Bankruptcy Thank You

[karatekid]

I would like to thank my expedite company for putting me into bankruptcy. I stayed IN service from October until just past christmas and averaged about 95.00 a week on my paycheck. I would do a load then sit a week. Dont get me wrong, they called every day with load offers, but they were just incappable of bidding the loads. One day I had 9 load offers to bid on but again, they unsuccessfully were able to grab them. I sat in cold climates so I had to run my straight truck the entire time..which cost me big money.
Dont get me wrong, they moved me a couple times up to 500 miles empty move and gave me a WHOPPING 36.00.. So I lost money again.
Oh yeah, then I got a load for 380 miles. When the load was sent over, It didnt even cover my fuel to get there let alone the toll money..so I lost money again (because it was a cargovan load and they "forgot" to tell me).
Then there was the day, after sitting on the east coast for over a week that I got repremanded for "calling" them. I should be using the "qualcomm" they stated.
They told me I needed to learn to have "patience"!
After figure out my eating expenses, my sitting time, amount of fuel I burned sitting in cold climates, my expenses to have the truck.... I made -3100 per month in oct, nov, dec.
In service 100 percent in those months, missed all holidays with my family, never late to a load picking up/dropping off, and this is the THANKS I GET. Its been a slice!!!

 

[rollnthunder]

Which company where you with.Also i have found that in these tough times i dont venture to far out of the main freight lanes.It has worked pretty good for me.The week leading up to christmas i did about 2000 miles solo in a straight truck.

 

[nightcreacher]

As much as I hate to say this,but it wasnt really your company that put you into banckrupcy,You didnt quit soon enough.It doesnt matter what company it was,sitting weeks at a time could happen from all the companies if you let it happen.There are many reasons not getting loaded,and if you were running solo,the HOS rules can keep you sitting.For future reference,if your running solo,dont take any loads that you cant afford to dead head home after,this way your not sitting waisting money,burning fuel a week at a time.Your decission to stick it out was a bad decission,sorry if you feel im on your case,but there isnt any reason for anyone to sit that much.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

I'm truly sorry for you having to leave the business, and ultimately, declare bankruptcy. However, if you lay all the blame on your carrier, you have learned nada about expediting. You should've been here asking questions when the problems started, and absorbing posts made by ppl like yourself, who were having a hard time moving, and were able to correct their modus operendi.

Things can be done to avoid what you're going thru, and most of it means doing your own homework and legwork. Moving to a better area on your own dime; asking your company to lower their bid to get you moving; ultimately switching companies. To paraphrase the Col here, if you insist on doing what worked before, and refuse to learn what works now, you'll likely end up the part of the herd that was thinned. It's the nature of the beast that is business.

Not trying to jump on you when you're down, but I'm trying to get thru to others who are suffering as well; tough times require tough love.

I wish you well in future endevors.

 

[chefdennis]

Bein in business for ones self can prove to be more then alot of us can deal with. If everytime I started a business only to close it for on reason or another all I did was blame another party, as TNHawk said, "I didn't learn NADA!!"

business setbacks and BKs are obstacles that can be over come, it take alot of work, but if it is worth it to you, you will find away to move on and work it out.

Look back, see where you could have done things different , where you could have worked smarter, made better decisions. Then put those into work, no matter what you do in your coming working situation. I'd hate to not have learned anything from all of my bad past experiences in business....

 

[moose]

Very sad to read all of that .
its a sham that our industry is taking advantage of hard working individuals any more.

what will you do next ?

obviously you did something wrong ,or you will be in the shoes of others that lease on with your carrier .
it will help us a lot if you will posts a break down of your business expenses !
what kind of truck ? payments ? insurance ? maintenance ? Ext.
we can all learn from your experience.
and yes ,from your post ,its look like you have over stayed you invitation with that carrier.

running a solo St. Truck and being an O/O ,is really though . i speak with drivers almost daily , and from my understanding ,you really got to have a sound business plan to make it anymore .


feel free to name manes (once you get your escrow payed for...)

good luck ,and thanks for sharing the roads with us.
please don't be a stranger.




Moose.
Dearborn

 

[Lawrence]

I am considering removing this post two reasons.

1. It is a Code of Conduct violation - See Section #6
http://www.expeditersonline.com/forum/web-site-support-services/announcements.html

2. When you register - you agree to the Code of Conduct and a valid email address - well Karatekid has a bogus email address.

But I hope some EO veterans would help this person understand that no carrier can put anyone in bankruptcy without their own consent and maybe participation. As a small business owner YOU are responsible, I know that sounds brutal but that is the facts. If the freight is not there - YOU need to action, that may require you to move to another carrier or change the way you do business. This will be a recurring theme this year - be vigilant, be on guard for your business.

 

[davekc]

I do agree it is sad when someone is in that situation. But my thoughts are along with some of the others. Over stayed your visit, undercapitalized, HOS regulations, all make it a tougher gig. I am seeing a lot of casualties as many are still operating with a employee mentality.
If the carrier is under performing you have to bail. Loyalty has to go out the window if you are starving. You said you were idling a lot, but yet you had no generator. That is a killer, and I am sure you couldn't afford one. Certainly a case of being undercapitalized. I don''t want to beat up on you, but to make new entrants aware that it is dangerous to jump into this business underfunded.
A business plan or anything else means nothing if you are failing to meet any of the goals that are in it.
I wish you luck in whatever you decide to do next.
As for "which carrier", I think it could apply to many.

