Do you ever get tired of this?

[guido4475]

There are no mountains in Detroit or in Michigan for that matter. Just a few goose bumps here and there. SO, there is no Brokeback Mountain where I go. Deliverance was a "southern thing". SO again, not where I go. As to my "River" I would say that the correct term for it is the "Straights of Detroit" so, again, no brokeback problems there either! In the fields I am looking for rabbits, pheasants, ducks, geese and sometimes deer. I don't know what you do out there. Not my business!

Nothing out of the ordinary, my friendly buckaroo!....lol...

 

[scottm4211]

Hwy 1. Hawaii

No sir....

 

[BobWolf]

Where ever it is Im sure its preaty.

Bob Wolf.

 

[ATeam]

I certainly hope that my posts are not taken as an "I'm tired of expediting" diatribe. I am tired of the increasing and sometimes nonsensical regulatory burden. I resent the additional expense -- tens of thousands of dollars of additional expense -- that CARB requires us to spend just to maintain the status quo. But tired of expediting? Not at all.

Let me put our decision to leave the business in context.

1. We have no children and have the freedom to change careers and seem to do so every ten years or so. Diane is an expediter today. She was an attorney before that and a Registered Nurse before that. I am an expediter today. I was a computer consultant before that and a Certified Financial Planner and stock broker before that. We've been expediters for ten years so looking at our history alone, apart from any industry considerations, we are about due for a career change.

2. While the regulatory burden takes money out of our pockets and reduces profitability, we are still able to make a go of it. We are on a run right now that we got when an agent called while we were out of service. It is a 3,000 mile run that pays $2.00 per mile all miles. It's not like we are hurting for work or rotting on the vine out here.

3. The CARB rules prompted us to look around and that's when a new opportunity was discovered and the bug bit. The new opportunity is drawing us in more than the regulatory burden is pushing us out.

4. We increased our net worth more in our ten years as expediters than we have in any other ten year period of our lives. Without the expediting opportunity, we could not afford to move into the next opportunity.

5. The new business offers something that expediting cannot, and this is a major consideration as we grow older. If one of us dies or becomes disabled, the expediting business is lost to us because neither one of us is willing to live and work on the road without the other, and neither one of us is interested in being fleet owners or freight brokers from home.

In our new business, both of us will work it, but if one of us died or became disabled, the other will still be able to keep and operate the business. Also, in building the next business, we will be building something that we can later sell. If you are a one-truck owner-operator team, when you quit the expediting business, you have one used truck to sell and that's pretty much it. When you build a retail business in a storefront location, you are building a customer base and income stream that can be sold at a later date.

Zorry used the words "it beats working for a living." He has a point. While there is certainly work to be done to succeed as an expediter, there is a tremendous amount of freedom and free time that will not be found in our new business.

We had the occasional down day in expediting but also discovered this to be true:

Most of the problems in expediting can be cured by a shower and a good night's sleep. When you wake up clean and with a clear head, the problems that troubled you yesterday somehow aren't there today.

 

[Moot]

Mike, if you give up expediting maybe Phil can get you work as a personal trainer at one of his health clubs.

 

[ATeam]

Mike, if you give up expediting maybe Phil can get you work as a personal trainer at one of his health clubs.

Certification and experience required. College degree a plus.

 

[zorry]

Or just be good looking. ( I watch TV.)
Phil, hope you're working on that certification.

Don't feel bad,I'd have to work on certification too.

 

[ATeam]

Or just be good looking. ( I watch TV.)
Phil, hope you're working on that certification.

Don't feel bad,I'd have to work on certification too.

This is gym business, not expediting business, and not appropriate for EO. But since you bring it up, the education, certification and experience that we seek in personal trainers are not quickly obtained. We will hire people who have the skills we lack.

 

[zorry]

Have a personal trainer in the family.

The first thing that popped in my head is the personal trainer/tennis pro is usually a hunk ( from a women's point of view) .

 

[DannyD]

No, because I do two things. I drive & have a lil business. There's always the bit of a dip in attitude once in awhile where I'd rather be on a beach or something, but that rarely lasts too long. I don't go bananas over it like you may be doing now. I've been in your shoes though, so I can relate.

I realize that I'm not an actual expediter like most of ya's. I stay local for the most part. I don't make nearly the $$$ many of ya's make, but I also don't go stir crazy sitting in my van (or sleeper in your case) waiting on that next load.

I'm not saying what I'm doing is the best way to go about it for everyone. Only that it seems to work for me. Things may change if my van konks out & I have to take on a payment. For now though, generally I'm pretty happy.

If this feeling lasts too long, my suggestion would be to find something that makes ya happy. Hopefully it's only a short term feeling though.

Best of luck to ya-

I mean really do ya? I felt like this a year ago and here comes Phil with his I am tired of Expedite Diatribe...
I am really tired of sitting and waiting for the call...WTF
I want to spend the rest of my life doing something... ANYTHING
Am I going thru a midlife or am I sick of Expedite?
If I spend one more weekend in a sleeper I will commit a hate crime I am sure...
Anyone feel the same?

 

[teamjdw]

If you love what you do,you will never work a day in your life ! I still can't believe we get paid to do this.

