Am I making a huge mistake?

[ATeam]

What has brought me to the edge you ask? The extreme deterioration of the equipment mainly. We're in our mid forties. I don't think I can take it for another 20 years. I feel like if I'm gonna escape it must be now.

Can you say more about your reasons for considering a career change into expediting? I'm not sure I understand your meaning.

Looking at the future is always more fun than looking at the present. In the present you feel real pain. While you may admit that the future will have pain too, that's not a pain you feel when you are making decisions in the present. The highway of life is littered with financially devastated people who launched a business thinking their optimistic view of their future would be enough.

 

[ATeam]

Well let's see. It's hard to know for sure but I think the risks are:
Getting very sick or injured.
Having no one to blame for failure but myself. (I could try to blame my wife but let's be real.)
If the truck breaks I'm broke.
Taxes and 1099's
What am I missing? I'm sure there's plenty.

Lack of freight or decent-paying freight. Expediters can find themselves waiting longer than they wish to get a good paying load. They can generally be as busy as they want to be if they run cheap, but why would you want to do that? That's like working 14 hours a day to earn eight hours pay.

 

[Jedidad]

Well let's see. It's hard to know for sure but I think the risks are:
Getting very sick or injured.
Having no one to blame for failure but myself. (I could try to blame my wife but let's be real.)
If the truck breaks I'm broke.
Taxes and 1099's
What am I missing? I'm sure there's plenty.

If you haven't already, check out The Crafty Trucker's videos on YouTube. They're a husband and wife team that posts a ton of excellent videos on expediting. They post in the EO forums also. TheCraftyTrucker

 

[TeamCaffee]

A&A glad you are going to run for someone else and find out if you like this business. Once you figure out if this is the business for you then you can make decisions if you want to buy and start your own business.

Learn on someone else's truck and figure out what you like and don't like.

We left our "normal" jobs in 2004 and we are still having the time of our lives. Figure out the positive people so that if you get down they can lift you up. As a new person out here you will probably hit a wall at some point and question if you had lost your mind when you decided to do this... Once you work through that katy bar the door as you will have a great time.

I also have several blogs on what to carry in the truck with you for supplies and also how to set the truck up to live in it. Sounds like you will be buying the fuel and I hope you read about how to save money with fuel purchases. One is you don't have to run the speed limit.

I wish you all of the best and if you have questions please ask away!

 

[A&A]

I appreciate all the input from every one. Steady Eddie, we have decided to jump. However we are going to wait untill the first of the year. It will give us a little more time to tie up loose ends and I think I can even get paid my 4 weeks of vacation pay that way.

Kazper, thanks for the advice about twic and fast and other things that will increase my value. I am a firm believer in making oneself valuable to those that give them opportunities to make money.

A team WM has been a very good job for many years. It allowed me to be hone every night and watch most of my kids games as they grew up. But lately perhaps over the last five years most noticeably, the company has either cut or refused to increase budgets. The trucks are getting older and less reliable. It just seems like it is time to move on. We're basically debt free so we don't have to worry about losing everything.

Jedi dad, we have been gobbling up their videos as much as we can.

Team Caffee, thanks for the encouragement. We think this is going to be the right move. Since our kids are gone and we're still kind of adventurous. No actually were much more adventurous now than ever.

 

[Moot]

Learn on someone else's truck and figure out what you like and don't like.

While running for a fleet owner, pretend you own the truck. Keep track of all fuel and maintenance costs. This will give you some realistic numbers to crunch when thinking about buying your own truck.

 

[Steady Eddie]

Jump away. I think you and the wife will have a blast. Good luck to both of you and keep us posted on how you are doing. Again-Good Luck !


Sent from my iPhone using EO Forums

 

[A&A]

Yeah thanks Moot, if we get in with the owner we've been talking to we will be paying fuel so we would be following expenses. And I like to break things down into smaller groups of info so I look forward to figuring out cpm and so forth.

Steady Eddie we may jump sooner than later yet. I'm sitting on the side of the road with the mechanic trying to make it go as I speak. It feels like I'm being pushed over as a matter of fact.

Thanks again.

 

[skyraider]

Mid life crisis are so exciting....................It is the " If's" that keep us in the dark.

 

[x06col]

May I suggest looking into using a Medical Savings Account instead of full blown insurance if the two of you are in good health. That approach worked very well for many of our Contractors.

With your apparent experience and credentials seems to me the only thing you will be giving up if you find Expediting is not for you, would be some seniority and associated vacation allowances if you need to regress to being an employee. So, I would not be overly concerned about being in a soup line. Quite possibly sooner may be better to get in on some of the normal "flush" in available Fall loads instead of waiting until dead Winter to begin.

