Nervous newbie

[BigStickJr]

You don’t need to know what a load pays if you are on flat rate.
As long as they pay you the agreed on flat rate, you have no beef.
YOU agreed to the flat rate.
Fedex tells you upfront that they do not pay you 100%,of the FSC. That’s legal. You agreed to it.
If you can’t be profitable, or feel you’re unhappy with your piece of the pie, it’s time to move on.
They understand that.
They’ll say goodbye and it’s time for “next man up.”

 

[BigStickJr]

There’s no law that says FSC has to be passed along.
Companies pay what they need to keep the fleet at an acceptable level.

 

[Boatcat]

Next Sucker up. Willing to put up with it, or not.

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[BigStickJr]

That’s alittle rough.
It must have felt right at the time, or you wouldn’t have gotten in that position.
It may be good for the next guy up.
Trucking is in a constant flux; always changing.
Some people can adjust.
If you can, you’ve got to decide, is it worth it ?
If you can’t, move on.
It depends on your options.

 

[Josh]

One problem, or question. .
How do we know what a load pays if we,ate leased to a company that pays a flat rate and keeps all the money above and beyond what they share with us owner operators, while still charging us for every possible penny in fees and not helping with the expense we incurred doing the job.
I have seen a fat cat owner and it never changes.
Fuel prices are going up Fast, they brag about how much the new fuel card is going to save us and I have yet to get a discount on Anything!
I wonder if some companies are charging a FSC and not passing it on...
How much are they making on that scam?
Egos and Greed!
Will it Ever change for the better?

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Not sure if I understand properly or if my lack of experiance can answer anything. My specific situation, I know what each load pays, I know what expeditors is getting paid for fuel, and I know how much they make off each load compared to what I'm walking away with. After a year or so (prolly longer), if I find expeditors is churning a decent profit off the mikes we drive, we'll buy our own truck. At this moment in time this is what works best for us. We can't afford the responsibility of owning our own equipment right now.

How does it work with everyone else? How do you guys get your loads? Do you know what the load pays total? Or do you just know what your cut is?

 

[BigStickJr]

Josh, at this point you really don’t need to worry about all that.
Just worry about doing what you’re doing, learning what works and doesn’t work.
If you’re not a good driver, you can’t be a good O/O.
Just because you’re a good driver that doesn’t mean you’ll be a good O/O.
You seem bright and up to the task.
You’re in a perfect position to learn, chart Income and expenses. In reality, that should be months, or years, down the road.
Just one man’s opinion.

 

[Ragman]

How does it work with everyone else? How do you guys get your loads? Do you know what the load pays total? Or do you just know what your cut is?

I couldn't care less what the load pays my owner.
I only care he pays me what him and i agree upon.

 

[Josh]

Josh, at this point you really don’t need to worry about all that.
Just worry about doing what you’re doing, learning what works and doesn’t work.
If you’re not a good driver, you can’t be a good O/O.
Just because you’re a good driver that doesn’t mean you’ll be a good O/O.
You seem bright and up to the task.
You’re in a perfect position to learn, chart Income and expenses. In reality, that should be months, or years, down the road.
Just one man’s opinion.

Completely agree. Right now, I have no ambition to own my own truck. My plans are exactly as you said. To become good at the job, and get a good understanding of what works and what doesn't, what chances we can afford to take, and what we cannot. My only issues with the job is the inconsistency of pay checks and other things that are out of our control (truck issues). But that all comes with the territory. Nothing you can do about most of it other than sit back and enjoy the view.

 

[BigStickJr]

If you don’t like the inconsistency of paychecks now, how would it be if you had a $5,000 +/- truck payment due next week ?
And before you can catch up, you get another one.
Multipled by breakdowns. Not only do you lose income, you’ve got to cover the repair.
There are many people out there that never move above driver.
Those are the people that usually can afford to take time off and vacation.
Sure, you can make more money as an owner. You can also go broke.
If you go broke as a driver, you would have gone broke faster as an O/O.

 

[Ragman]

If you don’t like the inconsistency of paychecks now, how would it be if you had a $5,000 +/- truck payment due next week ?
And before you can catch up, you get another one.
Multipled by breakdowns. Not only do you lose income, you’ve got to cover the repair.
There are many people out there that never move above driver.
Those are the people that usually can afford to take time off and vacation.
Sure, you can make more money as an owner. You can also go broke.
If you go broke as a driver, you would have gone broke faster as an O/O.

