panther II or express 1

shawnm1981 · Feb 13, 2009

I am about to go to work for a fleet owner at either panther or express 1 in a sprinter van I was wondering if i could get some current info from current drivers for either company in how many miles a sprinter is averaging for either company I am going to start out as a solo and I have a team member coming with me about 4 months into it any opinions on which would be the better of the two would be appreciated and no i'm not just looking for veterans to just tell me nows not the time or go work at mcdonalds or walmart as many tend to like to say I just would like to know whih in opinion of the two companies would keep me busier in a sprinter thanks fr the help

youngsamuel · Feb 13, 2009

Now is not the time. I dont know about Mcdonalds but Chick-fil-a treats employees very nice and they have a scholarship program.

shawnm1981 · Feb 13, 2009

thats pretty much the post i wasnt asking for

pjjjjj · Feb 13, 2009

Well *eyeeee* thought it was funny

Why don't you ask each of the fleet owners for the lowdown on each of their offerings, and ask for stats on how their other vehicles are doing with the respective carriers.

shawnm1981 · Feb 13, 2009

they are all paying the same and are all pretty much saying there running good not great but good but you know they really just want to get there vehicles rolling again

gjmcclain · Feb 14, 2009

I have been in and out of expediting for about 3-years. Most recently I got out of it for about one year and am now back as a driver.

I would suggest, in most cases, take everything that is offered to you as far as loads go. If it takes you from BFE to BFE - take it, loads can be few and far between.

You will have to make the final decision on which carrier to go with. They all have their up sides, they all have their down sides. But, no matter what you decide as far as the carrier goes, just don't turn down loads for the simple reason of not wanting to go through Chicago, New York, etc etc.

Just take what is offered, get there as quick as you can, where your ready to take the next load that becomes available.

Moot · Feb 14, 2009

shawnm1981 said:
they are all paying the same and are all pretty much saying there running good not great but good but you know they really just want to get there vehicles rolling again

Now ask yourself why they want to get their vehicles rolling again. Why aren't their vehicles rolling now. Did the previous drivers make a pot of money and retire?

chefdennis · Feb 14, 2009

It makes no difference which carrier you go with, and it doesn't make a difference what the other drivers or O/o's out here is doing...it is up to you!! Haven't you read the threads about "being the favortie driver of dispatch", and the carrier "feeding their favorite driver loads" !?!?

Just sign up and suck up to dispatch, bribe them and the load planners and they will take care of you with all of the great runs!! Its just that easy, That and the "newbie juice", you should be one of the top producers in a heartbeat.........

And yea, don't turn down any freight, its not your truck and all your owner cares about it that the truck is rolling........

Which Chic-fil-a is hiring!?!?

shawnm1981 · Feb 14, 2009

thats some better advice and much appreciated good luck on the loads everyone and stay warm out there i've heard some rumors april and may are gonna get the loads back in acceptable quanities hope it's true

OntarioVanMan · Feb 14, 2009

chefdennis said:
It makes no difference which carrier you go with, and it doesn't make a difference what the other drivers or O/o's out here is doing...it is up to you!! Haven't you read the threads about "being the favortie driver of dispatch", and the carrier "feeding their favorite driver loads" !?!?

Just sign up and suck up to dispatch, bribe them and the load planners and they will take care of you with all of the great runs!! Its just that easy, That and the "newbie juice", you should be one of the top producers in a heartbeat.........

And yea, don't turn down any freight, its not your truck and all your owner cares about it that the truck is rolling........

Which Chic-fil-a is hiring!?!?

