On my own

truckergirl · Nov 22, 2006

Well, Zak got a bus driving job out of San Antonio starting in a couple weeks so it looks like I'll be on my own. I am thinking about driving a cargo van since as a single driver that might be easier. The questions I have on that so far include:
What is it like to be a single van driver out there? I don't have too many expenses right now, probably about $600 a month not including food or rent. Is it true that in the first year you can make over $30,000? I know I would have to be out on the road alot. I am counting on that, my parents live near Dayton, Ohio so I can stop in there when needed.
Is most van freight no touch or do you have to load it? I do sometimes have back problems so if straight truck freight is more no touch I might still go that route...
As far as companies, I am thinking PantherII right now. They look like they are good to van drivers...Any fleet owners willing to take me on? I put in an application on their site but I think you have to find a fleet owner, is that right?

terryandrene · Nov 22, 2006

TG

Cheri might be the best person here to give you a bit of mentorship as she's currently a Panther van operator with the experience to help you along. As you've undoubtedly read in the forum, a typical driver will receive 60% of the gross to the truck so your initial goal of $30K would result from a very doable $50K plus any FSC of which you, as the fuel buyer, would receive 100%

We all wish you well and hopefully, a van owner who've read the enthusiasm in the posts of you and Zak will give you a shout out. Good Luck.

HoboOfTheHwy · Nov 22, 2006

Which company do you plan leasing on with?I believe Tristate to be the best.I've heard alot of bad things with Fedex CC,their van drivers.Seems straight trucks are taking van loads,at Fedex CC.Not sure how true that is.I was talking to a h/w team in a Sprinter.They had been sitting in Griffin,Georgia for 3 days,waiting for a load,and a straight truck driver had come in,fueled,came over to talk with them.He told he just picked up a 375 lb pallet.Of course anything may be slow,with the holidays coming up.

Freedom Isn't Free,Just Ask Any Soldier

MSinger · Nov 22, 2006

That doesn't necessarily mean anything. The s/t driver may have either picked up at a dock-high only facility or delivering to one. Or may have just been trying to get your goat!!!

terryandrene · Nov 22, 2006

Hobo:

Why would you recommend a company as being the best without giving any reason for thinking such a thing? Furthermore, why badmouth a company because of rumors that you say you are "Not sure how true that is"?

FedEx Custom Critical, like every other expedite carrier, has areas in the country that are favorable to their O/O's. Atlanta, GA is one of FedEx Custom Ctitical's busiest areas and Griffen, Ga, being about 40 miles south of Atlanta, is not a very good area to layover if an O/O wants to maximize his run opportunities. Most of us would prefer to be within 25 miles of Atlanta downtown to improve our odds at getting a run offer.

As a Custom Critical van owner, I don't ever like to see a van load on a straight truck, but sometimes there are understandable reasons for that and sometimes not. In either event, we don't know where that straight truck picked up that load nor that that Sprinter team was in the area of the pickup.

BTW, with our carrier, a small straight truck(C) and a van(B) are equally eligible for any van load.

Truckergirl:

Your choice of Panther (no longer PantherII) is a good one and you should do well with them. To further answer your concerns, most van freight is "shipper load - consignee unload". We rarely have to carry freight unless it's in the form of light parcels. If your back doesn't bother you when carrying a bag of groceries, you should do fine.

Terry

RichM · Nov 22, 2006

As Terry stated,Griffin GA is a bit too far south for Atlanta freight that might require a rapid pickup.
There are facilities off I 285 west and east that a Van could easily layover in and be that much closer to the pick up.

This argument that straight trucks take van loads while vans sit has gone on for years. Why would a company want to pay a a C rate to a straight truck vs a van if the van was available.

