Hopin' you're all doing well...

[panthercub]

Back at my old job after a very brief yet HIGHLY unsuccessful expediting career. I see some of you on the road and at the truckstops out in the midwest, and wonder how the winter months have been fr you. Not just if you're keeping busy, but staying warm as well. (supposed to be below zero again tonight in Chicago)

 

[ATeam]

Your willingness to characterize yourself as an unsuccessful expediter is refreshingly honest. With a bit of time now between you and your departure from expediting, do you have any advice to share with people who are thinking about getting into the industry?

To what do you attribute your unsuccess?

What would you do different if you had it to do again?

And, to answer your question, yes, we are staying warm, but it is taking a lot of generator hours or time at home to do it. This is the harshest winter we have seen since taking up life on the road. A couple of weeks of short runs in Florida would be most welcome.

 

[panthercub]

Well Phil, my biggest mistake was buying an unreliable vehicle. My 2004 Sprinter, which I bought used and then immediately went into expediting, has been nothing but a cash-suck. A mostly-Mercedes vehicle means expensive parts and repairs, and it has been the worst vehicle i've ever owned. Other than that, I think the best advice i could give is to know what you're getting into. Sure, I had a recruiter to talk to, but i didn't have a CLUE as to what to ask about. Then again, are recruiters going to point out any negative trends within their organization? Are drivers going to try to recruit people to their companies, lest they risk over populating already thin load boards? I WANTED to expedite, and no amount of negativity would have stopped me from trying it. I had to find out for myself what it was all about in order to realize whether or not to continue. I would never try to discourage someone else from doing it, but would also hope to allow them to make an INFORMED decision as to whether or not it is the right endeavor for them. Someday down the road, with a better vehicle and the knowledge I have now, yeah, I would consider trying it again. I would definitely do some things differently though.

 

[Jefferson3000]

Your willingness to characterize yourself as an unsuccessful expediter is refreshingly honest. With a bit of time now between you and your departure from expediting, do you have any advice to share with people who are thinking about getting into the industry?

To what do you attribute your unsuccess?

What would you do different if you had it to do again?

Well, everyone isn't cut out to do the same thing. People have different abilities. I certainly don't feel that everyone should be doing what I am doing. I was awful when it came to working in an office environment as an employee. I say stick to what your good at but also what you love and enjoy doing. Here's a great proverb:

A man's gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men. Pro 18:16

If you don't have a gift, you just need to join a union.........

 

[Moot]

panthercub, thank you for sharing your story. Not many are willing to post their failures. In hind sight would you have been better off driving for an owner for a short time to learn the ropes? It's hard to make money driving a van for someone else. But it would free you from van payments and maintenance bills while you were learning.

 

[mrgoodtude]

Panthercub sorry to hear of your misfortune and as everyone else has stated your honesty is refreshing and helpful to others..
Circumstances don't dictate ones "Peter principle" and am curious as to what you are doing now..
Did you get rid of the Sprinter?
Lemont seems like the ideal market for that type of vehicle.
Just a shot in the arm.
Regards
Mike

 

[RLENT]

Cub, sorry to hear things didn't work out for you. Wish you success in your current and future endeavors.

I consider that I've been doing pretty good - considering that it is January (my first in the expediting business) Last week wasn't so hot - I only had two loads - but it wasn't horrendous either. The week prior to that (my first week in service during the new year) I did my highest ever, both in term of paid miles and gross revenue (which was anything but gross ) This week so far has been pretty good - if I get a decent load today it will wind up being a pretty good week.

I'm currently sitting at the J in lovely Gretna, NE - the only expediter van in the lot. I saw one Fedex CC straight truck sitting in the back in the big truck lot - but they have rolled. Dispatch has already called me this morning with two load offers - one we didn't get apparently and I'm waiting to hear back on the second one now.

As far as keeping warm that's a timely question:

Wednesday I spent the night at the J in Waterloo, IA. While driving over to drop yesterday I was listening to the weather radio when they announced that Iowa had had record low temps - led apparently by Waterloo with a new record low of minus -26 degrees below zero:

Record lows to give way to near spring-like warmth in Iowa

Generally I wake up every morning very, very warm - sometimes sweating even - and that's with the Espar D2 heater (the smaller one) turned way down - to either 10% or it's lowest setting. Wednesday morning I woke and felt ...... well, slightly cool .... not cold mind you, just sorta cooler than usual. When I rolled out of the truck to go into the J I found why - it was dang chilly - the 75' to get over to the building pretty much sucked the breathe out of me.