Hey your a man ahead of your time...you are learning quickwhat vanning is all about....THINK

Hate the straight!!!!*LOL*

Jack_Berry · Feb 14, 2009

shawn, if you have a stash of money you can fuel the truck with and feed yourself with for a few weeks that will help.

if you are coming out cold with little cash and planning to payback the credit cards in a word, stay home and wait until april or may when you say the loads should improve. thats a lot of words isn't it? o well.

the other problem is you are splitting van money with someone and that is meager pickins at best no matter the arrangement. you mention a team driver, well, that means the truck gets used up quicker but the pickins are still meager. two folks do not eat as esy as one. if that person is not a significant other the close quarters are gonna get awful small after a while.

if you are planning to make a small fortune in this biz start with a large one.

hondaking38 · Feb 14, 2009

well like it was stated in all the posts.its slow...and will continue to be slow...last year we never had the huge spring rush, as in previous years..i have two vans..one does better then the other mileage wise every month...the low mileage one is the one i drive...probably the reason is i am sick of truckstops. if its a 200 mile run, i will go home instead of sitting in the cold for 3 days waiting for a 100 mile load.. now when the weather breaks i will be out there...now my driver has been in the warmth, it seems he is taking a load to texas every other load,,,,he is taking a load from houston to indiantown florida right now....were both glad he has been where its warm since the first part of january...now when the roads are bad i get the loads...no one wants them and i take them...it makes for some hard traveling driving 35-40 mph for 1000 miles...yes we have to many vans on at panther..way to many...however in a sprinter once in awhile you will bump ahead of the others because they need the height......it usually doesnt get you anymore money per mile like it used to, but it gets you rolling....good luck with your endeavers....

highway star · Feb 14, 2009

So, will someone that hasn't figured out that a sentence is ended with a period or a question mark be able to figure out expediting? Stay tuned...

O.K., maybe I'm being a little bit mean. But, it just baffles me that someone can operate a computer, access the web, become a poster here and still doesn't know how to end a sentence. Didn't we learn that in, like, the 1st grade? If the only punctuation used is a period, it makes the post so much easier to read.

I will now accept the dressing down I'll be getting for not being "warm and fuzzy".

Moot · Feb 14, 2009

highway star said:
So, will someone that hasn't figured out that a sentence is ended with a period or a question mark be able to figure out expediting? Stay tuned...

I will now accept the dressing down I'll be getting for not being "warm and fuzzy".

Why don't you and Bob mind your own beeswax! Hondaking's extra periods more than made up for Shawn's lack of periods. It's called team work. There is no period in TEAM Maybe if more people were willing to share their punctuation marks this world would be a better place.

hondaking38 · Feb 14, 2009

Amen...............................................................................

buckeyewildman · Feb 14, 2009

highway star said:
So, will someone that hasn't figured out that a sentence is ended with a period or a question mark be able to figure out expediting? Stay tuned...

O.K., maybe I'm being a little bit mean. But, it just baffles me that someone can operate a computer, access the web, become a poster here and still doesn't know how to end a sentence. Didn't we learn that in, like, the 1st grade? If the only punctuation used is a period, it makes the post so much easier to read.

I will now accept the dressing down I'll be getting for not being "warm and fuzzy".

my opology from most of us highway star we are not all as perfect as you that don,t make us stupid as far as i am concerned i guess those of us that are so imperfect were still able to figure the post was all about

highway star · Feb 14, 2009

Moot said:
There is no period in TEAM

What if it's a WNBA team?

shawnm1981 · Feb 14, 2009

well highway star in your ignorance sentences also end in exclamation marks as well but sense your a harvard english major you should have know that as for not using punctuation I just type as I think and I feel as though most people who speak english should be able to get the picture without the periods and such but I guess others as yourself have trouble and get confused if theres not a proper period in every sentence

highway star · Feb 15, 2009

You think in one long, run on sentence with no pauses? Wow...

Thank you for pointing out that I failed to mention the exclamation point. That does show that you grasp the concept. It is possible to figure out what's being said in posts such as yours, but it's more difficult. We're talking about common courtesy here. No capital letters to begin a sentence? No problem. No apostrophe in a contraction? I can live with that. We don't need text book perfection here. If we know where one sentence ends and the next begins, that's enough. Why is that so much to ask?

BTW, no Ivy League education here, not even community college. High school grad with 6 weeks of truck driving school.

shawnm1981 · Feb 15, 2009

one thing that does **** me off about the majority of the people posting on here. is that you and the majority tend to critize every post and yet instill the question to be answered in every post is still unanswered. so if you and the majority have no intention of answering the question why post your wasting your time and ours!