 

[TeamCaffee]

Dave I think you are right on. This post can apply to any carrier right now and we need to be more pro active not reactive. We are business owners not company drivers.

 

[ericmoss37]

I think this whole story was made up. I am with the moderator I think this post should be deleted. It's not easy on the road, but I have a hard time taking this guy seriously.

 

[TeamCaffee]

I also think it is made up but it does bring out the point you cannot blame the company for your failure. You need to take care of your business first not sit and wait for the company to fix your problems.

 

[redytrk]

I agree to take down, If poster has bogus E-Mail address.

Having said that it is still important for everyone to remember Dec, Jan, Feb, are loosing months. Its just hang on, any way you can then run like he** and save as much as possible for the bad times.

If you want to make a fortune in expediting....be sure to start with two fortunes.

 

[chefdennis]

there is no reason to delete it. He didn't name a company and the responces are what nebies need to read about how to survive in slow times... If the guy is a fake, just block his isp address so he can't post again, but i see no reson to delete a post that as good informative info in it...

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Regardless whether it's true or not; the thread is a good wake up call for those close to being in his position; and there are a LOT of them. There are many good posts here that can help those ppl to not only understand, but to act. Not only should it not be deleted, but it should be anchored, IMO. And when done here, it should go in the Newbie FAQ.

 

[karatekid]

I did NOT make up this in anyway, shape or fashion. I registered a differant email so my actual idenity is not know for certain reasons(not too hard to figure out why is it?)
SOME of the blame is on the company, YES. When you are signed and leased you make a commitment!!! Where does their commitment lay? Sure times are slow, but when the company is calling you every day, Numerous times saying they can bid on this load or that load and not getting any of them? WHY? Overbidding? Unwillingness to take a smaller fee on their part? Incapable? WHAT? It costs them NOTHING for you to sit! How long do you sit before you deadhead on your dime? How long do idle? If you guys have the answers then you are doing GREAT!!! I have been doing this for some time.. I have alot of friends in this business... they are in the same or soon will be in the same situation. I see the other post about lack of loads and there are 97 replies about NO business.. thats just one day. SO dont tell me you are NOT in the same situation. Bottom line is yes... I was let down!!!

 

[davekc]

I don't know if you are ligit or not?
Doesn't matter.
If they aren't providing you with any loads, what difference would it make as to whether they know it is you?
As far as commitment, that is a two way street. If they are unproductive, move somewhere else. Especially if as you indicate, "you have been doing this for awhile".
That school of thought would apply as to why are you idling all the time?
Maybe it would be advisable to your carrier to look for loads, rather than wasting time calling you to tell you they have nothing.
That padre would have been my first clue.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

I can understand you feeling abandoned by your company, but it's been said before, in different ways, that a company cannot crap freight for the contractors. I have to ask you tho, what have you done to help your situation before you got to this point?

You could've done this for 20 years or more; but if all you did was sit and wait between loads for those 20 years, then expect more of the same in this environment, then you have no standing to complain about your company causing your bankruptcy. If that's the case, you signed on to be babysat, not to be an independent contractor.

"Sure times are slow, but when the company is calling you every day, Numerous times saying they can bid on this load or that load and not getting any of them? WHY? Overbidding? Unwillingness to take a smaller fee on their part? Incapable? WHAT? It costs them NOTHING for you to sit! How long do you sit before you deadhead on your dime? How long do idle? If you guys have the answers then you are doing GREAT!!!"

If you would've browsed the site before you got into trouble, rather than waiting until it happened in order to rant, you would've found many opinions from successful expediters on everything you asked above. And no, most are not doing great; but we have learned how to get by until things pick up. Even then, some of the best among us don't survive every year. It's just that kind of business. All I'm saying is you have to CYA, cause businesses aren't in business to do it for you.

Good luck. Learn well. Live long and prosper.

 

[highway star]

The thread should stay, a good cautionary tale. But, I still can't figure out why some people don't have the cahonies to identify themselves.

 

[karatekid]

See that was the problem with them, they called with loads they could bid on. I would state "have I ever turned down a load?" NO "Im sitting a week here, and do you really think I would turn down a load?" They dispatchers would call and start up a conversation with me like were friends "hey hows it going" "What you up to" and so on..then say Oh I have a load I can bid on here for you ..then explain the details of the load then bid on it.. a couple of times by the time they were finished with the hey, hi, what you doing they would say.. "oh wait,............. oh, the load is gone" JUST UNREAL!!!!!
BTW, I was with Express-1 for a while but not running much.. so after eight months I went to Tri-State... started out good but same thing...9 months later I switched. So I did move when the outlook of longevity was bleak.. Should I stay around and hit all the companies? really.

 

[Lawrence]

If you would've browsed the site before you got into trouble, rather than waiting until it happened in order to rant, you would've found many opinions from successful expediters on everything you asked above. And no, most are not doing great; but we have learned how to get by until things pick up. Even then, some of the best among us don't survive every year. It's just that kind of business. All I'm saying is you have to CYA, cause businesses aren't in business to do it for you.

Good luck. Learn well. Live long and prosper.

Thawk,

Excellent post - Thank you!