Hello everyone.This is my first post.I have been reading,gathering information and educating myself on these forums for about one year now.The wife and I are looking to change careers in the future.I am currently in the process of developing business plans for D unit and E unit operations.My questions are to the husband and wife teams. What were the main reasons in choosing the type of unit you operate and the type of work you preform. Be it C/D unit dry box,T-val,lift gate or E unit dry box,T-val,flatbed,or step deck etc.And what you may have done differently?Thanks.
first post
- Thread starter 61glide
- Start date
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
Im not H/W team but let me worn you right off the bat,this is not a good time to start in the expedite business.If you are serious though,and are TT qualified,I suggest a Tractor,as you have more options to stay busy.Second,you will do as well pulling company dry box as you would your own TVAL trailer.Flatbed in expedite is to spotty,you want to pull dry box and you can do flatbed part time if you carry the equipment and are flatbed qulified.The reefer work is very seasonal, and because of weight will miss out on a lot of opertunities
inkasnana
Expert Expediter
My husband and I decided on a straight truck because neither one of us was comfortable with the thought of driving a T/T unit. My husband had previous experience in the Army with straight type truck driving, but the only experience I had was sharing the driving of a 24' Ryder rental truck from AZ to MI. 
We drive for a fleet owner because we were/are not financially prepared to become truck owners ourselves. It is an option that we may consider in the future, and we discuss the idea now and then, but have not made any decisions or plans for that at this time.
For now, especially with as slow as the freight is, we are happy to let the fleet owner have all of the financial responsibility of the truck. We aren't getting rich right now, but we are making ends meet and are grateful to at least be able to say we have a "job".
We drive for a fleet owner because we were/are not financially prepared to become truck owners ourselves. It is an option that we may consider in the future, and we discuss the idea now and then, but have not made any decisions or plans for that at this time.
For now, especially with as slow as the freight is, we are happy to let the fleet owner have all of the financial responsibility of the truck. We aren't getting rich right now, but we are making ends meet and are grateful to at least be able to say we have a "job".
We run a straight truck. We did not think we would be comforable with a T/T. We are a White Glove, TVAL and everything else truck. Our reefer seems to keep us running most of the time. Since the beginning of the year the majority of our loads have been reefer loads. It was the same story last year, at least till the end of Oct when we went down for replacement of our cargo box. Take your time, it is a bit slow right now anyway. We studied this for 6 months before we moved in. I suggest you run for an owner for at least a year, two would be better. Where are you located at? Welcome to E.O., this is a great place to learn. Layoutshooter
I appreciate the replies from everyone.We are taking our time,no hurry whatsoever.Working with an owner for two years is a priority in our plan.We are located in south central Indiana. Layoutshooter,what type of freight are the reefer loads? and do they tend to be in certain areas more than others? Thanks.
mypie
Seasoned Expediter
Hi 61Glide and welcome,
My husband and I drive a S/T for an owner (large owner). We started last March as a standard surface expedite - and we were barely making ends meet. In June we got a brand new truck and went to WG training - and right away our income got way better. In Sept. we went to TVal and now we don't want to run anything else. I can't really tell you what it is we run - if I did I would have to kill you. And, it is sometimes a hard learned lesson to learn where to sit to get the "hot" loads - and that would make you my business competitor - so I won't share that either.
I can tell you that expediting isn't for everyone. You have to be willing to drive thru fog, snow, sleet, rain, tornados, night, and sometimes all of this at the same time in the mountains. You also have to be able to trust your partner to drive thru all that while you're sleeping - huge trust issue! You have to be able to sleep on a bumpy road, during the day - harder than you think. You have to be willing to pee in a jar in a moving truck, and only stop with your newspaper when it is absolutely necessary - and there is no going on to the next rest area because the bathrooms in there are just too icky. You have to go without daily showers, sometimes 5 days! Sometimes, skipping meals. It all takes a lot of getting used to. This is why I suggest that you go to work with a fleet owner before investing in a truck. Al biet, in the current market you may find some good deals on some expediter trucks. But, that is just another indication that not everyone makes it in this business.
