I am set to pick up a 2008 chevy express 2500 series extended tomorrow , and with reading all of the forums in here , I am getting really nervous.
As well you should be. And here's why...
I am 38 yrs old married with an 8 yr old child,
There ya go. Expediting is no business for someone to be in with a young child at home.
That child needs a full-time dad, not a weekend dad. But with expediting, you won't even be a weekend dad. Two weeks out and then a couple of days home is the absolute minimum in most cases to make a little money, but those who do that usually eat up that money in deadheading home. You have to pick and choose when to go home at those times in which you are close to home to begin with. I know people who will deadhead home to Michigan from Memphis, or South Carolina, or <gulp> Laredo, all the while complaining they aren't making any money. Well, duh.
I'm ok with with working a lot, but do not wish to be gone for 2 weeks or more at a time, but am not afraid to put in to get a return.
In order to put in, you have to put in the time in order to be available, and that means staying available for those last loads on Friday night and Saturday morning. If you go home on Friday, you miss those load opportunities, and when you come back out Monday morning too many others have beaten you to the punch so you're way down on the list for loads. You end up getting a load on Tuesday, or Wednesday. Those who go home every weekend are essentially working from Tuesday thru Thursday, cutting out on Friday and then killing off Monday waiting in line. Staying out for two weeks at a time is marginally better than home every weekend. You need three weeks out at a minumum, usually.
I have had a small construction company of my own several yrs ago, so I am not completely new at having a business earn a profit, especially since with this business I plan on working by my self , getting the job in with low stress while providing a decent living for my family while my wife attends 2 yrs of nursing school.
Well, just keep in mind that when you're on the road what you have left behind is essentially a single mom with an 8 year old child. If the stress of school and you being gone isn't enough to kill the marriage, the stress of you being at home on a parti-time, irregular basis will. By that I mean, she will quickly get used to making all the decision that need to be made, and then you come waltzing in and start making decisions, many of which will contradict hers, and there ya go. Seen it too many times. Marriage is hard enough without adding that kind of stress to it.
To pile on, a solo in a van honestly can't count on more than about $500 a week take home until he really and truly understands what is going on out here, how things work, how to work within his carrier's system, when to move, when not to move, what loads to take or turn down, etc. That takes a year at least, probably two. I'm still figuing it out.
sorry to ramble but I just wonder is the industry really as bad as everyone on here is saying?
The days of low stress and easy money are long gone out of expediting. Yes, it is as bad as people say it is. Worse, actually, for someone new just getting into the business. You can make it if you are smart, have the time to put into it, have something to occupy a lot, lot, lot of idle time while waiting on loads, and have few financial and family obligations at home. The failure rate in expediting would curl your toes.
I found in my other business that those who were suggesting that it was the industries fault ,and not there lack of input into earning a living were the ones that were not successful at it.
The same thing is said in this industry. Nature of the beast, everyone blames everyone but themselves. Having said that, it doesn't matter how diligent you are out here, how much you put into it, you are at the mercy of your carrier to find you loads, by and large. And if your financial needs are such that they don't fit into the carrier's system, or if you expect something different than what you are getting, you're screwed.
I guess when it's all said and done I just want to know am I making a mistake here? any help would be greatly appreciated
Quite probably, yes.
Now that I have you good and scared, consider that all that I have said assumes nothing, mainly because I know nothing. I don't know what carrier you are coming on with, or what your situation is at home. I don't know how much money you have at the ready for emergencies and other unexpected expennses (you should have about five grand in the bank before you take your first load, of not $5000, then at a minimum of $2000, working to get it up to $5000 ASAP). I don't know how ready your van is set up for expediting, like decking and e-track or other securements, insulation, sleeper, etc. But, take all that I have said and take a close look at how much, if any of it, applies to your situation. The more of it that applies to you, the less likely you should be entering expediting.
