Bolt Express

[BillChaffey]

Go down to "Carrier Forums" look under Bolt Express, see some posting by EBSprintin. I have no idea of his age and am guessing at his gender. OR call Bolt ask for Anne M. Ask her about the drivers who are there to make money. The ones who don't pick and choose. Ask what kind of miles they are averaging.

 

[purgoose10]

Go down to "Carrier Forums" look under Bolt Express, see some posting by EBSprintin. I have no idea of his age and am guessing at his gender. OR call Bolt ask for Anne M. Ask her about the drivers who are there to make money. The ones who don't pick and choose. Ask what kind of miles they are averaging.

I think you hit the nail on the head as far as picky goes. I'm kind of picky about where I go more than the money. I don't have payments on the one I drive and the other one is 340 a month and it's a 10 model. My driver on his averages about 15-17 hundred a week and then when summer gets here he's over the 2k mark. 6mos run till your tongue hangs out and 6mos of crooz-in. Myself I have been out there more than 40 years and I'm not trying to prove anything. I find that if you don't get worked up over the situation and take it a little easier it will work itself out. If your in a financial bind and trying to catch up, this is a hard business to do it in. I've heard a lot of good things about Bolt and they far out way the bad.

 

[BillChaffey]

This is my opinion only I think the solo's that are doing more then1500 paid miles week in and week out are the exception not the rule.

 

[purgoose10]

This is my opinion only I think the solo's that are doing more then1500 paid miles week in and week out are the exception not the rule.

If I run 17k miles it is the exception to the rule cause I am no longer ambitious. Now if they offer it I'll go with it. My driver he's hungry and runs anything he can get his doors open to and doesn't worry about the rest. That's why he runs well. NO PICKY< PICKY with him.

 

[chefdennis]

For the 1st 2yrs of the 2.5 yrs I was at bolt, they would run you all kinds of miles and the 1500 to 1800 was not a problem at all, and there were those occassional 2000 miles weeks...then early last summer, it appeared that they changed their business plan and they were pushing "short runs" on their drivers ti the point that they had to send a system wide QC message that drivers had to quit turning those "short runs" down...it got old real quick and in the end alot of drivers, including myself left because of it...Since I have left i have talked to drivers and dispatcers and friends at bolt and it seems they have again gotten back to the "old way" of doing business and drivers are again getting that 1500 to 1800 miles a week again and it seems that they are working to keep the hrad working drivers that they have, those that will run and not continually turn runs down for whatever reason...

So yea, you can run hard at bolt and make money...and that isn't to say they pay cheap either...but tht being said, yeap it is alot more fun to run les, spend less and make more money...

 

[goslow]

That is what it is all about, sounds like going to Load 1 made you a smarter business man.

I am picky about what loads I bid on or which ones I may take for a customer. 1100 paid miles is about my average week when I am actually wanting to drive, and that may only be 3-4 loads for a 7 day period. I do sit allot and rarely DH out of where I drop.

 

[goslow]

I doubt very much his Pop is going to get 1300-1800 a week with Panther. Plus when they get finished with all the with holding he'll really wish he went to Bolt.

I listed Panther for the simple reason of he can go outside the box and find his own loads and set his own rate on them W/O getting his authority. I believe Dave KC does this, if I read a post correctly awhile back. Also Panther has a very wide freight base and they move just about anything you can think of. Some of the smaller carriers have a very limited freight base and tend to pay there contractors lower.

I am not a Panther puppet or contractor, but I do have a broker agreement with them and they do pay well for the stuff that I move for them and have been to some really interesting places when moving a load for them.

I have spoken to some of there van contractors and some of them state that 1500-1800 is a cake walk and that it just comes down to knowing where to sit and what to take and where not to go. Makes since to me

 

[BillChaffey]

I'll say again. Last week a Panther driver said he was sitting in the Carolina's. NINETEEN VANS in front of him. Doesn't seem like too many back hauls there. And again I'll say I don't believe the AVERAGE Panther driver is doing 2000 paid miles aweek.

 

[Mike99]

With Panther your average rate per mile is $1 . Including fuel. How much is with Bolt?

 

[BillChaffey]

I have no idea. I was canned last November. I'll be happy to bet the amount that Panther withholds every week is close to twice what Bolt withholds. Plus the fact there may be NINETEEN vans sitting in front of you, you may not getting too many miles.

 

[chefdennis]

I left Bolt 6 months ago...but I will say their rates are all over the place and you have to stay on top of them...they will offer you low paying loads but you can turn them down also...when i left there was a reason and that was too many short runs..they paid real well most over a dollar, but there were not enough of them...they have since changed that back to the norm and the drivers i have talked to lately are saying they are in the $.85-$.90 range on AVERAGE..some more some less....but they do get the miles....I know of more then a few $90 grand gross CV drivers at bolt...but they run hard....as is said, its not how much you make, but how much you keep...and each of us are different in that department....

 

[goslow]

I'll say again. Last week a Panther driver said he was sitting in the Carolina's. NINETEEN VANS in front of him. Doesn't seem like too many back hauls there. And again I'll say I don't believe the AVERAGE Panther driver is doing 2000 paid miles aweek.

19 Vans in front of him sounds like he took a load he should of not taken or DH there which would of been worse. As for the AVERAGE Panther van running 2k miles a week. I don't know, I can only go from the few I have spoken to. All the ones I have talked to were west of the Mississippi and said to make good money with Panther you have to get out of the midwest and southeast. Maybe a current Panther van lessee can shed some light on the current way to run good at the cat. I know you will rarely catch me east of the Mississippi unless I am taking a load to the northeast or the eastern providences of Canada.

 

[goslow]

And as for backhauls (there's that word again) was he really looking for them or was he sitting there waiting for the beep and complaining about how many vans were around. Instead of being proactive to get out of there. If I was leased to a company and I knew they had 19 vans in the area I was going I would demand more money so I could relocate to a better area. If they don't want to pay then I turn the load down and wait for another.

 

[golfournut]

And as for backhauls (there's that word again) was he really looking for them or was he sitting there waiting for the beep and complaining about how many vans were around. Instead of being proactive to get out of there. If I was leased to a company and I knew they had 19 vans in the area I was going I would demand more money so I could relocate to a better area. If they don't want to pay then I turn the load down and wait for another.

When I was with Panther with my S/T, you could turn down a load if the offer was below your rate, DH to pickup was greater than 40% of the loaded miles or back to back minis and not loose your position on the board. If you turned down a load for ANY other reason it counted against you. If your acceptance rate fell below 67%, you might as well go get a job elsewhere. You're not going to get any offers. I stayed at 100% and made it work well for me until it became a team world there!

Your best bet, hire a vet! Please.

 

[goslow]

Thinks for explaining that I did not know about the 67% thing. I could not lease my truck to a company that does that, they have enough hands in your profitability as it is without that. I don't know why some of these companies put this crap on ya. They ain't paying for your expenses, and please don't say it is so they can get the freight covered. They have other ways of getting it covered. If I wanted to be told what to do or where to go or be penalized I would go back to Stevens Transport.. Talk about control over a person. I was a successful L/O with them and completed 2 leases with them. But they still have way to much control on your bottom line.