 

[Ragman]

I still can't believe we get paid to do this.

You get paid also?

 

[pearlpro]

I worked for the Home Depot for about 5 years hauling Lumber OUT AND BACK, OUT AND BACK around St Louis, Tarping and Strapping, and getting wet, Frozen and hassled by scales and recievers who wouldnt honor appt times, it was a good job, but after a while I had just had it with the whole Tarping thing, I hauled Steel and then got into Oversize hauling cranes across country, Into and out of NYC, and other large citys, Oversize you travel primarily by day, and at 45-55 mph, no one hassles you and it pays good. But then I had a run in with a OFFICE JERK who was fresh outta the Military, He called a safety meeting and basically HELD GUYS SAFETY BONUSES for stupid stuff like a log book mistake, a very small mistake, hes holding my 500 dollar check telling me im not going to get it due to the mistake...I walked up to him, yanked my check outta his hand, threw my keys at him and said deliver your crap yourself and left trucking for 5 years.....

I came back expressly to do EXPEDITE and have enjoyed it mostly but some weekend sitting in PODUNK with no good food, no safe place to park, hostile cops or business owners, lack of freight and you sit, sit, sit and then they call and say HURRY UP YOUR LATE....

When I build my own truck and have a larger sleeper Ill be happier, more AT HOME but right now I just get cranked and say Send me home, relax a few days and Im recharged and ready to go....I think everyone feels lonely and when your in some COLD RAINY place and theres nothing to do, youve watched all your movies, no internet acess, barely a cell phone signal it gets pretty I solated....

Well so far I still enjoy the job and Im holding on thru the winters when its a bummer, but Summer its a different story....

 

[Jumbuck]

You guys are absolutley right. I think ALL cargo van drivers should sell their vans and get out of expediting! Wink...Wink...

 

[guido4475]

You guys are absolutley right. I think ALL cargo van drivers should sell their vans and get out of expediting! Wink...Wink...

Oh, you're just jealous of the money we make, the amount of it we are able to keep thanks to low cost of operation, while enjoying the freedom of the government not dictating how many hours we can work, or when we can or cannot sleep.

 

[RoadTime]

I Had this happen over the weekend. A local job in my old field came open on the shift I wanted. I can say I was more then tempted and had intended to apply today. But then reality finally set in as I remembered why I left the rat race in the first place and what I would be giving up. It's very hard to leave a job I love for one that made me miserable. Most people wish they could say I love my job, I used to be one of them. This is the only job I have ever really enjoyed doing. It's not a perfect life, but I will take it over any good day in the rat race.

 

[Rocketman]

I Had this happen over the weekend. A local job in my old field came open on the shift I wanted. I can say I was more then tempted and had intended to apply today. But then reality finally set in as I remembered why I left the rat race in the first place and what I would be giving up. It's very hard to leave a job I love for one that made me miserable. Most people wish they could say I love my job, I used to be one of them. This is the only job I have ever really enjoyed doing. It's not a perfect life, but I will take it over any good day in the rat race.

I left trucking for a year in 08-09 (not a bad time to be out of trucking...but that wasn't the reason I left). My tool and die experience got me a good paying job....even a healthy sign on bonus. It was less than two weeks before I started seeing all the same old stuff....just different actors in the play..lol. One guy didn't like the other guy, management wanted rid of one guy but he knew the rules too well and played 'em like a fish on a string, another guy was only there because he had connections in corporate...on and on and on. I stayed for a year, but I'm tellin ya, I was more than happy to get back on the road. I love the freedom and the independence that we have in this profession.

 

[guido4475]

I left trucking for a year in 08-09 (not a bad time to be out of trucking...but that wasn't the reason I left). My tool and die experience got me a good paying job....even a healthy sign on bonus. It was less than two weeks before I started seeing all the same old stuff....just different actors in the play..lol. One guy didn't like the other guy, management wanted rid of one guy but he knew the rules too well and played 'em like a fish on a string, another guy was only there because he had connections in corporate...on and on and on. I stayed for a year, but I'm tellin ya, I was more than happy to get back on the road. I love the freedom and the independence that we have in this profession.

Back in 09, when I got out of the straight, and was kinda in between jobs, with the cargo van in the driveway, I applied to Waste Management and was almost immediately offered a job...It was a tough decision, but I knew one day this business would work out, if I found the right carrier for me, which I did, and can't be any happier than I am now..So thankful.

 

[aquitted]

Just A another port in A storm

 

[purgoose10]

I find little adventure, even when busy. It is also, by far, one of the most BORING things I have EVER done. Even more boring than my intel job was and that was REALLY boring!

I am never bored when on the River or out in the field. There is NUTHIN better than living in the REAL world!

It's like anything else or anyone else. If you were on that river 7 days a week like you are expediting you'd hate it and wish you were trucking. I thought the same thing 5 years ago when I retired. Than had to have a C/Van for week end runs,(you know part time), missed being at it, then one thing after another now 3TT's, straight and a van. I'm still wondering why?? Now I answer the calls from my drivers at two in the morning with, "Thankyou for calling how can I direct your call"?