Give me some numbers!!!!please!

[OntarioVanMan]

Thank You Pjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj......

Ya know if it weren't for my experience, don't really know if I'd be still in this biz....and I'll be betting some of the long timers in here...the experience we have garners a couple extra loads a month...An advantage a newbee won't have for awhile...The learning curve always takes a turn thru the wallet. Those extra loads really make a difference in these tight times.

Please be careful....with your decision...But as always it's your choice....and IF you do decide to jump into the pool,,,
Welcome and Good Luck!

BTW Eddie...I think we are learning off each other...and thanks for the tips You can never have enough tips..

 

[MentalGiant]

Just a quick note. I have talked with MISSBUDDY husband and talked about what has been going on out here in the industry and what they expect. Also, talked about their personal fiances. Not saying I'm a expert, but my wife and I have experienced the lows and highs in expediting, letting our house go etc. Talked with them about all of it and tried to give them the knowledge what could happen, what to look out for and from what I heard from him, they would do alright out here if they do the loads and get paid for it. There is a lot more I could say what we talked about why they choose to do this, but that is all personal and not my place to divulge that information on a open board.

 

[davekc]

The real truth is that even back 12 years ago when we were with Roberts Express now FedEx CC you would get or give the same old song and dance, how bad business is. Nobody wants the compitition, for every new truck thats one less load for you. Dont let the crying change your mind on something you want to do. Nobody will tell you the truth about there numbers unless they want to brag about some big bucks they made on a load. I have made a good living at this and paid off my trucks and my house and my Motorcycle so what else is there. If you want to do it and are willing to work at it for 3to 5 weeks at a time you will do alright. Do not listen to anyone, because they will still not give you the truth. An old driver once told me to not get mad about something someone said because the only person thats upset is you, and they dont care oneway or the other. JUST GET IN THERE AND DO YOUR LOADS.

Since I was there 12 years ago, I think part of what you say is true, but a little reckless with "Just get in there and do you loads"
A little more to it than that. Today you are running at similar rates, higher operating costs, with a depressed economy and a whole lot more competition. Circumstances 12 years ago, are not the same as they are now for many. Even the customer base is totally different than it was then.
Can you make money at this. Absolutely.
Can you lose your shirt? Absolutely.
The question is, when is it the best time? Depends on the experience, financial factors, and what one is willing to sacrifice in order to become successful.
If you have minimal financial obligations, a reasonable nest egg, (living expenses for 8 to 12 months) you may be a candidate for a fleet position. If you are buying a truck, then a minimum of the above, 10k in reserves for the truck and a small truck payment.
You will find that the most successful out here either have very low overhead, or their equipment is paid down or paid off.
Make sure you are looking at ALL of the information, and not just the "rose colored" emotional parts.

 

[NightRanger]

Thanks to all for being honest with your opinions. I figured the newbie forum is for us newbies to seek advice and ask questions and I appreciate all advise. Special thanks to xteam and strling09 for postive but truthful advice.

 

[MISSBUDDY]

Just a quick note. I have talked with MISSBUDDY husband and talked about what has been going on out here in the industry and what they expect. Also, talked about their personal fiances. Not saying I'm a expert, but my wife and I have experienced the lows and highs in expediting, letting our house go etc. Talked with them about all of it and tried to give them the knowledge what could happen, what to look out for and from what I heard from him, they would do alright out here if they do the loads and get paid for it. There is a lot more I could say what we talked about why they choose to do this, but that is all personal and not my place to divulge that information on a open board.

MentalGiant.....Thanks, Yes you have talked to my Husband and have given him lots of real info on this business....We aren't jumping into this and maybe we won't......The only payment we have is our Dodge Ram truck, which we really love, we could probaly make it in trucking but don't want to take any chances and be sorry later.....For now, we are just staying put where we are........We read these forums daily......even if we never go into trucking the forums are super interesting......Thanks again....MISSBUDDY

 

[mjolnir131]

Turtle beat me too it.....

Thats truthful? Why ? Because thats what you want to hear...
I think he's bucking to be a recruiter!

It's truthful when you realize they are referring to the last 12 years and what it was like then! It's not accurate for whats happening today!

What is particularly bad i think is that when it's told what it's like on the forum and people think it's all negative,It's not most of the time the person telling it is presenting it as optimistic light as possible.

REMEMBER: Past performance is not indicative of future ones!

 

[highway star]

Nobody wants the compitition, for every new truck thats one less load for you.

That's ridiculous. It just doesn't work that way.

O.K. Nightranger, you want numbers. I'm gonna throw myself under the bus here. My fellow EOers may want to throw me a benefit after this. I'd like the Rolling Stones to play and have it catered by Famous Daves.

O.K., here goes... I grossed $14,573.74 for the first quarter. In good times, I've done that well, even a little better, in a month.

I'm gonna go cry now...

 

[Strling09]

It's truthful when you realize they are referring to the last 12 years and what it was like then! It's not accurate for whats happening today!

What is particularly bad i think is that when it's told what it's like on the forum and people think it's all negative,It's not most of the time the person telling it is presenting it as optimistic light as possible.

REMEMBER: Past performance is not indicative of future ones!

Thats right, you guys are so smart. !2 years ago there was half the expiditers out there and all everyone did then was whine about sitting in a truck stop then. Fuel was cheap the rates were really cheap and the loads were up and down just like today. All I'm saying is you or most of you on here would B--ch if you were hung with a new rope. All I was saying about the loads is take anything you can, its the experiance of the load is how you learn, not from some disgruntled driver thats mad because he or she had a bad day. It was good for me then and is still good for me now 12 yaers later. An No I don't want to be a recruiter, I have a problem with authority. And its to bad it sounds like you all talked them out of it anyway. So whats does it matter what this old man had to say but the truth. For every new truck is one less load for you all not me because I dont care. its just a job. E2475

 

[ebsprintin]

Here are some specific numbers I can give you.

