Broom made a response about what your time is wort

[davekc]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

Some very interesting points. I think alot of times, some posts are intentionally put out there to create controversy in order for one to draw attention to themselves.
I think Gregg is right on target with regards to experience.
Optimistic and up beat posts are great, but
many times a great idea or suggestion can get lost in a large amount of pomp and puffery.






Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[ATeam]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

One of the beauties of the Open Forum, and one that Diane and I took full advantage of before we began as expediters, is by reading past posts, you can learn from other peoples' mistakes. You don't have to learn from your own.

 

[mrgoodtude]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

Maybe you have a point,
As for me I learn by doing and if I make the mistake It's on me.
Wait lets change gears a minute, what exactly is your measure of success?
1 Leaving the stress of a white collar world to enjoy the freedom of expedite?
2 Leaving a row house and a box of Bobble head dolls to embrace the security of a truck driving job?
Let me point out something that you don't seem to get...
You are homeless living in a truck, a "special truck" that can only be paid for by being leased on to a company offering special services (lest you also take the job at that sandwich shop you speak of).
I don't know how much you really learned from old forum posts but I caution you to recognize your station in life, is not much better (if at all) than mine or anybody else's i have come across in my 2 years of expedite.
For future reference keep to yourself and I will do likewise,
you don't bring anything to my table except a good laugh as Cyn and I drive down the road speaking Philism's and honestly I would just assume not think of you at all.........

 

[cheri1122]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

Thanks to all who pointed out that being a success is however one defines it, and sometimes, a failure or two along the way, only strengthens one's determination. We don't have to be the best at everything, every time, to be a success. And also, one person's failure can be another's setback - attitude is all.

 

[Paul56]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

>One of the beauties of the Open Forum, and one that Diane
>and I took full advantage of before we began as expediters,
>is by reading past posts, you can learn from other peoples'
>mistakes. You don't have to learn from your own.

Oh come on.

Everyone has their share of mistakes no matter how much guidance or reading is done.

 

[davekc]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

Paul56 wrote;



Oh come on.

Everyone has their share of mistakes no matter how much guidance or reading is done.
===============================================
Not if you are the Ateam
















Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[cowboyz]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

I often ask myself the same question about my time. But I know that I have to make the best of my time while im out here. But I do know that you have to allow room for mistakes. I only know of one that was ever perfect, and the people hung him on a cross until death. So im sure im going to make plenty in my lifetime. Im suppose to learn from my mistakes, There sort of like stepping stones. I belive the more knowledge I have about something the less mistakes i'll make,But thats not saying I want make any. For my time out here, I want it to pay as much as possible, Don't we all? Besides I have A 12&13 year old at home that are hinting about new 4 wheelers. So here I am,TRYING to do what Daddys do. Left back out Mon. after some great quality time at home. Got a load offer to CT, Took it! was predispatched to pick up another load 5.00am Wed, Took it! Then was informed that the load would not be ready until Thur 5.00am,I Kept it! Now was this a mistake? LOad paying 2.77 a mile all miles. 254 total miles. Has this happened to anyone else? Thank you for your input. Sorry for geting off the topic a little.








DON'T MISS THE FOREST
LOOKING AT THE TREES

 

[davekc]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

Those are tough because you aren't looking into the crystal ball. Instead of a great short run. it turned into 700 dollars for two days. Not so good. Everyone has had a situation like that at some point. Same deal waiting on a great load, only to have it cancel at the last minute. "I hate when the happens"





Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[greg334]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

"Does it feel that your life's become a catastrophe?
Oh, it has to be for you to grow, boy."

A great ancient philosopher (well sort of…)

 

[grog111]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

I think this buisness is great in the art of brainwashing. We're all suppossed to convince ourselves that time does'nt neccesarily equal money...oh yeah!...says who? If it's not for money that i work, just what is it exactly? I'm sure you've all heard the story about the scientist who put a group of monkeys in a cage and hooked the floor to some electrodes then put a banana on a stick. He'd stick the banana in the cage and when the monkeys would reach for it he'd electrify the floor, eventually the monkeys equated the banana to getting shocked.Then the scientist removed one of the monkeys and added a new one, then,he stuck the banana in the cage and the new monkey reached for it, well, the other monkeys,fearing shock,beat the other monkey up for reaching for the banana. Then the scientist,one at a time, slowly replaced each monkey with a new monkey and with each new edition the monkeys would attack the new monkey for reaching for the banana until the scientist finally realized that none of the monkeys left in the cage had ever been shocked. Thus is the nature of the "new' truck driver. By the time the poor guy realizes the shellacking he's taken it's too late! This industry will never change as long as people continue to believe the banana will electrify us. The people who are in the power positions need to know that life is short, and time is precious and we are NOT just a bunch of monkeys put here to do thier bidding. We all have lives and obligations and expectations! And to be dictated to and treated like paria and social outcasts is unacceptable! I'm sorry, but i'm just sick to death of people cow-towing and tring to convince me that "it's the nature of the buisness". It's only the nature of this buisness because we allow it to be.

