100 bucks in 2000 is now 188!

[68BabyBlue]

It's like the frog in the pot on the stove. The gradual temperature increases do it in before it realizes what's happening. I saw the same phenomenon at work during my final years in the trucking business. The driver demographic got older and older. The old guys were used to old rates. So they would work for way less than younger folks, most of whom want nothing to do with that line of work. I figured out how much the profit I made in 1979 with my first truck would be worth today. At $150,000 per year, there would be no "driver shortage."

Operating costs rose with the inflation rate, but freight rates didn't.

 

[Cranky]

It's like the frog in the pot on the stove. The gradual increases do it in before it realizes what's happening. I saw the same phenomenon at work during my final years in the trucking business. The driver demographic got older and older. The old guys were used to old rates. So they would work for way less than younger folks, most of whom want nothing to do with that line of work. I figured out how much the profit I made in 1979 with my first truck would be worth today. At $150,000 per year, there would be no "driver shortage."

Operating costs rose with the inflation rate, but freight rates didn't.

A buddy of mine that's a truck driver kept me filled in on what it's costing these days to run a rig and rates not going anywhere. Thing is I think he's gone now since I haven't heard anything from him in months. His cell isn't taking messages or voice mail and he doesn't respond on FB anymore either.

 

[68BabyBlue]

A buddy of mine that's a truck driver kept me filled in on what it's costing these days to run a rig and rates not going anywhere. Thing is I think he's gone now since I haven't heard anything from him in months. His cell isn't taking messages or voice mail and he doesn't respond on FB anymore either.

There was another thread posted earlier that spelled out the increasing costs of engine overhauls. It was especially bad in my case, after Caterpillar exited the highway truck engine market, but continued to service the older stuff still on the road. Parts prices outran inflation by a mile. I was ready for retirement three years ago, but the looming cost of the next overhaul made it a done deal. I got a whooping rate increase the year I hung it up, but in a predictable twist of fate, the plant that received the waste from my primary shipper closed for good, nine months after I parked the truck. Tough business, all the guys I worked with who were older are gone now, with one exception. He was so tough, he grew a new artery after a heart attack, and drove for another 20 years.

 

[Budnicks]

25% of that escalation has happened since 2020.

more like 40%, but yeah since about Nov. 2020
especially food, produce & meat,
interest rates/for buyers rise, didn't help in that period either

 

[DeltaV]

My calculations show 186, not 188.

@Cranky has inflated the number!