Is it really that slow

snipervictim · Sep 8, 2005

Hi I drive a 3/4 ton van for a carrier called tst in canada i am not for there ,but i live in mich and they are in windsor and they are my first contract.I need to know from you guys is it as slow as they say or is it just me being a noob newb whatever.1 i dont call them i wait for them to call me is this wrong ?
2.seems like everytime i call they seem to find loads but like i say they say its slow .
3.when i do run its a 140 mile run at the most and i do get a return ,but it takes at least 24 hoursand yes its to cananda.
4.They say it just a slow period and I should take whatever i can get.
Now i know for a fact they add new drivers every week and I was one of them that didnt know just how low a company would go to get a person to get into dept and buy a van just to sit .I am thinking of going to another carrier but i need to know if I am doing something wrong i mean should i call everyday should i take everything they give me even though i have never turned down a load till today.

I read what you guys say and i have talked to other drivers in tst and i see most of the guys working are always working .
HELP!
:'(

Pilgrim · Sep 8, 2005

No, it's not that slow. Most of their business involves automotive freight going to or from the Midwestern US and Canada. They have contracts with Ford Powertrain and Transfreight (Toyota Canada) that force them to keep their equipment in MI,OH,IN or go back and forth from Canada. They always have been, and always will be a Canadian carrier first that services a limited area of the US with rare exceptions.

highway star · Sep 8, 2005

I started my expediting career with them 12/98. I stayed with them until 9/99. They had too many vans then and they still do. I'm very busy right now, and many here also seem too be. Your story is very much like what I went through with them.

TJ959 · Sep 9, 2005

I started out as an owner operator for TST. In this business I've been lied to and cheated and stepped on but TST never did anything like that to me. Problem is I enjoyed working for the liars and cheats more than I enjoyed working for TST.

TJ959 · Sep 9, 2005

Sorry did'nt mean to be that negative. I'd try to get hooked up with TST air as much as I could. That division of the company is easier to get along with.

Tennesseahawk · Sep 9, 2005

Read your first sentence again. That tells you right there why it's slow. I have never heard so many ppl talk about how bad it is, and 90% of those ppl are van drivers. Face it... there are too many vans on. Fact is, the only grass that's greener for a van driver is to get a straight truck. From what I've heard from TST straight truck o/os, they're doing quite well.

bigguy1001 · Sep 9, 2005

>Read your first sentence again. That tells you right there
>why it's slow. I have never heard so many ppl talk about how
>bad it is, and 90% of those ppl are van drivers. Face it...
>there are too many vans on. Fact is, the only grass that's
>greener for a van driver is to get a straight truck. From
>what I've heard from TST straight truck o/os, they're doing
>quite well.

Well said Tenneseehawk!! Having trouble making a decent living in a van? Get a Straight Truck!! I have noticed that the size of your net income is directly proportional to the size of the truck you drive. Want bigger bucks? You can figure the rest.....
P.S. Filling out a log book and crossing a scale is probably not going to kill you. At least not quickly.

kg · Sep 9, 2005

This time of year if you can'nt make money in ANY size truck you should probably think of finding a different line of work.

This is the so- called prosperous time of the year when all things being equal you should be able to position yourself to keep busy.

However expediting is a business and just that.There are no guarantees of making money and plenty of pitfalls as in any business.

BEST OF LUCK OUT THERE

Just my opinion