All the reasons i never wanted to become on O/O.

 

[Kip life]

Kip-it will be way less money than you or I would go for.
ES’s business plan is so different than ours, it’s scary.
Their cost structure is very different.
They need to balance profitability with driver retention. Which go hand in hand.
They’re more a volume of miles versus the run less/keep more mentality.
I think at times they’ve been up near 400 trucks.
The checks keep clearing. They still will spend the money to treat drivers decently.
It must work for them and the hundreds of employees they keep Happy.

No reason to compare your operation to theirs.

I agree!

OO operator is high risk high reward.
As an owner operator, one sees a load beyond just the mile rate. And that's why you rarely find a serious owner operator going to bad places like Colorado, utah,Dakotas,Florida e.t.c those locations are no issue for a driver because all they care for mostly is miles driven ..

For example, offered a dead head of 500 miles, very few owner operators would touch that becuase incase you truck breaks down 250 miles to pick up, you absorb all the costs and risks. On the other hand a driver will just call owner and say your truck is broken , and gets to an hotel until it's fixed...

At the company I am leased to, there is this one driver who specifically runs trips from east coast to Westcoast. He only accepts or mostly accepts runs to CA from Midwest or upper east coast and run to WA or OR.. I understand his goal is maximuze on miless run ..he does not care much for tear and wear of the truck since he does not own it...myself. .I would rather optimize in OH TN KY MI make shorter runs and make money and save my truck from all that 2000 mile run

 

[DBenton]

Josh thank you for the information on Orientation. Did you do a truck inspection before you entered the building? We pick up our truck on the 3rd. So I am assuming they will let us know this stuff. We are there for 5 days of training. It should be very informative. Thank you for the information. I hate not knowing what to do and the unknown. Lol! Stay safe and keep the updates coming.

 

[Josh]

Josh thank you for the information on Orientation. Did you do a truck inspection before you entered the building? We pick up our truck on the 3rd. So I am assuming they will let us know this stuff. We are there for 5 days of training. It should be very informative. Thank you for the information. I hate not knowing what to do and the unknown. Lol! Stay safe and keep the updates coming.

It sounds like your situation is going to be different than ours. We were only there for two days and it was orientation rather than training. Where are you picking your truck up from? And by inspenction do you mean pre trip? If so, you should do one before you accept the vehicle. Do you guys already have your cdl?

 

[Josh]

Nvm. Just found your thread and see that your going for white glove. I believe they will do your inspection right before class starts. I remember them asking who all brought their trucks and went out with them one by one. We didn't have our truck at the time so we were not included in this. White glove also clears up why your training is longer than ours.

I also seen you guys oh have your class a cld's (you may have said all this is here, my memory is garbage.)

Sounds like you guys are signing on with a good owner. You also have experience so this will all be a walk in the park for you. Still make sure you do a thorough walk through when you pick up the truck. Give everything a good look.

 

[Josh]

I am so very, very irritated right now.

We get into Indiana yesterday and had windchill warnings all day into this morning. Now, we were told any time the truck detects a temp under -5 it will stay idling. This is not the case. It would not stay running after its 3 min idle time (clean idle equipped). I started the truck every 2 hours up until 1am this morning with the same result, truck would idle for a few min and then shut down. I fell asleep after that. Wake up at 6am (4hours later) and now the truck won't crank. Loves mechanic didn't come in till 7am and has a truck in front of us.

How in the hell are we suppose to prevent cold start issues when our truck does not idle!? Tried setting the cruise control with no change. I'll be giving expeditors a call when they open in an hour. Loves guy that is here (tire guy) thinks the batteries need to be replaced.

 

[Boatcat]

I am so very, very irritated right now.

We get into Indiana yesterday and had windchill warnings all day into this morning. Now, we were told any time the truck detects a temp under -5 it will stay idling. This is not the case. It would not stay running after its 3 min idle time (clean idle equipped). I started the truck every 2 hours up until 1am this morning with the same result, truck would idle for a few min and then shut down. I fell asleep after that. Wake up at 6am (4hours later) and now the truck won't crank. Loves mechanic didn't come in till 7am and has a truck in front of us.