 

[greg334]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

There is no brain washing, there are no monkeys.

To analogize that we are a bunch of monkeys is .... well somewhat, ....never mind.

 

[ATeam]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

>>One of the beauties of the Open Forum, and one that Diane
>>and I took full advantage of before we began as expediters,
>>is by reading past posts, you can learn from other peoples'
>>mistakes. You don't have to learn from your own.
>
>Oh come on.
>
>Everyone has their share of mistakes no matter how much
>guidance or reading is done.

Of course. Kindly note that I did not say I do not make mistakes. Of course I do. Everyone does. But reading the open forum with an open mind and in a humble way can help you avoid many of the common mistakes that end up driving people out of the business. Mistakes we learned to avoid before we even entered the business include:

Entering the business without financial reserves. (We came in with enough cash in the bank and in our pocket to see us through the kind of negative developments people talked about in the forums.)

Entering the business without a committment to work. (From reading the forums, we understood immediately the importance of keeping our in service numnbers high. In three years of expediting, have yet to go out of service to take in a tourist attraction.)

Relying only on recruiters to tell you how much money you can make and what your chances of success are. (We had researched the industry so well before ever talking to a recruiter that recruiters knew better than to pull any wool over our eyes).

Choosing a carrier too soon and then using down time to change carriers because you did not get the whole picture the first time. (Having read numerous accounts about why people changed carriers, we we researched our carrier in depth before selecting it).

Getting bad financial advice. (While we are not without financial skills of our own and used to do our own taxes, we heeded the advice we read here in the forum to get a tax account with trucking industry experience. That is good advice!)

Jumping into a truck of your own before gaining industry experience in a fleet owner's truck. (While the majority of expediters enter the business with a truck of their own, we chose the minority path that is strongly urged in the forums. The stated benefits of doing so turned out to be true in our case).


These are off the top of my head. I'm sure I could come up with many more if I thought about it and reveiwed old notes.

My point is simply that the forums can indeed help non-drivers who are jumping in avoid the mistakes many other drivers, some with years of experience, commonly make and talk about here in the forums.

 

[ATeam]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

>Wait lets change gears a minute, what exactly is your
>measure of success?

I have stated my measure of success in the forum before. It is; if you are achieving the goals you set for yourself as an expediter, you are successful.

>I don't know how much you really learned from old forum
>posts but I caution you to recognize your station in life,
>is not much better (if at all) than mine or anybody else's i
>have come across in my 2 years of expedite.

In my view of success, someone's station in life relative to other peoples' station in life is meaningless. As I said above, success is achieving the goals YOU set for YOURSELF. That's not about other people, it's about you and you alone. It's about deciding what you want to achieve in life and setting out to do it.

Also note that I did not say if you achievED your goals, I said if you are achievING your goals. As I see it, success is more of a process than a result. When a goal is achieved, the process continues with the next goal in view or other goals previouisly set.

 

[ATeam]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

Overnight, another important lesson learned came to mine. That is, a lesson learned by reading the Open Forum before we became expediters, that helped us avoid some of the common mistakes that lead to other expediters' unplanned exits from the business.

Lawrence McCord said someting we immediatly took to heart. "Expediting does not tolerate a personal agenda." We put it a slightly different way, "Don't fight the freight."

We learned from the forums that expditing is as much a lifestyle as it is a business. You do not have regular hours or a schedule or even work to do that is predictable in any way. Before we hauled our first load, we knew to give ourselves over to the industry instead of trying to make the industry fit our schedule or fit it into a mold of our own.

More specifically, if the freight wants to to north, we go north. If the freight wants to go west, we go west. If the freight does not come to us, we won't complain as if our rights have been violated. We will simply go to the freight.

In the spirit of "don't fight the freight," we try not to impose a personal agenda on expedting. Within the context set by our goals, we live and work so as to maximize our time out on the road and availability to haul the freight.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

Good point about picking and choosing. I don't know how ppl make it in expediting when they gripe that they won't take all nighters, won't do northeast, won't do west coast, Chicago, Detroit, Florida, etc. All that does is move the freight to a truck that WILL. And, once in awhile, that truck is mine... and I'm ok with it. I'm not telling ppl to take every run, that's their option. The freight will get there, it's just a matter of by whom. Having said that, there are a few times I won't take freight, most of which are safety. My freight will never have a Manhattan address on it, nor will I go somewhere that's forecast for a blizzard while I'm driving. Ice is another reason. And something most don't know about: going to a dead area at the time. But the way things have been going lately, I probably would get a load out of Montana.