HoboOfTheHwy · Nov 22, 2006

Well, I'm sorry there TerryandAdere for stepping on your toes and making you yell at me ! EXCUUUUSE ME ! I am not bashing any company,Terry! If you read past posts here,Panther is not the best expedite company.Look at all the contractors that left when Panther bought out Conway Now. Tristate recruited many Panther contractors.THIS IS AN OPINION ! OPINIONS ARE LIKE A**HOLES,EVERYONE HAS ONE,AND SOME STINK MORE THAN OTHERS.I DIDN'T MEAN TO OFFEND YOU.Must be nice to have all the right answers.GEEZ Have a nice weekend!Go home,Chill out,eat some turkey,watch some football,relax.Maybe next week will be better,for you.

Freedom Isn't Free,Just Ask Any Soldier

truckergirl · Nov 22, 2006

Wow, some people get angry on here. Goodness! Anyway, thanks for the tips, I am checking into other companies as well. Plan to start in January...Have a good Thanksgiving ya'll!!

terryandrene · Nov 22, 2006

Hobo:

You didn't step on my toes nor offend me or my chosen carrier, and I wasn't yelling at you. I was offering an opinion and a few facts. One thing you are right about, Panther is not the best company out there, neither is any other expedite carrier. There is no one carrier suited for every O/O. There is no O/O suited for every carrier. One of the benefits of the EO forum is that folks, like Truckergirl and her friend Zak, can come here, learn about the various carriers and make informed choices. It doesn't help any of them to to hear third party unsubstantiated rumors.

Have a nice weekend!Go home,Chill out,eat some turkey,watch some football,relax.Maybe next week will be better,for you

BTW, nice avatar

Terry

Moot · Nov 22, 2006

Truckergirl, a belated welcome to E.O. Yea there are some angry people out here. If you read through these forums you should be able discern who is giving valuable information and who has an axe to grind. Most of the members are willing to help others and offer to share their knowledge of this industry.

I'm sure you were able to identify one such member by his classy response to a crude reply to this thread.

Good luck and I hope you find an owner with an available van. Most members will recommend that you drive for an owner first. This will give you a feeling for the job and lifestyle. The money will be less but so will the risk. Many complain that January is historically a slow month. I have done very in January even in years where I took the first week off. Again, good luck.

MSinger · Nov 22, 2006

Nice representation of "Jesus Is Lord". Not!

zman3k · Nov 23, 2006

*stretch*
*yawn*
*rubs eyes*

So she wants to go on her own just because I went off and got a different kind of driving job? How typical!

Actually, I'm taking that job for several reasons. 1.) I found that I really like driving people around, especially on charters, which is kinda weird because I hated my job at a certain national sandwich chain because of "the people". And with this particular job, there is a healthy mix of scheduled service to lesser served areas of Texas and charters. 2.) The income distribution with this job is a little more even per annum than it is with expediting and that's what I need for a little while to pay down some of the debt I've accumulated as a part of being a college student (in the neighborhood of $25,000). But after that debt gets mostly (or all) paid off, I'd very much consider getting into this type of work, as in the time I'm paying off my debt, I also plan to start growing my savings to a level commensurate with paying 3 months or more of my personal expenses.

Believe me, I'd love to get a driving job that will see me out of my home region a little more often than, well if I had to guess, hardly ever as with the job I just took, but then again, I'm getting to do something that I enjoy, and I know of a lot of people that can't say that. So to her, I say good luck, and to everyone else, I say, "See you eventually!"

DannyD · Nov 23, 2006

>Well, Zak got a bus driving job out of San Antonio starting
>in a couple weeks so it looks like I'll be on my own. I am
>thinking about driving a cargo van since as a single driver
>that might be easier. The questions I have on that so far
>include:
>What is it like to be a single van driver out there? I don't
>have too many expenses right now, probably about $600 a
>month not including food or rent. Is it true that in the
>first year you can make over $30,000? I know I would have to
>be out on the road alot. I am counting on that, my parents
>live near Dayton, Ohio so I can stop in there when needed.
>Is most van freight no touch or do you have to load it? I do
>sometimes have back problems so if straight truck freight is
>more no touch I might still go that route...
>As far as companies, I am thinking PantherII right now. They
>look like they are good to van drivers...Any fleet owners
>willing to take me on? I put in an application on their
>site but I think you have to find a fleet owner, is that
>right?

