The post is here because a number of people "gives a rats #####."
When I write about expediting, I do so mostly with expediter wannabees in mind, and I write from the personal experience of once knowing nothing about the business and later doing well in it.
The people who "gives a rats #####" like to hear about expediter experiences as they consider their own course. At least that's what they tell me privately. That's why I post items like this and write a blog and stories from the road (links below).
These same readers would like very much to hear about other peoples' successes too. I really wish more successful expediters would share their stories and information about how they do what they do. Though, I also understand their reluctance to do so here. This is the EO Open Forum, where no good deed goes unpunished. Witness this very thread.
Technically, Greg, our rookie year as owner-operators began when we bought our truck in June, 2006. I used calander year because it is a more meaningful financial period that corresponds to our tax year. It does not matter. The story is the same, whichever 12 months you wish to talk about. We are first-time truck buyers and first-time owner-operators who have done well as such.
Yes, we are also expediters with three years of prior experience in fleet owner trucks. That fact has been mentioned so many times in other posts, I saw no need to mention it here. But since it seems to matter to others, I'll say one more time, we drove other peoples' trucks for three years before buying one of our own.
That said, it is also a fact that as first-time owner operators, we beat the odds, so to speak. No one repossessed our truck. We did not labor hard to make the truck payments. While we had a truck loan to deal with, we never once took a bad run offer because we were desparate to make a payment on time.
While we had some setbacks, and live a lifestyle that is not for everyone, all of our financial and personal goals have been met in this business. That is a great story to tell. And I tell it in hopes of providing options for people who, for whatever reasons, are looking for careers different than they have now.
Yes, there are benefits to having truck driving experience. But I want expediter wannabees to know that experience is NOT REQUIRED to jump in and succeed from the first day. That is not to say you can do so unprepared. If you do that, this business will eat you alive and leave you very much the worse for wear (as in bankrupt). But if you are prepared, expediting is a fantastic business opportunity, even now, as we stand in a slowing economy and on the threshold of a recession. Key words...IF YOU ARE PREPARED.
Who "gives a rats #####?" A whole lot of people don't, and they will eagerly say so. In fact, some of them read my every word, and then seldom miss a chance to say how much my writing does not matter to them and should not matter to others. I really wish these folks would talk more about what is right about their own success than what is wrong with ours. If they did, readers of all experience levels and the Open Forum itself would benefit more.
While a whole lot of people don't "gives a rats #####", there are those who do, including certain expediter wannabees who read this site. I want them to know that despite all the sour grapes and casting about of blame for failure that is seen on this site; plain, old-fashioned, pure-and-simple success stories are also found in this business.
I believe other people can enter the business and succeed. That's why I post items like this. I want people to know about the success side of expediting. Goodness knows the failure side gets its full share on these pages. That too is good. Expediter wannabees deserve to hear the full story, not just one side or the other.
In an attempt to return this thread to the spirit in which the first post was made, let me say again...
...Thanks to all here in the Open Forum. The year would have been less interesting, informative and entertaining without you.