The first 3 months, my husband and I were screaming at each other - and we never, never ever fight. We finally made a pact to just shut up about each others driving abilities or should I say disabilities. That's OK - he got better (but so slow it puts me to sleep), but I can still see him grabbing for the hand bars and hitting the imaginary break while I'm driving! Sometimes I freak him out on purpose just to mess with him!
What Expediting is to us is . . . Freedom. We have gone places and done things that we never had time to while we were tied to our 9-5. We were in the corporate world for a lot of years and I would never go back to that, never. We never accept loads that just don't go where we want or don't pay enough and even with a 60/40 split we are doing better than we were on our J.O.B.S. You might have a hard time getting home - it took the longest time for us to find a regular run home. But, we don't need to go home more than once a month to check the mail, mow the grass and relax a while. But, soon we a nipping at the bit to get on the road again.
What ever you decide - have fun. It is a wonderful life!
My husband and I drive a S/T for an owner (large owner). We started last March as a standard surface expedite - and we were barely making ends meet. In June we got a brand new truck and went to WG training - and right away our income got way better. In Sept. we went to TVal and now we don't want to run anything else. I can't really tell you what it is we run - if I did I would have to kill you. And, it is sometimes a hard learned lesson to learn where to sit to get the "hot" loads - and that would make you my business competitor - so I won't share that either.
I can tell you that expediting isn't for everyone. You have to be willing to drive thru fog, snow, sleet, rain, tornados, night, and sometimes all of this at the same time in the mountains. You also have to be able to trust your partner to drive thru all that while you're sleeping - huge trust issue! You have to be able to sleep on a bumpy road, during the day - harder than you think. You have to be willing to pee in a jar in a moving truck, and only stop with your newspaper when it is absolutely necessary - and there is no going on to the next rest area because the bathrooms in there are just too icky. You have to go without daily showers, sometimes 5 days! Sometimes, skipping meals. It all takes a lot of getting used to. This is why I suggest that you go to work with a fleet owner before investing in a truck. Al biet, in the current market you may find some good deals on some expediter trucks. But, that is just another indication that not everyone makes it in this business.
The first 3 months, my husband and I were screaming at each other - and we never, never ever fight. We finally made a pact to just shut up about each others driving abilities or should I say disabilities. That's OK - he got better (but so slow it puts me to sleep), but I can still see him grabbing for the hand bars and hitting the imaginary break while I'm driving!
Sometimes I freak him out on purpose just to mess with him! What Expediting is to us is . . . Freedom. We have gone places and done things that we never had time to while we were tied to our 9-5. We were in the corporate world for a lot of years and I would never go back to that, never. We never accept loads that just don't go where we want or don't pay enough and even with a 60/40 split we are doing better than we were on our J.O.B.S. You might have a hard time getting home - it took the longest time for us to find a regular run home. But, we don't need to go home more than once a month to check the mail, mow the grass and relax a while. But, soon we a nipping at the bit to get on the road again.
What ever you decide - have fun. It is a wonderful life!
XTeam
Seasoned Expediter
Mypie,
Like your post, sounds like my husband and I. We also started in March of last year and followed your advancement route. You explained the good, bad, ugly and good again. We feel as you do, we love this "job" and make the best of it. Having been in the professional world, we would never exchange this expedite lifestyle to go back to working with the same people within four walls again. This lifestyle has its high and low parts but if you are positive, flexable, creative and plan activities both in the truck and places to visit within your express center layover time, you can enjoy your life. It's good to hear that others love this lifestyle that they have chosen! Linda
Like your post, sounds like my husband and I. We also started in March of last year and followed your advancement route. You explained the good, bad, ugly and good again. We feel as you do, we love this "job" and make the best of it. Having been in the professional world, we would never exchange this expedite lifestyle to go back to working with the same people within four walls again. This lifestyle has its high and low parts but if you are positive, flexable, creative and plan activities both in the truck and places to visit within your express center layover time, you can enjoy your life. It's good to hear that others love this lifestyle that they have chosen! Linda
mypie
Seasoned Expediter
Thanks Linda. It is also good to hear that others share my views.