Hiya TG,

I'm gonna chime in w/ my usual thread. That ya might want to look into a local company delivering airport freight. I'm not sure exactly where you're at, but I'm guessing near San Antonio. EGL, Panther, & Freightforce might have offices down there. The nice thing about working w/ these types of companies is ya can do local work or go out on the road if ya so desire. You could make that $30,000 you wanted w/ a local company & not have to be out on the road a lot.

From my experience I'd only warn ya to not get a Sprinter, or any new vehicle for that matter, to get started. Buy a decent vehicle that's 2-3 years old. I would think that would be your best income/cost ratio. If you're going to drive for someone ya might want to hold off on driving a cargo van. As a rule there's not enough income from a van to support two seperate entities (owner & driver).

The pay will be in line w/ what ya'd make at Panther, Fed Ex, etc. There will be slow times like all companies. When you're on the road a bad day can be sitting in some other state in your van w/ no run. Locally though, a bad day might be a quickie $40 run & you're home in a couple of hours. Or if ya get no freight, at least you're in your home.

Fed Ex works for some. Panther for others. Other companies work great for people to. It just all depends on how what you offer connects w/ what a companies needs are & vice verca. Local works (EGL) for me. Take a peek at all your options & you'll figure out what works best for you.

One last thing here. If ya make a choice & find the fit isn't quite as good as you had hoped, there's no shame in switching companies. As a rule I'd say a few months & you'll know but even then I've worked for companies for as little as a day. So if ya don't get it right the first time, rest easy. The perfect company is out there for ya.

Good luck,
Danny

truckergirl · Nov 23, 2006

Well, actually I want to travel all over. I plan to put my stuff in storage and just go. I already have a car payment so I don't want to buy my own van right away. I am taking the advice of most people on here by driving first then worrying about getting my own vehicle once I know for sure if this is the lifestyle for me. And seeing as I don't have my own family I don't have to be "home" much.

Crazynuff · Nov 26, 2006

>Nice representation of "Jesus Is Lord". Not!
I just checked back to message # 6 and can't see what you are referring to .

Moot · Nov 27, 2006

Check out the avatar, the little picture in the upper left corner of post 6.

jaminjim · Dec 9, 2006

So what have you decided to do?

truckergirl · Dec 9, 2006

Well I am waiting until after the holidays. I'll be in Ohio for about a week and then it will be Christmas, in January I am going to make up my mind about it. I'll keep ya'll posted...

tom tinker · Dec 10, 2006

Hi trucker girl, did any one mention, Jan till Mar. is dead, for most part. I joined e.o. Jan 06 while laid up, watched forum dailey, in Mar. it became like a ghost town on here. Good move drive for some one else.
I seen lot of people come on here ask for advice, turn around an do same stupid thing they came here to avoid. Truck payments no work.
Best to you Tom tinker

zman3k · Jan 7, 2007

Well, I've determined that this branch of talking cargo is certainly not my cup of tea. Driving schedules is for the, well for the people who can tolerate it, I cannot. I was stranded in El Paso and Ft. Stockton for about 40 hours without any of my personal stuff, save for the clothes I wore out and my toiletries. It seems that a certain national bus carrier doesn't like to keep drivers stationed in Ft. Stockton so that puts the burden on where I work to send any extra sections that leave out of San Antonio to drive on to El Paso, but when we get to El Paso, we're not prioritized to get out of El Paso but certain national bus carrier because they think it is ok for us to cover there territory out to El Paso, but we cannot pull from El Paso back east, and at that when we get back to Ft. Stockton, the work never materializes b/c all the extra sections are routed through Dallas then to points east of Dallas and not through Ft. Stockton so I have to deadhead home, albeit paid but at lesser rate.

Upon review, this really has nothing to do with the expediting world at large, but rather confirms what I already knew about myself, and that driving with one other person and my lovable hound is probably a very good way for me to continue with a career in transportation. And additionally, that I mind being stranded somewhere that I don't have my personal belongings and something to distract me away from the time being wasted. I'd rather be couped up in a sleeper berth in a truck, that is in effect, mine.