ATLFS: DRIVING OWNER-OPERATORS INTO THE SUNSET

The Motor Carrier Act of 1980 (MCA) challenged motor carriers to formulate and implement effective strategies for a dramatically altered environment. One such comprehensive business approach which has emerged in the post-MCA era is that of the "Advanced Truckload Firms (ATLFs)." The success of ATLF carriers rests in part on high levels of asset utilization achieved by employing driver teams and using improved dispatching techniques. Complementing these operating practices is a sophisticated load matching capability focused on securing freight in specific corridors with high levels of balanced traffic flows. In combination, these factors result in empty mileage in the 6 to 8% range as opposed to the 15 to 20% empty mileage rates that are typically achieved by owner-operators. Recent evidence suggests that more and more companies are trying to emulate the approach taken by the ATLFs. This paper explores the development of ATLFs, with particular emphasis on owner-operator impacts. Three types of data are used in the study. First, case examples of firms which have shifted from extensive owner-operator use to an ATLF format is provided, along with aggregate data on trends of owner-operator use. Second, ATLFs are compared to firms with extensive owner-operator use on cost, productivity, and profitability measures. Third, data on the relationship between firm profitability and extent of owner-operator use is examined. The main conclusion from the study is that ATLFs pose such a serious threat to owner-operators, sometimes referred to as "cowboys on wheels," that owner-operators may well be "driven off into the sunset."

• Record URL:
  • https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001070572/Home
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/10461469
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Forum

  1600 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 905
  Arlington, VA  United States  22209
• Authors:
  • Corsi, T M
  • Grimm, C M
• Publication Date: 1989

Media Info

• Features: Tables;
• Pagination: p. 285-290
• Serial:
  • Journal of the Transportation Research Forum
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Forum
  • ISSN: 1046-1469
  • Serial URL: https://trforum.org/journal-of-the-trf/
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Businesses; Case studies; Costs; Impact studies; Owner operators; Productivity; Profitability; Trucking
• Identifier Terms: Motor Carrier Act of 1980
• Old TRIS Terms: Advanced truckload firms
• Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Freight Transportation; Highways; Motor Carriers; Society; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00490232
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-041 236
• Files: HSL, TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 31 1996 12:00AM