How in the hell are we suppose to prevent cold start issues when our truck does not idle!? Tried setting the cruise control with no change. I'll be giving expeditors a call when they open in an hour. Loves guy that is here (tire guy) thinks the batteries need to be replaced.

Josh, that sucks man.
Any help yet?
The clean idle thing can be a pain. I used to drive a 2015 Cascadia with the DD 15 and a 10 speed.
The idle time out could be overcome with the cruise, it took some fiddling around, but you could do it. Is it that the APU is not making enough heat for you, or you just want to keep the main running?
It very well may need new batteries, you had to jump start it already as I recall. Could be a sensor issue too, not sure about your specific system.
Hope you get it dealt with quickly.
No fun being cold, I have woke up in the middle of a frosty night shivering and teeth chattering, so I know what that is like.
I could deal with it, but having a Wife there with me would be a constant worry about her comfort and safety.
Keep us posted please.

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[Josh]

Ok, my frustrated has died down some. We got some help about 9am. The loves guy came out and gave us a jump and the truck started right up. However, by that time our load was dispatched out to another truck. Since I know someone is going to ask, we are not being charged for the deadhead miles we had already traveled at that point. Expeditors is picking that up for us. I also spoke with expeditors about the idle issue. The maintenance guy said that if the truck does not idle beyond -3, there is an issue and it will need to be taken to freightliner.. again..

In the meantime, we grabbed a small load from indiana to kentucky that delivers around 6 tonight. We will keep an eye on the truck overnight to make sure it will start, and off to freightliner in the morning. They should have it done by 3pm which is when we will have to grab another load we just accepted. I will also have them check the batteries while we're there.

I know to everyone else it probably sounds like we got stuck with a bum truck after all the issues we've had. I don't necessarily feel this way. I understand things happen and we've always had bad luck with vehicles. All part of the learning process I suppose. I am very grateful that expeditors has been very prompt with fixing everything that comes up without questions. I always assumed someone would be against us at some point and try to say we could be at fault for issues, and that has not happened. We also were told this morning that if anything happened with the truck overnight and it became uncomfortable to stay in, they would put us in a hotel. I am also thankful for that.

 

[Boatcat]

That's Awesome, glad to hear it.
Be safe out there.

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[DBenton]

Josh, it sounds like you guys signed on with a great owner as well. Trucks are going to have issues so I feel like you guys got a good truck but just are having some issues. We had most of our issues in the past during the winter months.

Thank you for the information on parking. I looked up the map they sent us and lo and behold there was Tabs Road. I just hate going places and have no idea what to expect. You guys have definitely eased my mind about orientation.

We are heading out a day early to head to Jeffersonville Indiana to get a PM on the reefer unit. We have to be there Friday morning. Then when we Go outside for the inspection we can give that paperwork to them. We get our truck tomorrow and we will get stuff packed and ready to go. Reality is setting in. NERVOUS!!

 

[Josh]

Josh, it sounds like you guys signed on with a great owner as well. Trucks are going to have issues so I feel like you guys got a good truck but just are having some issues. We had most of our issues in the past during the winter months.

Thank you for the information on parking. I looked up the map they sent us and lo and behold there was Tabs Road. I just hate going places and have no idea what to expect. You guys have definitely eased my mind about orientation.

We are heading out a day early to head to Jeffersonville Indiana to get a PM on the reefer unit. We have to be there Friday morning. Then when we Go outside for the inspection we can give that paperwork to them. We get our truck tomorrow and we will get stuff packed and ready to go. Reality is setting in. NERVOUS!!

I was the same way and sometimes still get that way. It seems that once you get over one set of challenges, another one pops up. As far as our truck goes.. by the time it's all said and done we'll have a new truck!

Orientation was like the first day of school. Lol. Especially when they ask a question and call on someone to answer. Nervous yet? Kinda kidding. They will ask everyone as group questions when they get to the hazmat section. Everyone has to be on the same page or they cannot continue with the class. Pretty straight forward and easy though.

The teacher (Lisa?) is super nice and offered to stay back and help us with a few things we had questions on (paper logs). I'm going to assume you guys will be staying in your truck for the week you're there. They have a drivers lounge, laundry, and showers (have not seen the showers or laundry yet) but the drivers lounge is nice. There is a Walmart not too far from there (kinda claustrophobic but doable). Just remember. Everyone else in class is also new and they're all nervous too.