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Regarding satellite radio, the Sirius/XM merger seems to be going through. You might want to wait a few months to give the company(s) time to figure out their program offerings, fee schedules and equipment. I would also suggest making your radio iPod compatible. Many are that way off the...

We do not have all the information to go on here so anything we offer is speculative at best. But it sounds like the limits are coming from the fleet owner, not the team. It may be the fleet owner's expectations that are the issue. The team sounds ready, willing and eager to work.

The solar panels sound interesting. What do you know about them?

It is not easy to give specific load-selection advice because people's circumstances and needs differ. And depending on the week or month they are having, may change as circumstances change. Our strategy is similar to the Caffee's. We track our costs per mile, adjust it as fuel prices change...

I believe the Colonel borrowed the quote from me. I borrowed it from one of my college professors who says he borrowed it from Martin Luther (1483 - 1546). The quote is modified a bit. Luther was talking about Christians saying "The Lord will provide." and then waiting for the roast chicken to...

Be careful about developing a sense of entitlement to high-paying loads. Buying an expensive truck in no way obligates any carrier to come up with expensive freight to put on it. Nor does it in any way place you higher in a dispatch order when ordinary freight is the only freight available to...

The following numbers will have changed some because of the contraction now underway in the trucking industry (carriers shrinking fleets, carriers going out of business), but they still tell the large-company/small-company story. From the American Trucking Associations 2007 Facts For Drivers...

Very cool indeed! A shipper once wheeled two pieces of freight onto our truck, each strapped to a furniture dolly. Same thing. He said the dollies were ours to keep at the other end, if we wanted them. :)

If the load required 50 blankets (furniture pads), the shipper would have to provide them or the carrier would have to provide funds and additional stops to buy them. We do not carry that many. As far as the labor goes to load and secure the freight, no, we would not expect extra "hand load"...

I'm guessing (educated guess) that there are hundreds of companies like you describe. I met a couple of them at this year's Expedite Expo.

ericmoss37, Regarding your reply #15, please see this 06-13-2008 article from Today's Trucking: Caterpillar exits on-highway engine business

Your question got Diane and me to thinking. The following is not a well-researched list. It is a list -- off the top of our heads -- of changes we have seen since 2003, when we entered the business. It lists changed items only, and not our opinion of them. Perhaps other forum members can add...

Five years ago this week, Diane and I, having never driven a truck before, left our white-collar professions and moved into a fleet owner's truck to begin our career as expediters. While there have been setbacks along the way — some quite serious — we have had more fun, made more money and made...

piper1, what are the specifics of SCR?

As I write this, we are about 90 minutes into an overnight run. Dispatch just told us to return to the shipper. One of the skids on our truck should not be on the truck and they want it back. This means more paid miles and more pay for the additional stop. It is a happy surprise. Another that...

I'm busy with other projects at the moment, Leo. How about if you save me the trouble and send me $100 instead? ;)

From Land Line magazine, August 11, 2008: "Trucking companies going out of business continued at a record pace in the second quarter, according to a report released by trucking analyst Donald Broughton. "In the second quarter of 2008, 970 trucking companies with five or more trucks went...

The 15% number I gave is for our CR-unit. Within FedEx Custom Critical, the number will vary, perhaps widely, among truck type (dry box or reefer) and driver credentials.

It is clear from the kind of questions you are asking that you have indeed been researching the forums and read over a year back. Good job! You are already demonstrating more industry knowledge than a number of people have before they jump in. :)

No, but we seem to meet more people who are wind-aware; like engineers at shippers who want to know what the Airtabs are and what they do, and pilots, and people whose hobby is sailing. They approach and ask about Airtabs. That did not happen before.