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We just talked this through and do not agree. As people who had never driven a truck before, we had the information from good research but no idea whether we would like the business or be good at it. Spending a ton of money on a truck to find out would have been too great of a risk to take and...

Interesting question! My very first thought is we would be worse off. I'm remembering how Diane and I entered the business -- as drivers of a fleet owner's truck. Without such an opportunity we might never have entered and learned the business at all.

The regulatory question aside, Express-1 (XPO) is a story stock. A private equity firm is about to inject up to $150 million into XPO with the intent of building it into a multi-billion dollar company. The number of available (and potentially available) shares will be fixed at a certain level...

In an August 4, 2011 press release, entitled "Express-1 Files Definitive Proxy Materials," Express-1 announced that a company name change will be put to a shareholder vote on September 1. If shareholders approve, the new company name will be XPO Logistics, Inc. At the same shareholder meeting...

Diane and I recently changed carriers and Express-1 was among the options considered. While we chose to sign on with Landstar Express America, we were impressed with the openness Express-1 showed in answering our questions. Ask your Express-1 recruiter the pay and miles questions you are...

In our case, with our first fleet owner, when we first began as expediters with no experience, the fleet owner decided he knew enough about us to trust us with his truck. We did not go in blind but did not know him either. We decided we knew enough about him to give his 60/40 deal a shot. The...

Drone plane technology has come a long way in recent years as demonstrated by their use in Afghanistan. Law enforcement agencies are putting drones to use in the U.S. now. FedEx Chairman Fred Smith has been talking about drone cargo planes for some time. I believe we will see those in a few...

It happened again. Yet another case has developed where a married couple team, new to expediting, signed up with a fleet owner without knowing the experiences of previous drivers who have been burned by him. Now burned themselves -- perhaps even financially destroyed -- the drivers are in a...

If you take the written tests you would be then permitted to drive an air-brake truck as long as you have a Class B licensed driver with you, would you not? Get your permit, find a Class B buddy, rent the truck you need, take the road test.

Diane and I decline extended warranties on everything too, but we made an exception when we bought our Volvo truck new in 2006. It worked out well and if we had it to do over again, we would buy more coverage than we did. Volvo knows very well what its exposure will be when it sells an...

Link to article in Expedite NOW: Imagine a Future Without Trucks

I had planned to stay off the Open Forum until Aug 1 but cases like this get my blood boiling. Aval650, my EO mail box is filled to overflowing and inbound messages are rejected. Diane and I invite you to contact us by normal e-mail (follow the e-mail link on this page). If you wish, we will...

Neither do I. My departure post was as modest as could be and I expected little to come of it. But people will not let it alone and no amount of responses or clarifications or explanations from me seems able to help them move onto other topics. I've had enough for a while. Time for a mental...

In the interests of clarity, let me explain that Diane and I did not leave FedEx Custom Critical because we were unable to change with the carrier, we left because we were unwilling to do so. We are not willing to operate under the FDCC umbrella for less money than could be earned before the...

jaminjim, The quality of my EO experience improved immensely when I stopped responding to the member in question and ignored his posts. You might try doing the same. I've been doing it for many months if not a couple of years now and haven't missed a thing. There are people out there who try...

Diane and I are happy at Landstar Express America but it has only been a week. Maybe it is relief we are feeling now that a carrier we were unhappy with has been left behind.

The down side of publishing anything is that every reader gets to read your words however one pleases. Everything gets interpreted and it is the interpreter who determines the end result. Read through the lines, between the lines, into the lines or around the lines all you wish. There is...

Diane and I have run with two carriers in eight years. Having just completed orientation with the second one, we were reminded that there is a lot to learn in a short time when you begin. You want to do do the job right, but when everything is new and unfamiliar, stress develops as the desire...

Notice my choice of words: This is a time in the trucking industry where driver shortages and capacity shortages are beginning to manifest themselves and show up in the form of higher rates. It's spotty. Construction trucking has not picked up because new home construction has not picked up...

The last time I looked at a FedEx annual report, the only place FedEx Custom Critical was mentioned was in a footnote along with a few other tiny companies that are part of the larger (vastly larger) FedEx Corporation. There are people in FedEx who know what FedEx Custom Critical's numbers are...