I will start this blog by saying that the content is not about health care or politics, but how the Affordable Care Act is fundamentally changing facets within our labor force and how to take advantage of it! I've been talking to small fleet owners and have been watching the big carriers to see how they respond to upcoming changes in the health care law. So far, those in the trucking industry are holding their cards close to their vest as the full implementation deadline of January 1, 2014 looms. Learn more by following this link.
However, other big names in the Fortune top 100 are starting to move. UPS has made big changes within their health care structure as well as Home Depot and Walgreen who just recently moved more than 180,000 combined part time employees to the health care exchanges in direct opposition to what the president said would happen. The point here is no one knows how these vast changes to health care laws are going to impact our economy, but one can speculate and see the trends and be in a good position to benefit from it.
It is my submission that the independent contractor model will expand in the next couple of years as carriers trim down their company driver workforce and grow their independent contractor pool. I believe this will happen in order for carriers to save money by greatly reducing their health care costs and still being able to move the freight. Larger carriers with over 50 full time employees have to provide health care insurance; carriers with less than 50 full time employees do not. The trend in these troubled economic times seems to be that of a 1099 workforce and lesser of a W-2. It's a fine line though as companies have gotten into legal trouble as they wrongly classified drivers as independent contractors to avoid certain costs. The IRS definition of an independent contractor is a little gray when looked at through the lense of a trucking company. Look for yourself here.
In conclusion, no one knows what's going to happen, not even the president as evidenced by my second paragraph. However, if you're an owner-operator or can get into a position to become one, I suspect better opportunities and higher rates are on the horizon. I foresee the big carriers depending more on capacity from the owner-operators who are in good shape financially and business smart!