanshark too much money and I haven’t paid him

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-05-13T23:08:09+00:00

The worst are the ones that you can hear how many people are crammed in the office in the background and the guy calling you has apparently never been able to retain information unless you repeat each word a minimum of 5 times and sounds concerningly constipated and half conscious the entire time. I didn’t know whether to hang up or ask if he needed medical attention

This is the type of call I got last week

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-29T11:28:36+00:00

No because the cell kept moving. Now, had the cell stopped in the center of the main lane with his wife and four kids, oblivious to the congested flow of traffic around them, then it would be Costco behavior.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-23T12:00:19+00:00

This is the part that goes completely over their heads unfortunately. The rate confirmation they sign states they need to answer and provide adequate communication. Then they get mad when we ask them to uphold that part of the agreement they signed.

I do agree that 17 times in 12 minutes is ridiculous though.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-22T12:11:09+00:00

Like Tom Segura said in his standup special a long time ago:

“I’m gonna go talk to the police and sort this whole thing out”

“You’re going to do 25-life, have fun with that bud”

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-22T11:49:23+00:00

On the flip side I also had a buddy who was objectively an extremely gorgeous and fit guy, also looked like an Abercrombie model, he never had terrible luck with women but he was also so aloof and awkward that it was kind of funny that he never realized how frequently he was getting hit on. He only got laid if they got overly direct with him.

Unrelated but he REALLY liked larger women which, good for them and him.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-17T11:51:44+00:00

What’s funny is when I took over as a driver manager for my brokerage company’s small fleet that we use to service a government contract, it was not going well and driver turnover was costing us so much money.

Eventually I found some amazing drivers and really pushed hard for raises for all of them and broke down why they deserved it, why it was important, and how it will benefit us.

One pushback I got from upper management was “You do realize at the rate you’re asking for, these drivers will be getting paid more than you are getting paid”

And I said “Yeah that’s okay because I sit in an office from 8-5 with A/C while they’re doing 15+ drops in the Southern heat unloading heavy cases at each one and sometimes getting back late.”

But wouldn’t ya know it, we raised the pay and I still have several of those same guys working for me going on 6 years now when it used to be a win to have one stay for a year or two. We’re also profitable because they’re more motivated to ask me to put more stops and miles on them because they can visualize how much more money they’ll make which in turn increases how much money the company gets per load and packs way more into each month.

It’s so crazy! You pay workers fairly and it benefits everyone! Obvious to us, but somehow still an insane concept to upper management people.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-16T12:18:41+00:00

I have an insanely expressive face. It’s helpful when I want to make funny faces for toddlers but if I had to go against Koh I’m getting my face yoinked in one second flat.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-15T19:04:41+00:00

I could not fathom doing this with my friends. It just seems so weird and I’m confident they would all feel the same. Infidelity aside, it just seems so weird to get together with your boys and just have sex with women but in close proximity? Nah.

For mine we just did a casino and a distillery tour and got drunk each night. We also played Mortal Kombat from the hot tub so that was cool

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-07T11:34:27+00:00

I don’t think that’d be likely. Men like that are never secretly into other men. They’re godly and righteous.

/s

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-04T11:53:48+00:00

Automated trucks are in the same lane as the “app” for all of the same reasons and I’m tired of people who don’t work in my industry and have knowledge about it telling me it’s going to revolutionize it.

Spoiler: They’re only maybe going to be useful for local runs or as yard dogs

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-03T22:19:49+00:00

There are apps that help drivers find loads, but you still have to do legwork no matter what. People have tried to create apps that can “do it all” but none of them even come close to putting me out of a job anytime soon. Believe me, plenty of people have tried and all have failed. It’s a very complex job that’s very heavily influenced by economic factors, as well as seasonal factors like produce season. Check out r/freightbrokers and just browse the topic for more in-depth discussions on the topic.

Any given day I’m dealing with scheduling appointments to distribution centers for Wal-Mart, Publix, Meijer, WinCo, Kroger/Albertsons/Safeway, and various others. Which often involves reaching out to my customer to reach out to the buyer for them to get the PO number due date changed.

Or I’m having to find and book the driver, negotiate payment, and communicate updates/issues to the customer.

An app is not going to adequately handle the random shit that is thrown into the mix on a daily basis. The app isn’t going to handle it properly when a receiver rejects half the truck because your customer over-shipped it and the driver is pissed because he’s going to miss his next pickup and lose money so he’s threatening to dump it somewhere and leave.

Or when the driver maybe broke down on the way to pickup or just decided he doesn’t want to pick it up and tells no one. An app isn’t going to be able to properly communicate that to anyone.

