Small trucking companies that haul grain, feed ingredients and fertilizer across rural America are under pressure on multiple fronts, from rising insurance costs and detention time losses to regulatory uncertainty. Speaking at the National Grain and Feed Association's (NGFA) 130th Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, Jared Flinn, co-founder of BulkLoads.com, said the looming question is whether the owner-operator model has a future.
With more than 10,000 trucking companies in the bulk ag and transportation space on the BulkLoads platform, Flinn has firsthand insights into an industry that rural America depends on but rarely fully understands.
"We don't see trucking companies getting rich on trucking," Flinn said. "These are blue-collar, hard-working people trying to survive."
Family-owned fleets dominate bulk ag trucking
Flinn said of the roughly 580,000 trucking companies operating in the United States, 97% run 10 or fewer trucks, and an estimated 70% are single-truck operations. These are not fleet businesses with reserves to absorb financial shocks. They are family operations, often tied directly to farming communities and running on narrow margins.
Jared Flinn, co-founder, BulkLoads
That fragility is compounded by how bulk truckers are compensated. Unlike long-haul carriers paid by the mile, most bulk drivers are paid by weight — per bushel or per ton. Time spent waiting at a facility is time spent earning nothing. With federal hours-of-service rules capping operators at 10 working hours per day, even a three- or four-hour detention at a grain elevator or feed mill can cost a driver an entire reload and a significant portion of their daily income.
Flinn called detention time the most common complaint among carriers on his platform, adding that it’s also one of the easiest inefficiency problems to solve in the supply chain.
"If we want to look broadly at this industry, how do we get more efficient?," he said. “It’s detention time. That's one of them where we see a play with AI and technology to get [better]."
Insurance costs tripled
Insurance costs represent a steadily growing threat to the owner-operator model. Flinn, who also operates an insurance agency serving carriers, said the figures since 2011 illustrate a dramatic shift.
Fifteen years ago, a single-truck operator carrying standard liability and cargo coverage typically paid around $5,000 per year. Today, that same operator is paying close to $18,000 — more than three times higher. Flinn attributed the increase largely to nuclear verdicts and what the insurance industry calls social inflation, with claims payouts now exceeding premium revenue at many carriers.
"Because of these nuclear verdicts, these settlements, a lot of insurance companies can't afford the insurance," Flinn said. "So then they have to lease on to a larger carrier."
Flinn said those costs get absorbed somewhere in the supply chain, ultimately passed through to shippers, processors and end consumers. For operators already working with thin margins, there is little room to absorb even moderate premium increases.
Lack of local knowledge limits large carriers
Flinn cautioned the audience that if owner-operators exit the market, larger fleets cannot simply step in. He noted that some of the nation’s largest names in trucking — Werner, Knight, Swift and JB Hunt — have attempted to enter bulk ag markets, but none have succeeded at scale.
He argued bulk ag trucking is built around relationships and geography that don't lend themselves to large-fleet logistics. Drivers need to know the local ethanol plant, the regional feed mill, the cooperative elevator, and the nuances of each. That institutional knowledge lives in rural, generational trucking families — not in centralized dispatch centers.
"Our industry is built on small-town America, rural Americans and smaller operators serving those companies, the mills, the fertilizer plants," Flinn said. "For me, what keeps me up is how do we continue to keep that pace?"
Efficiency as the path forward
The solution to these pressures is not simply recruiting more drivers. In fact, according to Flinn there is no shortage of drivers in trucking. There is a shortage of qualified drivers, and this distinction matters when evaluating policy proposals, he said. What the industry needs more is to become more efficient so the operators already in the market can generate enough margin to continue.
Flinn pointed to several opportunities, such as artificial intelligence helping drivers transfer data from the cab directly into ERP systems to reduce administrative friction. AI-enabled camera systems are also giving insurers and shippers better real-time visibility into carrier activity. Meanwhile, autonomous trucks — already hauling frac sand in south Texas in commercial deployments — may eventually reach segments of the bulk market, particularly in mining and energy, where route complexity is lower.
On the policy side, Flinn expressed strong support for the proposed Weight Exemption Pilot Program that Congress is considering as part of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill due this September. The pilot program would allow states to increase the maximum truck weight limit on federal interstates from 80,000 pounds to 91,000 pounds for trucks equipped with a sixth axle. Allowing trucks to haul more weight per trip, distributed across an additional axle to reduce road wear, would significantly improve the economics for carriers paid by the ton.
"If we're looking to make trucking more efficient, our shippers more efficient in this industry, it's time for the U.S. to really get on board," he said.
The owner-operator model that sustains rural logistics will struggle to survive unless action is taken. Reducing shipper detention, increasing weight limits and investing in tools that support small carriers are essential to sustaining the network that moves grain from field to feed mill.