Twelve. The number of positive, non-disgruntled drivers that have given good, usable advice on this thread.

One. The number of companies that were not putting on new cargo vans when I started running my van in 07. One is also the number of companies that in 09 will bring on a new cargo van. Cargo vans may operate differently than the big trucks, but picture them as the little pidgeons that are lowered into the well.

eb

 

[luvtheroad]

well i dont have a problem with giving you Real numbers

AVG per day feb & march 575 miles per day
this is 7 days a week AVG.
sorry as a team (co-driver had to go)

i am now running SOLO (he just left) and looking for a C0-driver

I've been talking to the recruiter from a big company, who will pass my info along to a fleet owner. Having been in the trucking industry, my first question was, " how many miles are your drivers averaging a week" his response was about 2,000 miles a week for teams. Some are getting more. But, you know with this economy...

 

[pelicn]

Luvtheroad, If you're looking at expediting, it's not the "miles per week" that matters. Expediters work smarter not harder when it comes to hauling freight.
You could run your butt off and not make as much as the guy that picks and chooses which runs to haul. It's about the rate not the miles

 

[greg334]

Just more rambling....

I keep seeing one thing, having money on hand that will hold you over the hard times.

The problem I am seeing with this is when do you say "it's not working, got to get out?"

If you are having three months of bad times (and some of us do) while that savings is dwindling to a lower than expected level, than it may be time to sell the truck and get a 9 to 5.

On the other hand if you have a 9 to 5, and want to get into this business right now, ask yourself will you be happy if it does not work out?

pelicn also pointed out something that I keep forget to mention in my ramblings, you don't look at the week but the month to gauge how well you are doing. But you do keep in mind the money you spend and the money you make. Some weeks (like last week for me) I made enough to cover half of my bills and it is the first week of the month, but I expect next week to be slow, so I don't get upset if I only get seven runs next week - it all adds up.

 

[gotta go]

Just more rambling....
I don't get upset if I only get seven runs next week - it all adds up.

That's okay Greg, I'll help you out and do those other runs you can't fit in

 

[BillChaffey]

As Pelicn said,
it's not the miles it's the rate. It's been said here many times take the loads that pay, not a load for the sake of a load. Also I don't believe most posters say "Stay away" because of competition, most are trying to save you a financial whipping.

 

[luvtheroad]

That thread title is mine, but thanks for the info. Figuring miles by the week comes from truckload mentality. Just keep the info coming, I've picked up several good things already. Thanks

 

[luvtheroad]

sorry I mean it is not mine, cant type sometimes LOL

 

[greg334]

The thing I forgot to mention is that a lot of these 'expediters' want to always get high paying loads - which is great in better times but you have to take the bad with the good and if one run is near your brake even point and the next one is three times more, well it all adds up.

 

[Turtle]

"It's about the rate not the miles"

Is it? I drive a van. I get paid $0.77 per mile. I get the same rate for a 400 mile week as I do for 2000 mile week. I can run all kinds of smart, but more miles is still gonna equal more revenue when the rate is the same. People can turn it around and say don't talk about miles, it's about the revenue, it's about the rate, but for many expediters, especially those on per-mile contracts where the rate isn't a factor, where the rate is always the same, there's nothing wrong with talking in terms of miles per week, since it's exactly the same as talking revenue per week.

When you change the conditions and start throwing in reduced rate loads or loads that pay more than the contracted rate per mile, or those running on a percentage of the load rather than a rate per mile, then miles don't necessarily equal revenue. But for most expediters, less miles usually, more often than not, means less revenue, and more miles usually, more often than not, means more revenue.

 

[pjjjjj]

That is so true. One can boast until nobody will listen any more, about getting $5/mile, but if they only got 300 miles for the month, it isn't looking so hot. And no one is to say those 300 miles didn't come with 150 deadhead miles attached. At least if you're running piles of miles, you can maybe afford to take a hit here and there with some deadhead.
We can all say what our cost per mile is to run, but that cost increases substantially if not enough miles are paid. Even if one is making just a little profit per mile these days, more miles equals more of that little profit.
Not advocating 'cheap freight' by any means, but ya, gimme the miles!!!!!

 

[bryan]

Hi

Sorry to hear that Highway Star.We use to make that in a van.I miss the road but I don't think I'll be coming back anytime soon.
Something that newbees need to understand is that shippers don't want to use expedited services.Its expensive even if the rate per mile is the same as their regular carrier. A 53 foot trailor hauls 40 skids at a cost of $300.00. Say you put 2 skids on a van at a cost of $300.00 the shipper still needs to ship the remaining 38 skids on the 53 footer so now it cost the shipper $600.00. Get this, it cost the same or more if you use 2- 24 foot straight trucks.
If you have a job that puts food on the table and keeps a roof over your head be thankfull because everday fewer and fewer people have that luxurery.The place where I work has been in business since 1880 and never had a layoff, the week of Thanksgiving they laid off 40 people out of 150 and fired 5.Thats 30% of their entire work force.
Sure if I was out of work and have some free money laying around like $5,000.00 I get back into the business as a driver for fleet owner but thats just because Im already addicted to the business.And I already know some of the scams and who some of the scam artist are.
My son gave me the best advise I have ever heard about these financial time "Take baby steps.You didn't get into this mess over night and your not going to get out of it over night"