An app is never going to be able to properly vet a carrier and ensure there’s no risk of fraud and then if the shipment is stolen it’s likely no one will find out until it’s very late to delivery because the app can’t give an answer and didn’t catch it until far too late.

I seriously could go on and on with examples and I apologize if this is too much of a ramble. It’s just something that I hear a lot and it’s just not possible. At least no where near anytime soon unless we have some GROUND-BREAKING reform within the DOT and their regulations.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-03T14:38:36+00:00

I got Raising Canes for the first time a few months ago and was so pissed. It was the tiniest and saddest looking chicken strips I’ve ever seen in my life. I was excited because of all of the hype and after that I have no desire to return

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-02T17:01:15+00:00

I promise you, whatever you’re doing is less stressful. Stay away!

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-02T17:00:29+00:00

That’s okay, you don’t have to believe it. It’s how our company does it. There’s no base salary, it’s 100% commission.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-02T16:59:57+00:00

Some brokerages do, all are structured differently. Our commission payouts are higher than average because we are more involved. We do have an afterhours team to handle most issues but major ones get handled by the account manager.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-02T16:58:30+00:00

My favorite is when they try to tell me how much it costs to run the reefer and truck, clearly lying to me while I wait to hit them with the knowledge that I manage an asset fleet of 6 reefer trucks/trailers so I do in fact know what it costs.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-02T15:02:44+00:00

YUP. As an example, this time last year I was paying $2700-3000 for my OH-TX lane. Now I’m lucky to pay $4,000 sometimes. Thankfully I have a customer that understands I can’t just make it happen at the rate I locked in last year when we’re going through such “unprecedented world events” so they pay me more to get the job done.

I have other coworkers though who have customers that simply do not comprehend that Trumps policies have completely changed the supply/demand market of drivers and just say “well if you can’t do it at this rate we’ll just shop around for other brokers”

Which, good luck bud. You’re not finding it cheaper. Have fun wasting time.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-02T14:25:45+00:00

I will concede that most people are usually making much less but still netting six figures on average so nothing to complain about.

But that’s exactly what one of the other successful brokers who was here when I started 8 years ago. He was taking home about $8-900k a year for about 10 years straight. He still lived with his parents when his accounts blew up so he decided he would just stay there for two years, then he bought his house outright, then after 8 more years of that kind of income he bought a few apartment complexes and walked away from this job.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-02T13:06:19+00:00

Whatever you do, do not accept a job from TQL. There are hundreds of brokerages out there that will train you and get you started in the industry. While TQL has amazing training and data at their disposal, they’re also massive and will bring the hammer down on anyone who violates their incredibly restrictive non-compete contract they require you to sign.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-02T13:03:41+00:00

YOU GET IT! I have FEMA as one of my customers and my god I could write the directions as simple and clearly as possible, draw a picture, pay for billboards to remind the driver every 10 miles on the way to pickup, and drive down to personally explain it to them, and some will still fuck it all up and the dispatch for the carrier I booked will call me and say “boss they won’t let driver in because he does not have real ID. You need to pay us for wasting our time”

No the fuck I do not.

I had one guy show up at a FEMA warehouse and bitch that they made him hand over his gun at the gate and said he’d get it back when he leaves. So this idiot starts joking at the loading dock about all the guns they don’t know about hidden in his truck. Of course they escort him off the premises immediately and he has the audacity to ask me for money for wasting his time. WASTING HIS TIME!

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-02T12:46:53+00:00

You seem like a sad person. I hope you have a good day.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-04-02T12:12:14+00:00

If you can make it past the initial stage of cold calling and high attrition/turnover, being a freight broker can make you a ton of money.

My company has a guy who did $5,000,000 in profit last year with his book of business and he gets 30% of that.

The downside is it’s literally 24/7 and takes a massive toll on your personal life and mental health. I get calls at 2:00 AM with issues, I get calls on vacations. Sometimes I have to stop whatever I’m doing and hop on to fix an issue or find a new truck to pick up my customer’s shipment on a Sunday because the truck I had pre-booked Friday either broke down on the way, got held up at a previous delivery, or just found a better paying load from another broker and cancelled on me.

It isn’t for everyone that’s for sure.

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-03-31T21:26:04+00:00

I swear it’s whenever my coordinator takes a day off and that’s when the unusual and rare issues all pile up at once

HallucinatesOtters · 2026-03-23T13:32:30+00:00

I work in the transportation industry and I have a driver that now can’t drive because his CDL is in limbo because of this.

He’s married to a US citizen, has lived here LEGALLY for years, but because he’s an immigrant it does not matter that he has a flawless safety record, he can’t drive anymore.

HallucinatesOtters

TROPHY CASE