Is straight truck expediting worth the time?

[nightthrasher]

Night Thrasher
My wife and I are thinking about changing careers into straight truck expediting. We would like to know if this is worth the time of being on the road and away from our family. Are the loads available? Are there too many straight trucks already? Is the money there? We understand that this is a business, and providing we do everything right, is it really worth it? What about the future? (economy, Mexican trucking, etc.) We would appreciate any and all opinions,,,
Thanks,

 

[x06col]

Changing careers from What?

Away from (what) family?

What does (worth it) mean to you?

If you want some info, splain a bit.

 

[nightthrasher]

Is the money worth the time? As opposed to say an hourly, punch the clock manufacturing job at, for ex. $12 an hour + OT. Lets say we were bringin in $40,000.00 a year at home, would we be able to make more than that on average on the road?
Night Thrasher

 

[nightthrasher]

Thanks for the input, I think I can understand what you mean. As long as we know the loads ARE out there to get, I think we should do just fine. We have both been in small business management and know it takes diligence, but we wanted to make sure that there enough loads out there to make more than $40,000 as a team working for a fleet owner.
Night Thrasher

 

[greg334]

The short answer is no.

 

[x06col]

If you are looking for bucks only, the loads will not ALWAYS be there. Pucker factor WILL be high, versus punching the clock, being on the dole. Family? Puppies or what? Makes a difference.

 

[TeamCaffee]

There are a lot of people out here making a living doing this business and having a great time while at it. Spend time on here reading. If possible when you see an expediter spend time with them and get many views of many companies. If possible attend a workshop or the Louisville truck show in March. Get all the info you possibly can and you will make a wise decision for the situation you are in.

 

[nightthrasher]

We don't have small kids at home, but we do have a 4 mo. old grandson just a few miles away. Don't want to only be able to see him once a year trying to make this work. On the other hand, like I said, we are tired of punching a clock and working for someone else. We both love to travel, and I don't think "on the road" life would be to difficult at all. I realize this is a business that we would run, but would we still be able to take a little time to visit the fam once in a while and still make a decent living?

 

[nightthrasher]

Well, I thank you all for the info. We will keep checking this and hopefully reach a sound decision. Maybe type to all later,,,,
Good night.

 

[TeamCaffee]

As you know with running a business the business dictates what you can and cannot do. If you go to work for an owner they will also dictate to you on when you can take home time and when you cannot. Since you are not from the field of trucking it might be in your best interest to really look at driving someone else's truck. Do a lot of research in this area also when looking for an owner.

This a great business for second career people.

 

[x06col]

So, you are middle aged +, no puppies, however, a grandchild, maybe more on the way. When the others arrive how many more couple times a year off the road will surface? Maybe you should PM the Caffees.

 

[TeamCaffee]

x06col

What makes you think they should PM us not that I mind if then do? They I am sure are not the only ones reading the forums and wondering if they can make it out here. They and everyone else needs to see all sides of the story. In any field something can go terrible wrong and you have to start over doing something different. We are in a very volatile and also a high risk business where in one second you can have that dreaded accident and everything you have worked for goes down the drain. This is not a field for the feint of heart. You either love it or you hate it but it is a life style not a job.

x06col

I don't know about you but the rest of us still have families at home and another life besides driving the truck. The trick is to learn to balance the two. If you cannot stay out here for a month, six weeks are longer then nope this is not the field for you. But if you think a grandchild or two will keep you off the road then most everyone needs to sell their truck and end a success full career!

 

[cheri1122]

No one can answer the question "Is it worth it?" except the person asking the question. For those who couldn't make it work, for whatever reason, it wasn't worth it. For those of us who are making it work, for however much longer we continue to make it work, it is worth it. But how can anyone else know how it'll work for you?

 

[ATeam]

Nightthrasher,

If you have not already done so, see "Introduction to Expediting" at:

http://www.expeditersonline.com/downloads/introduction.pdf

You have already discovered the Open Forum, which is a good step. Keep reading. Read at least one year's worth of posts to get a sense of what people do, don't do, care about and don't care about in this business.

Comparing expediting to a clock punching job and asking if it is worth the time is like comparing apples and oranges. Expediting is so different from a "real" job that there is no real way to compare the two. Among successful expediters who left traditional jobs, the comparison usually ends when they talk about how glad they are to be out of the office and on the road.

As you read the Forums, you will see that many people that get into expediting do not do as well as they hoped. You said, "As long as we know the loads ARE out there to get, I think we should do just fine."

That statement raises a red flag for me. Before you take it for granted that the loads will be there, note that virtually every expediter out there today will tell you they may not be there. Even in good times, people wait for loads, and there is not much in today's transportation industry news to suggest that good times are ahead.

Financial reserves are important to maintain for when the freight is not there. Think about those too.

 

[greg334]

Nightthrasher,
As my learned colleague has said, there is a red flag in the thread that raises one issue that is not really explored or explained to my satisfaction. yes there are loads out there but unless you are independent (meaning you are not connected with any one carrier), you can not really pick and choose those loads for yourself. Which in simpler terms you are at the mercy of the capibities of the company that you choose to contract to.

