EXPEDITING 2002 A YEAR IN REVIEW

NEVERHOME247 · Dec 23, 2002

WOULD LIKE TO HEAR HOW EVERYONE DID THIS YEAR AND WHAT YOU FORESEE FOR 2003... 2002 WAS A FAIRLY GOOD YEAR FOR US. WE HAD DID EXCEPTIONALLY WELL THE FIRST,SECOND AND THIRD QUARTER OF THE YEAR. WITH THE SECOND QUARTER BEING THE BEST REVENUE GENERATING QUARTER OF THE YEAR FOR US. THE FOURTH QUARTER WHICH I EXPECTED TO BE A RECORD SETTER. WAS EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE. WE DID VERY POORLY AND WAS THE WORST QUARTER FOR US. DESPITE HIGH FUEL PRICES AND A POOR FOURTH QUARTER WE DID MANAGE TO GENERATE MORE REVENUE THAN WE DID IN 2001.
I HAVE MIXED EMOTIONS OF WHAT 2003 HAS IN STORE. I HOPE THAT THE FOURTH QUARTER IS NOT A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME IN THE NEW YEAR. WITH THE ECONOMY STRUGGLING/UN-EMPLOYMENT AT ALL TIME HIGHS AND WAR AROUND THE CORNER. FOR ME ITS HARD TO PREDICT? I AM JUST HOPING FOR THE BEST. I HOPE WE ALL HAVE A SUCCESSFUL YEAR AHEAD. HOW WAS 2002 FOR YOU AND WHAT DO YOU FORESEE IN 2003??

:'(

paperback1 · Dec 23, 2002

2002 WAS OK FOR ME, THE ONLY SLOW TIME WAS JULY, BUT OTHER THAN THAT WAS PRETTY GOOD. I'M HOPING THAT 2003 WILL BE BETTER (FOR ALL OF US) AND I THINK IT WILL BE. GOOD LUCK TO ALL

captain · Dec 26, 2002

2002 was a little better for me than 2001. 3rd quarter was the best and 4th was the worst, but overall I took a total of six weeks vacation (last year I took three weeks off), and right now I'm about
twenty five hundred bucks ahead of last year.

Captain

ukexpediter · Dec 27, 2002

Hello chaps sorry I havent been in touch for a while,but the last couple of months have been crazy.Im sitting at home with the family and I thought I would give you a little review of 2002 from the other side of the pond. Our buisiness has grown from 10 vehices last december to 18 at the moment and were finding it hard to keep up with the extra work not only from our customer base but all the admin.
We dont just specialise in Expediting we carry out general freight and we have just started carrying out house moves to spain,Portugal and Italy its a big market over here as many Brits are buying second homes over there it fits in well with the expediter work because we can use our contacts over there for backloads to the UK.
In last month with have just finished a big contract for a Parking Meter manufacturing company they were replacing every Paking Meter in Edingburgh,Scotland.We had to collect full loads in tractor/trailers(22 loads) from Dijon,France (near the Swiss border)get the loads back to our yard (sorry depot)then tranship the loads onto smaller vehicles 18/26tonners (class7,8)because the accces is so small and tight in the center of Edingbugh its very olde worlde.We had it down to 22 hours from production line to installation not bad eh by the end of it my guys were sick of that run up and down to Scotand.
The best run was on the 23rd of December was a very wealthy Lady coud not get on with the rowing machine at her Hotel in Austria so she got her personal trainer to shipp it out to her as she"must have" before christmas,boy I bumped the rate a little on that one.
Anyway guys I hope you have had a good holiday and wish you a happy new year.
ps I Hope to send you guys some photos and some more info in the new year.

teacel · Dec 27, 2002

Hi ukexpediter, and others.

Over here in our neck of the woods UK stands for University of Kentucky, with some dedicated followers of them in sports. At a quick glance that was who I thought it may have been. The little uk!

Now that I've read it I know who you are. THE BIG UK!!! Glad to see you made it back to the boards and dropped us a line. Sounds to me like you've been a very busy guy. That is good???? In my eyes that is good!!!! I too have an expediting co. It is small compared to your's I have four vans, YES! vans, and one straight truck that is used for some of the larger loads, which I try and stay away from. The bulk of my business is dedicated deliveries for companies that realize it is economically cheaper to farm out their deliveries. I am very selective of emergency deliveries, or what I call on demand job chasing. Waiting by the phone to get a delivery isn't my cup of tea. I prefer the more perdictable freight.

2002 was a good year for me also. I went from one full time driver and one part time driver, to three full time drivers with vans, and two part time drivers with vans. I would say my business has increased 200%. Reviewing the past year (2002), In the new year (2003), I should have a ball park # of ten drivers with vans. Right now I still do one of the nightly runs, but you can bet your live savings that if I can grow and reach my goal in 2003 I won't be driving. Although I like driving, and really don't mind it, I will have to come off the road, to facilitate phase two of my goal for 2003. That is to open a small warehouse, ( Some Public Warehousing (maybe), Contract Warehousing, Overflow Warehousing, and In-house Transportation) are some of the things we plan to offer. I hope to have enough room to offer, Pickup and Delivery Services to other Expediting Companies who need a place to drop a load for a short time or for drivers to meet and switch out.

All in all 2002 is proof to myself that dreams do come true. Looking back at my original business plan my biggest achievement at that time was to service one account and only have one driver, myself. After I reached that goal and at the end of 2001 an upgrading of that same plan was to increase the business by 50%, for 2002, and I've increased it 200%. Hindsight always did let me see that when I set my mind to wanting to do something, it could be done. I also! Know my limitations. I still have that fear of getting to big to fast. As long as I don't set my dreams out of reach I will be okay. Hmmmmmmmmmm! and if I don't reach it this year, WELLLLLLLLLLL!!! there is always 2004. Happy Holidays!!!!!