$1,000,000 question. What Company is best suited f

sylvester · Oct 31, 2004

Give us some direction here drivers. Wife and I have over 2,000,000 miles O/O accident free(safe driver award), no tickets, never a damage claim, always on time deliveries. We will have a new 22'or 24'truck. Listening to you drivers over the last few months it looks like we will not have a reefer, tailgate lift or tag. The tag can always be added later. Sleeper is set up so that we can stay on the road for month's at a time in comfort. Tell us who would best suit our needs.
Thank you,
Sylvester & Tweety Bird

PS, sure wish there would have been nice folks like you 15 years ago when we started trucking, would have saved us a bunch of money and less headaches.

raceman · Oct 31, 2004

RE: $1,000,000 question. What Company is best suit

I can tell you from experience, if you want to run Team and that means in my mind, 24/7. If that is what you want and you understand expediting and how to position your truck by accept and decline as well as after a drop. Unless some of there changes have screwed them up completely, Tri State was great for team. They have made a number of changes and that may no longer be the case but they were great for a team about two years ago. There are two big companies out there and I am not going to mention names, but they are big. If you know the right people there you will do well. There is another with a big blue star and if you understand how there system works you can do very well. I saw the settlements of a team running for them and you can do very well. There is a gentleman on here named Tom that is trying to find good teams, look him up. He sounds like a great guy and I have it from a great source that he is in fact a good guy and owner of an expediting company. Best of luck.
raceman

Glen Rice · Oct 31, 2004

RE: $1,000,000 question. What Company is best suit

Your safety record speaks for it self and you should be commended! As far as where you would "fit" best. Without a liftgate and tag axle FDCC would not be for you. Landstar uses agents and if you get in with the "Right" one you will make big $$$. You should expect to revenue in the 160,000 to 200,000 range. Most drivers want some sort of home life. Only you know your work ethic. I wouldn't endorse any one company. You have heard of the "ELITE Fleet" at Fedex in there White Glove division. Maybe you would qualify there? I don't know if that would be a good fit for you. Quite a few drivers have said they work hard and long hours, then they head home when they've been out 10 days. So the way I look at it, {1}is your commitment strong {2}will you stay out 4 to 6 weeks? {3} will you except most freight offered? {4}Does manual labor turn you off? A lot of the loads FDCC does require driver assistance. If you want to bump a dock and not do anything else, maybe you should go with another carrier.
Janice and I liked the challenge of making the cargo fit the truck and we enjoyed doing the impossible. This is not for everyone. Good luck with your choice. Hard work does pay off. One other thing, you can never be too professional!

terryandrene · Oct 31, 2004

RE: $1,000,000 question. What Company is best suit

>PS, sure wish there would have been nice folks like you 15
>years ago when we started trucking, would have saved us a
>bunch of money and less headaches.

We were all nice folks 15 years ago.

Best bet, I think, is now that you know what you need, Talk to the recruiters at the most popular carriers mentioned herein and see which one can best satisfy your needs.

LDB · Oct 31, 2004

RE: $1,000,000 question. What Company is best suit

I'm solo so this won't be exactly your situation but will share it with you in case it is useful at all. Before I got into this I looked at FXCC, Panther, Tri-State, ConWay, CTX, Nations Express, and Express-1. I got the best "gut feeling" from Express-1. I have been with them for only a short time however they are keeping me running and look out for me.

In 19 days I've run 4893 paid miles and 1027 deadhead miles. My deadhead is 17.5% of my total miles. I'm very satisfied at this point since I don't know anything yet and am relying on them to take care of me. I'd suggest you at least talk to them before making any final decision. Good luck to you.

Leo
truck 767

Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

Tennesseahawk · Oct 31, 2004

RE: $1,000,000 question. What Company is best suit

Leo, I understand your enthusiasm with Express-1, but like you said... you're a single driver. Singles and teams are apples and oranges. Some companies are good with apples, and some with oranges. If you're lucky, yours will be like a fruit salad. ;-)

Thunderboldt · Oct 31, 2004

RE: $1,000,000 question. What Company is best suit

Don't let all that experience work against you-there are a lot of companies out there who will only hire those so green that they know nothing,hoping that when they screw you,you will not know it and won't ask questions and keep driving until you are broke.What I'm saying is how it is for me-2,500,000 miles,15 years ticket/accident/claim free and not able to even get a response to any of the 22 applications that I've filed over the last 10 months.

sylvester · Oct 31, 2004

RE: $1,000,000 question. What Company is best suit

Glen, your confidence in the expediting industry is very refreshing. As for the comment on attitudes of 15 years ago, that was in the dry van 18 wheel world, where it seemed all drivers wanted to do was cuss or complain on the CB and truck stops.
Thunderbolt, what a shocking and sad story.
I'm sure we will find a company who will appretiate profesionalism.
We are in no hurry to sign on. We are going to wait until after the show in Kentucky before making the final decision on truck spec's and company.
It seems like eternity waiting for this day when the kids were gone and all the bills were paid so the wife and I could get "back on the road". When we first got into 18 wheel trucking we were as green as could be. Went out and purchased a brand new tractor and headed down the road. The first few months were learning the hard way, but we held out and learned the ropes. 3 more new tractors and 10 years later you couldn't pry our fingers off the steering wheel. A very tragic and untimely death in the family broke or hearts and spirit to stay out any longer. Time heals and now were just as giddy as we were before the death. Thank the Lord for the internet. You expediting folks who chat on here regularly have given the two of us the desire to give this part of the trucking industry the rest of our working lives on Earth. This will fit our lifestyle perfectly.
Thanks again for the sincere advise.
Sylvester