Also not mentioned is the true meaning behind a comparison of making $40K with a truck to being employed. I would venture to guess no one of the 'sucessful' crowd will actually sit down and go through actual numbers with you and allow you to compare them to your present position - which is important.

AND being truthful, the word success is relevant to the person, not to be mistaken with actual success base on normal businesses. I mean that I am successful by my standards as others would be by theirs. This is a stop gap job to me to pay bills, I will never be rich off of it or even end up making more than 80K. It provides money to the household income that is needed and that's about it. It is very enjoyable at the same time a rather poor way of working if you take in account the life style on the road and the dangers we all face.

As an income replacement, I am starting to say if you want to do that with this and be able to actually come into it right now with the investment needed and such, I would recommend that you closely examine everything, take in account that you will become a contractor and pay for more professional tax and legal advice which you may end up making less money in the long run with the changing times of reduced rates, higher fuel prices and an uncertain economy.

 

[x06col]

Didn't mean to put the monkey on the Caffees back, but, you it appears are a successful hw team that should be able to pick the pepper from the fly poo pretty quickly with some well placed questions. Something I can't, one revelation at a time.

 

[ExpeditersWife]

Straight truck expediting can be worth the time...there can be good money in it..whether you want to be a company driver or an owner operator for a company...just make sure it isn't for a company like the one my husband used to work for...

*No per diem..regardless of how long you sit.

*No downtime pay *sitting for a week at a time with no pay and no runs in some God forsaken place*

*Being told by the company/dispatchers to fudge your log books on a daily basis.(refer to the next one as to why I said this)

*Being sent on a run that has to be delivered in an unreasonable amount of time..which would interfere with your required sleep/downtime with total disregard for your safety AND the law!

*Refusing to allow you to go home for a death in the family, especially if it happens during a holiday weekend and dispatch says to you over the phone "Think about it this way, they can't do anything with the body till Monday"

For all these reasons and more... are the reasons my husband no longer does straight truck expediting.

This is just my point of view from my husband's own experience..

I hope other drivers can give you more input different than my own to better help you make that decision. Good Luck.

 

[TeamCaffee]

pick the pepper from the fly poo pretty quickly ?

Now that is funny!

 

[flatbedin]

Sometimes I wander who's the pepper, and who's the poo??

 

[unorthodoxneon]

I think it is reasonable to be able to clear 40K as a team. Me ang the g/f last we knew cleared about 37K as of the beginning of october. We ran pretty hard but toward the end started to fall apart with alot of things. The job is very stressful, although everyone i talk to says differently. Being home when you want to is like saying your going to get struck by lightning, it could happen but your chances are tight. In a years time me and my girlfriend have seen and done alot on the road. We havent been to ALASKA, HAWAII, NORTH DAKOTA, and most of canada. The states that i have been to i have been there more then once. Heck i've been lucky and got loads out of Montana!!! Recently things have been hectic and i'm running solo and the girlfriend has moved to Iowa to start a "9-5" job. I will be following come spring/summer in my move to iowa to start my "9-5". Mostly because i like to know that when friday comes money will be in the bank. That hopfuly what career we pick will offer us health benifits and such. Knowing that afterwork there will be a good meal waiting for me, friends to hang out with, and activities that i can do and that i enjoy very much that the trucker life takes away/restrics. You have to look at it this way and please dont take any of this as i'm bashing this but only making people open their eyes. Take what you do everyday, what you do on the weekends, what you do with friends and family. Now think about only being able to do that for only a couple days a month. Most time time fleets will offer a day off for every week your out. When i come home i have 50 things to do on my list and those things hardly get done. I run around and spend alittle bit of time with friends and family. I hardly do any of my activities that i love to do. The trucker life wasnt cut out for me. I couldnt live in a 7 foot box. Like i said plese dont think i'm putting down driving. I know when i get off the road i'm going to miss being able to see my family down in Austin, TX. I'm going to miss friends i know in San Diego, CA. I'm also going to miss the sights of the road, the not knowing where your going to be tommarow. The Whataburgers and IN N' OUT and other food places. I'm going to miss all the lousy drivers out there, especially in OHIO, oh wait, nevermind no i won't. :+

Last and maybe the most important aspect out here. Look at everything with a positive attitude, dont let dispatch, shippers, or fellow drivers get to you. Also always try to do what you can to be better then the next guy. Take what ever classes they have to offer. Try to be apart of any division of the company that makes you better then the next guy. Be elite, be white glove, get government clearance, get your hazmat. If you can find a fleet owner that has liftgates or reefer and pads and straps and all that other specialty stuff your already better then alot of the fleet out there and that makes you available for loads that others cant. I'm 22 years old, i was apart of the elite section of panther, i have my hazmat, i am government cleared (but not able to run it anymore) and able to goto canada. Let me tell you this, i have been put down, i've delt with other drivers giving me crap aswell as shippers and others because of my age and such, but you know what? I shrugged it off, i didnt let it get to me and i did my job to the best of my ability and i tell you what. Not one person out there can give me bad name, you can talk to people at panther that know me and know i'm hard working and dedicated and that means alot to me.


Wow, thats probably the longest post i've ever done. Hopefuly you can find any usefulness in my ramblings. :+