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Get used to it, paullud. I do not know if shipit is a legitimate poster or not but the dynamic he or she is presenting is real. When Diane and I spoke at the ExpeditersOnline workshop in Monroe, there were several people in the room who had no experience in expediting but wanted to learn...

That thought crossed my mind as this thread progressed.

Where's the problem, Bruno? At least the guy thought enough of the truck to use the trash can. Look on the bright side! Count your blessings!

The easy entry into this way of doing business is appealing but I also wonder if it may also be its undoing. When I learned of this business model in February, and as I sat at my desk in our Florida vacation house, it occurred to me that I have everything I need to do what others are doing in...

As I said and as pearlpro's example shows, keeping a run journal can be very powerful.

My comment about carriers was driven by earnings reports posted by big, publicly-held companies in which strong profits are stated in recent quarters.

We can do an apples-to-apples comparison off your chart if we assume that a hypothetical load had no accessorials. I was under the impression that no fuel surchages were paid in 1997 because fuel costs were not the issue they are today. I did my comparisson including fuel surcharge in the...

So, to be fair and balanced, it is true that rates have gone down in recent years and that expenses have skyrocketed, making it increasingly difficult to run a profitable, one-truck expediting business. It is also true that by comparing 1997 Con-Way NOW rates to present-day rates (and...

If you equate retirement with the U.S. government social security program, yes, the concept of retirement is coming to an end. I have seen the program already fray around the edges. My retirement age under the program used to be 65 but the rules were changed to make it 67 now. When rules can...

Essential reading for anyone thinking about starting a trucking company: Have we seen the end of the trucking tycoon? I stumbled onto this piece this morning. Excerpt: "Trucking companies today face an overwhelming list of societal, human and compliance requirements that didn’t exist in the...

Diane and I do not experience this. People are people whatever kind of truck they drive. Some are warm, others are cold. And depending on one's mood, the same person in the same truck can be warm or cold. Next time a big rig cuts you off on the road, watch him for a while. You will likely find...

I think if you look closely, you will find that everyone or nearly everyone who replied to your inquiry believes in American drive and ingenuity. Indeed, most if not all who responded are entrepreneurs in their own right. As such, they, like you, are not ones to take no for an answer. But in...

I can't say for sure that Diane and I will not buy a new truck in the future but I can say that there is no way we would attempt to replace our present truck (full-featured, $251,000 new in 2006) in today's market. I would not dare finance a truck of any kind today. It seems that the Great...

I think a run journal is something every driver should have and many drivers do. When we were with FedEx Custom Critical, they provided a handy, pocket-size, hard-cover, spiral-bound, black book in which in which run info, miles and pay were recorded. We found ourselves referring to it often...

Others have mentioned the same solution: get names. Diane and I have built space into our run journal in which names, times and events can be recorded. It's as simple a getting the name of the person you talked to, jotting it down with the time, and noting what was said. It can be quite...

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A number of companies (carriers) will be represented at the Monroe event. If you skip one of the sessions when most others are seated in the classroom, you will have easy access to the company representatives. Just let them know you want to talk to them during a session. The obvious trade off...

This forum is populated mostly by drivers and just a few carriers. When you describe the expediting company you wish to build, it sounds like you are talking about a carrier. There are over 100 carriers in the expediting arena and I cannot imagine people from any one of them wanting to mentor...

I took a look at your first post in the Open Forum dating back to 2007 when you first decided to get into the business. Also of interest was the optimistic post you put up after attending an EO workshop in Knoxville. To most any member of the Open Forum, you would have appeared to be doing it...

I was thinking that "Ducks Unlimited" was a menu item. ;)