That typed, and without having personally spoke with you, from the info available to me, I certainly would have welcomed you to my Company and done all I could to ensure your success.

I say .......... "have fun and be prosperous in your new Career".

 

[A&A]

You're right Skyrider, the "if's" do keep us in the dark. I would rather see it as a mid life opportunity as opposed to crisis. But, a rose by any other name.....right? We've decided to revisit this after the first of the year. This will let us build a better foundation to start with if we decide to take the leap.

xo6col, maybe you will be looking for a team in the spring. I have not committed anywhere else yet and I'm going to call the two I've been talking to and tell them we're gonna wait till later. If you feel like it let me know what you would offer. Or if you like we could get in contact another way.

 

[x06col]

You're right Skyrider, the "if's" do keep us in the dark. I would rather see it as a mid life opportunity as opposed to crisis. But, a rose by any other name.....right? We've decided to revisit this after the first of the year. This will let us build a better foundation to start with if we decide to take the leap.

xo6col, maybe you will be looking for a team in the spring. I have not committed anywhere else yet and I'm going to call the two I've been talking to and tell them we're gonna wait till later. If you feel like it let me know what you would offer. Or if you like we could get in contact another way.

Not in the Biz any longer....sold out and retired. You prolly would have liked our equipment tho...mostly Argosy or Farmall Cabovers with 110 inch double bunk Condos, 30 ft boxes and steerable tags allowing us to CARRY 35,000 or so pounds instead of the cookie cutter 24 footer and tag with limited capacity. Regardless, you could PM me any time you choose.

 

[dc843]

You're talking about the risks....if you are driving for an owner its not that much of a risk, yeah you are leaving your job with senority but you have very little up front costs just for driving someone elses truck. Just know driving for an owner is not TOTAL freedom.

 

[x06col]

You're talking about the risks....if you are driving for an owner its not that much of a risk, yeah you are leaving your job with senority but you have very little up front costs just for driving someone elses truck. Just know driving for an owner is not TOTAL freedom.

And it should NOT be total freedom until such time that the individual/s display that they conduct themselves as adults and get most of the wtf's of the biz behind them. Nothing wrong with some arms length oversight while allowing new drivers to make decisions/mistakes that do not alienate dispatch or are way too costly.

 

[jjoerger]

Have you considered teaming with an experienced driver for about 6 months. That way you could get your feet wet and learn about the business. Then go and team with your wife and train her. When my wife and I started we spent months trying to figure out this crazy business.

Sent from my XT1254 using EO Forums mobile app

 

[Kazper]

While running for a fleet owner, pretend you own the truck. Keep track of all fuel and maintenance costs. This will give you some realistic numbers to crunch when thinking about buying your own truck.

I'm assuming this is probably true with many carriers.. but, I know in my case, the Qualcomm gives every variable available for me to do the math as we accept the loads.
All the rates for deadhead, fuel surcharge, loaded miles, empty moves, load bonuses, special considerations, it's all there. Maintenance receipts go in a folder in the truck to be reported quarterly.
I can plug all of the numbers into side by side columns and make a very accurate comparison of each common payroll split option.
These are actual figures from actual loads, not guesses of best and worst case scenarios with generalized information.
The only remaining mystery is the $value of the truck payment. ($600/wk?) and the monthly fee the truck owner pays to the company for their important part. (150/wk?). Transfer those accordingly.

A. 40/60 - owner pays fuel
B. 60/40 - team pays fuel
C. Be 100% responsible for everything as an owner op
D. Solo vs. Team?
(As a team, this one is a rough guess for me.)

It only takes a few minutes to plug the numbers in for every load.
The results at the bottom of each column tell the tale.
There is a lot of opportunity in this industry for business minded people to do exceptionally well.
In the mystical world of expedited, nobody is in a better position to succeed than a dedicated and established team.

 

[Moot]

Farmall Cabovers...

Nice to see you back posting!

 

[numberonedriver]

Best choice you will ever make just don't go with a crappy company like V 3 go with a brand like Panther or Fed Ex the newer companies won't get you the miles you need do you need a veteran company who is experienced in getting good loads

 

[xiggi]

I know people doing very well at v3 even ones who also have trucks at panther.

 

[numberonedriver]

Yes people who have been there since the beginning of the company those are the ones they look out for and the new comers at V 3 transportation are left out to dry/hang lol if you don't work for them don't put your two pennies in cause I'm trying to help the guy out and prevent him form making a mistake I just left there I should know