"If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know." - Kansas

 

[nightcreacher]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

> Mike, yeah, fishing doesn't pay very well and It's more
>dangerous than expediting! As a matter of fact, if you buy a
>really nice boat, the fish are pretty expensive!

tell that to the pro bass fisherman

 

[DannyD]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

>No one ever talks about what their time is worth...
>For anyone interested in expedite you need to ask yourself
>this question Will I be satisfied staring out my windshield
>during the slow periods knowing full well I have only earned
>enough to pay my truck expenses for the month.
>What if you made a profit the previous month only to retract
>it the next to cover a slow period hence you only break even
>for 2 months?
>Question is do you need to be a savy business owner to reap
>the rewards of expedite?
>When it is all said and done is it a worthwhile endeavor?
>Not trying to throw down a big negative but if your time is
>of value to you this may not be your cup of tea.
>Just trying to show both sides of the coin.
> Mike

I don't think you're being negative in the least. I think you're asking a viable question. To answer your last question first, is this a worthwhile endeavor, I say that's an easy "YES!!"

Still, that doesn't mean there aren't challenges. My hourly rate currently is in the $15-20/hour range. I'm a local driver so I only think of myself as working when I'm delivering a load. When I was on the road sitting somewhere I'd still consider myself to be working even though I wasn't getting paid for it. This is because while I might not have been driving, I wasn't able to do much of anything else except wait for the cell phone to ring for another run.

Here at my house I have options as to what I can do w/ my time, so I'm not working. If I'm sitting in my van in Kentucky, I'm stuck to the job. With that in mind, the rate of pay was as low as a few dollars per hour (like under $5) if ya had to sit for a day or two.

On a per hour basis, ya can make more runnin pizzas than expediting. Ya can make more total money in this industry because ya can work so many more hours. If one is JUST thinking about what their time is worth, expediting might not be the best choice.

What ya gotta do is factor in other things besides money. Cuz yea, this isn't the highest paying job in the world. Ya get to see the country. For the most part there's no boss over your shoulder unless your QC is going bananas or something. Ya have some say in where ya go.

To answer a couple of your other questions:

>Will I be satisfied staring out my windshield
>during the slow periods knowing full well I have only earned
>enough to pay my truck expenses for the month.

No, I wouldn't. But I'm fine w/ slow months if I'm at my house. I'm not saying I'm happy w/ em, but I can deal w/ em a heckuva lot better than if I was sitting in my van somewhere.

>What if you made a profit the previous month only to retract
>it the next to cover a slow period hence you only break even
>for 2 months?

I wouldn't stay in that cycle for very long. I'd do something different. I was in that cycle when I had my Sprinter. I gave it 6 months. I shoulda given it 3. I could see it was a break even proposition at best. Not worth it.

Back in my Ford I'm making a lil something. Not gettin wealthy by any means, but hangin in there. I won't be expediting forever, but I've enjoyed it for the most part & would say all in all my time was fairly compensated for.

Take care,
Danny

 

[JODON]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

You're having fun aren't you Phil?}>

 

[chuckwagon]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

It is hard to actually put a price on your time when you think about it.
Afterall, if we are business owners, then it is more about what the market will allow, until we decide to unite together and push the market price to our favor - you know kind of how the oil companies do it.
The sooner we all wake the flying-h up and take note that we have a service here that is valuable and market our prices based on that fact rather than allow the market to tell us our price the better off we will be.
Sure we are replaceable, unlike the oil companies, the standard freight companies COULD take our freight away from us - but they can not take away the TIME SENSATIVE aspect of it away and that is what we need to sell as our service - not that we are some bs alternative to standard trucking companies!

 

[tr]

RE: Broom made a response about what your time is

In essence your time is what you value it to be. Back in the 80's I had a world famous Private Investigator tell me after a short conversation, "If you don't know how to charge, you might as well be picking apples". There is in fact a lot of merit to this comment, but....it is in the eyes of the beholder. If you sit for two days as a driver, no big deal to most companies (in my opinion); however if a company looses their telephone connections for two days I am sure that they are screaming to the telepone company that they are loosing money. Same scenario in my eyes, just they are loosing more money that I would be for the two days that I was out of business.
As long as the market is overloaded with drivers and trucks, this will continue. If there was ever a shortage it would go back to the days when you would be paid by a company to DH to a specific area and wait for a load while being paid a designated amount just for sitting there. So face it, there are more drivers than there are loads, and as long as the economy remains like it is (until a lot of people can get a good paying job) you are going to sit and nobody outisde of your immediate interest is going to loose any sleep over it. I finally gave it up after 10 years, not making any money but sure as heck not paying out $175.00 a week just for company deductions. I really don't think that freight runs will increase that much to keep up with the demand of drivers, ergo, you will sit and your time is your time, it's up to you to do what ever you think has to be done. Just remember, cheap freight, ever increasing Mom and Pop Expedite Companies, unemployment, and a mutitude of other factors is going to cut your profits eventually. I wish you all well as the best of luck.