From the woman's point-of-view, this is not a lifestyle for a girly girl. If you need to get your nails done - forget it! If you need to get your hair done - forget it! If you are a shopper and like shopping at places other than WalMart - that won't happen very often. But, if you are an adventure seeker, you can make everyday a new adventure in a new location with your best friend. If you spend a lot of time fighting with your husband, know that you are living in a 10 x 10 box 24/7/365 - there are no places to hide to cool off. This is probably not a lifestyle for you.
That is the truth.
Mypie
From the woman's point-of-view, this is not a lifestyle for a girly girl. If you need to get your nails done - forget it! If you need to get your hair done - forget it! If you are a shopper and like shopping at places other than WalMart - that won't happen very often. But, if you are an adventure seeker, you can make everyday a new adventure in a new location with your best friend. If you spend a lot of time fighting with your husband, know that you are living in a 10 x 10 box 24/7/365 - there are no places to hide to cool off. This is probably not a lifestyle for you.
That is the truth.
Mypie
If you are in south central Indiana you may want to attend MATS this week .
2009 Exhibitor Search : Mid-America Trucking Show : March 19-21, 2009
Interesting . Enter expediting as a category and FedEx Custom Critical isn't listed but enter it as a company and it's location will show up .
Last edited:
Mypie's post was excellent, but I have to comment on two things.
First, the 'girly girl' issue: I can't do it, (and wouldn't anyway, cause it's not my style), but I know more than one female driver who manages to keep up with the manicures and styling, so it can be done.
Second, not only must you feel comfortable with driving in all kinds of adverse weather, you have to know when to pull off the road - safety is more important than any other aspect of the job. Good luck to you.
First, the 'girly girl' issue: I can't do it, (and wouldn't anyway, cause it's not my style), but I know more than one female driver who manages to keep up with the manicures and styling, so it can be done.
Second, not only must you feel comfortable with driving in all kinds of adverse weather, you have to know when to pull off the road - safety is more important than any other aspect of the job. Good luck to you.
When we began researching the industry, and having never driven trucks before, we were not drawn toward E-units for the following reasons:
- Class A licenses are required and more difficult to obtain (though one can easily get one if you set out to do so).
- Our carrier of choice requires E-unit experience. That would have forced us into an entry level line haul company to get the experience. We would have been separated and put in different trucks with trainers for a time. No thank you.
- We wanted to get into expediting partly to see the country, not the country's truck stops where E-units mostly park. Dropping a trailer and bobtailing someplace did not sit well with us because of worries about the unattended trailer.
Mobility advantages drew us toward straight trucks such that:
- We can drive and park in many places an E-unit cannot.
- We can go to an RV park with the truck to relax, shower, do laundry, etc.
- More tourist attractions are open to us in the truck because we can park anywhere an RV can park.
- More that does not come to mind at the moment.
Having made the straight-truck decision, we were then drawn to FedEx Custom Critical White Glove work for the interesting freight it involves, professionalism that is expected and money that can be made. We sought out WG fleet owners and drove their trucks for three years. We then moved into a truck of our own, the one we drive now.
If we had it to do again, we would build the identical truck. Changes that would be made on a do-over are too minor to mention. This truck is perfect for us. We love it as much today as when we first drove it in June, 2006. We hope to be still driving it years from now.
Financially, we know we could make more money in an ER-unit than in the CR-unit we drive now. But for the mobility reasons cited above, a straight truck is for us. We went CR instead of DR because CR has a smaller cargo box, which leaves room for a larger sleeper. We noticed no revenue decline when we moved from D to C trucks.
As you write your business plan, don't forget to consider the difference in tolls and taxes straight trucks and big rigs pay.