I was pretty impressed - considering that I had the Espar set at only 10% on the dial. Perhaps the best money I've spent in quite awhile.

I picked up in Berlin, WI a few days ago and like to have froze my fingers off just handling my metal load bars to secure the freight ..... of course if I had bothered to put on my gloves that probably wouldn't have happened.

The only real problem I'm having is I haven't been able to find a way to work and do this job without getting out of the van

 

[Moot]

Randy I was two blocks away from you. I fueled at the Road Ranger about 17:00 Wednesday night. Came in and left from the north so I never went by the J.

 

[RLENT]

Dang !!!!

Funny about how paths can cross (or almost) in this business - even in as big a country as it is.

I was somewhere this past week ..... maybe the J in South Beloit ? ..... and there was a Panther Savanna that pulled in and parked a couple of spaces to the right and in front of me. I thought "Bygosh .... that looks like the Moot-mobile™" ...... I even got out and walked over to check the guy's rear plate 'cause I thought it looked like a MN plate from where I was sitting ..... it wasn't (don't recall what state ....) so I got back in the and hunkered down for the night.

Betcha that was a chilly fuel stop, eh ?

 

[panthercub]

Hi Mike;
I still have the Sprinter; the trade value is so low that I'd take a huge hit trying to get out of it. I'm hoping that the fewer miles will keep me from having another large repair.

I went back to my old job working for an international Indirect Air Carrier based out of Long Island. We are mostly courier drivers, using our own personal vehicles, so the Sprinter comes in handy. Most of the work is local, in and around O'Hare Airport. I have taken one long run, to London,Ontario (ironic, as Canada runs were part of my reason for hating my expediting experience) However, with this company, not only do I get .61/mile, as opposed to the .77 with the Cat, but ALL round trip miles are includesd, to London and back empty, PLUS I am an hourly driver at $15/hour. And the company pays the overnight accomodations, so no more sleeping in the van Granted, the 8 hour days driving back and forth to the airport are about as exciting as an insurance seminar, but it's obviously much more stable and predictable. Not as much fun as the traveling I got to do expediting though.

 

[panthercub]

panthercub, thank you for sharing your story. Not many are willing to post their failures. In hind sight would you have been better off driving for an owner for a short time to learn the ropes? It's hard to make money driving a van for someone else. But it would free you from van payments and maintenance bills while you were learning.

Hi Moot.

Another good question. My intention was to start out driving for an owner until I knew this was something I wanted to do for a living. I then talked to one, who told me he'd happily put me on, but not to expect to make much. He really made it sound like a losing proposition. The very next day I saw the used Sprinter online for what seemed to be a great price, so I jumped on it. Big mistake by me, not taking more time to check the thing over. Granted, the dealer and salesman lied, but that's still my fault for not knowing any better. All things considered though, I am STILL glad I failed as an owner, because I still believe that had I failed in someone else's van, I'd wonder if I should try it again in my own vehicle.

 

[skittles]

Hi Mike;
I still have the Sprinter; the trade value is so low that I'd take a huge hit trying to get out of it. I'm hoping that the fewer miles will keep me from having another large repair.

I went back to my old job working for an international Indirect Air Carrier based out of Long Island. We are mostly courier drivers, using our own personal vehicles, so the Sprinter comes in handy. Most of the work is local, in and around O'Hare Airport. I have taken one long run, to London,Ontario (ironic, as Canada runs were part of my reason for hating my expediting experience) However, with this company, not only do I get .61/mile, as opposed to the .77 with the Cat, but ALL round trip miles are includesd, to London and back empty, PLUS I am an hourly driver at $15/hour. And the company pays the overnight accomodations, so no more sleeping in the van Granted, the 8 hour days driving back and forth to the airport are about as exciting as an insurance seminar, but it's obviously much more stable and predictable. Not as much fun as the traveling I got to do expediting though.

Guess that is what I was getting at..
Airfreight is abundant in that area and I was going to suggest looking into Towne Airfreight as I believe they pay 68% of tariff and probably have alot of P&D..
But if you get .61 all miles plus $15 an hour with motels you will probably be ok..
Mike
BTW I am not skittles Jjust jumped on Cynthia's book for a minute