Joe Weisenthal explains why economists keep 'whiffing' this year
Part two of my chat with Joe
Good evening Modes readers!
Some house-keeping before we get into it… I’ll now be posting the meat of Modes on Business Insider’s website.
So, you can head to Business Insider for the full interview I had with Joe Weisenthal. The second part of our interview features freight indicators to watch and the wonders of mattress journalism. Also, how to avoid burnout.
Worry not, I’ll maintain my same tone. But this will get Modes in front of more folks, while still allowing us to banter and chit chat on Substack.
Speaking of chit-chat, I wanted to share one interesting email I received after my dispatch on California’s AB-5 from a trucking industry consultant. They’re not the first person who has shared the issues of navigating California’s regulatory environment:
One additional consideration affecting small trucking firms in California relates to emissions regulations and electric truck incentives, particularly around ports.
It is understood that, due to the higher cost of electric trucks, stricter emissions regulations / incentivizing electric trucks means an even tougher environment for small trucking firms.
Larger trucking companies like to have a mixed fleet of company-owned trucks and owner-operators signed to the company, but fleets that invest in electric trucks will almost certainly have to take on more risk by increasing the number of company-owned trucks.
They added:
I think the point is that the obvious disadvantage is to the small firms, but there is also an effect on the large firms who like to use the independent contractor model to mitigate risk by having a mix of company-owned vehicles and independent contractors.
MISSED CONNECTIONS: I lost a reader email from a truck driver that I read last week but then ended up getting deleted somehow. If you are that truck driver, please forward me your email again. Sorry, and thank you!
Please keep sending me your interesting insights — or tell me I’m totally wrong! — at rpremack@businessinsider.com. Thank you for reading, fair Modesians!