In a straight truck, we have not noticed reefer work to be seasonal. It seems pretty steady. Lately, nearly all of our loads have been reefer loads, and in these slow-freight times, we are darn glad to have 'em.
With you already reading the forums and developing ideas, take careful note of the economic downturn. Expediters of all types are reporting significantly reduced revenues. Those that are maintaining revenue levels are doing so at reduced profit margins or losses.
I say that if we had it to do over again, we would build the same truck. That is true if the revenue from back then were available today. We are darn glad that we built and paid off the truck when we did. Today, the money simply is not there to justify a truck like this. It may not be there to justify a new full-featured truck of any kind.
We saw the recession coming and prepared well. I wish I could say I see the end of it, but I don't. The indicators are pointing to more of the same. Those that quiver up a bit do not sustain their upward moves.
I'm not saying to stay out of expediting but if you jump in, you are jumping into a whole different game than we did in 2003.
Last edited:
mypie
Seasoned Expediter
First, the 'girly girl' issue: I can't do it, (and wouldn't anyway, cause it's not my style), but I know more than one female driver who manages to keep up with the manicures and styling, so it can be done.
Second, not only must you feel comfortable with driving in all kinds of adverse weather, you have to know when to pull off the road - safety is more important than any other aspect of the job. Good luck to you.
Cheri, I merely meant that it is more difficult to keep up with all of that, I do know others that somehow manage - I just can't imagine how.
That is a good point about "safety first", the general rule is . . . No load is so hot that it can't be cooled off in a ditch!
greg334
Veteran Expediter
You seem to have the patients in order to enter this business properly even under these times, it will get worst before it gets better and my suggestion is as follows.
Get a class A license, don’t worry about a class B to be a paid vacationer or anything like that. Focus on the license and the driving skills first; learn how to drive that tractor.
The reason I say this is I have helped a lot of people out in the past with driving skills and learning about trucks; many can barely handle the straight truck while others… well are very poor drivers. If you go through a proper driving course with proper instruction, then you can drive anything and your skills are proven by being able to handle the tractor trailer combo when it comes to gaining trust with an owner who is intrusting you with their property.
Take all the fluff away from your thinking; remove what some others have done to make it their goals to be a paid vacationer. Try to think about the business, take away the idea of targeting something like Tval (I think that is only a FedEx thing, maybe Panther is doing that now), don’t worry about lift gate services or what you want to drive a D or E truck.
Think what the right owner means to you with your goals in mind.
Think about your real goals, an exit strategy and learn how to be a good driver for the owner. AND most of all think about flexibility.
Think about how this will work out when something like FedEx folds Custom Critical into Supply Chain or Panther is bought up by express-1.
Times are getting hard for the carriers; some will be doing some more changes to hedge themselves against harder times while we have more competition entering this niche market. What was done four years ago by someone may never work again, what is talked about today may not be the case tomorrow.
Get a class A license, don’t worry about a class B to be a paid vacationer or anything like that. Focus on the license and the driving skills first; learn how to drive that tractor.
The reason I say this is I have helped a lot of people out in the past with driving skills and learning about trucks; many can barely handle the straight truck while others… well are very poor drivers. If you go through a proper driving course with proper instruction, then you can drive anything and your skills are proven by being able to handle the tractor trailer combo when it comes to gaining trust with an owner who is intrusting you with their property.
Take all the fluff away from your thinking; remove what some others have done to make it their goals to be a paid vacationer. Try to think about the business, take away the idea of targeting something like Tval (I think that is only a FedEx thing, maybe Panther is doing that now), don’t worry about lift gate services or what you want to drive a D or E truck.
Think what the right owner means to you with your goals in mind.
Think about your real goals, an exit strategy and learn how to be a good driver for the owner. AND most of all think about flexibility.
Think about how this will work out when something like FedEx folds Custom Critical into Supply Chain or Panther is bought up by express-1.
Times are getting hard for the carriers; some will be doing some more changes to hedge themselves against harder times while we have more competition entering this niche market. What was done four years ago by someone may never work again, what is talked about today may not be the case tomorrow.