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Breaking back into the expedite industry!

John Clark 46

John Clark 46

Active Expediter
Retired Expediter
Good evening to my friends, colleagues and the expedite community a.k.a. my 2nd family for many years.

My name is John Clark former owner of J. D. Clark Logistics (retired).

For 17 years I was a successful business and fleet owner in Clinton Township,Mi. I'm excited to be back on EO4ME. I believe that Lawrence, his staff and the expedite community are a large part of my previous success in the industry.

What I enjoyed most is the relationships everyone has come to establish between the newbies and the vetran drivers and even the reputable fleet owners like John Elliot from Load One that take time out of their busy day to come on here and help daily.

Everyday our industry is evolving, and listening and educating yourself is the 1st part of a expeditors success and this platform has done just that over the years and now I return to listen and take advice and critism and to learn and educate myself with this amazing forum.

I hope that coming back to the industry with over 2 years being off the scene that I can also provide a positive impact with some of my previous experiences.

Thank you for having me back, I'm not sure what I will be doing in the upcoming days, weeks or months but whatever I do from building another company from the ground up or being a fleet manager for a existing company I will remain focused on everyone's continued success to the best of my ability.

John D. Clark Jr.
 
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Boatcat

Boatcat

Seasoned Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Navy
Need some advice please..
Thinking of putting a driver in my truck while I deal with a health issue.
What are the things I need to do to prepare for this.
I'm leased on with a company, or the truck is and I understand that any driver would need to be approved by the company and go through orientation, also I would want to do a ride along so I am comfortable.

Mr. Clark? Anyone else?
 
John Clark 46

John Clark 46

Active Expediter
Retired Expediter
Boatcat said:
Need some advice please..
Thinking of putting a driver in my truck while I deal with a health issue.
What are the things I need to do to prepare for this.
I'm leased on with a company, or the truck is and I understand that any driver would need to be approved by the company and go through orientation, also I would want to do a ride along so I am comfortable.

Mr. Clark? Anyone else?
Click to expand...
Sorry for the late response, trying to dial the kids back in for another school year

I hope everything with your health turns around for and that your able to climb back in the truck.

My opinion is depending on the amount of time your facing of being off work I am against putting anyone in the truck that does not have a vested interest. It will save you aggravation and money to just park it as much.as it is not what anyone wants.

Let's face the fact that no one will care for the truck as you do, no one will put in 100% like you do and your one truck will not support you and the driver both.

So if your not going to make money and your risk out weighs the reward then just park your truck. If your going to do this anyways make sure that you have the final say who goes into your truck and not the company because of course the company wants the truck moving to continue to provide options for their customers so they may be a little lacking in their qualification process depending what company your with.

I can if you like email you a cheat sheet on what you want to do and what to look for before letting anyone near your equipment.

I'm curious if your company will continue to deduct from you weekly for the weeks you are out? One thing I never really have much thought to was having a addendum in the contract for if you are out on sick leave that the charges be temporarily stopped until you return. I never needed that in place for my guys because when they worked they gave me 110% and in return we didn't work on what I call the "petty system" cause charging a guy when he is down is just not cool.

Their are some really great drivers out their it's just that they are a rare breed and if they are they probably are employed somewhere already.

Basics are simple get the report from the office on the PSP, background and make sure they have a good amount of time on the road consistently and that they have not been employed at 20 places in 3 years.

Best of luck, it's a difficult decision to make just make sure you follow your gut on this and don't just make the decision to put a driver in the truck just so it's moving, it will work out and things happen for a reason. You will get pass this
 
Boatcat

Boatcat

Seasoned Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Navy
Great advice, thank's.
My thoughts exactly.
The truck has already been parked for a long time while I have been on vacation and doing repairs, so this health issue will just extend it beyond what I had hoped for.
It's paid for and yes, I did ask my company to put the insurance and other deductions on hold, but they strongly recommend I kept things as they are., so I did, for 3 months so far and it may turn into another month, at least. It's hard to watch a year of progress and hard work go down the drain though.

I guess I will just have to be patient and hope for the best. Risking my only truck on an unknown would not be wise, I know that, your response confirmed my feeling about it, so thank's again.

Best to you and yours.
 
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