Soundguy. You fly a lot and spend a lot on hotels, so this is not a shoestring operation. You said you had problems before with trucking guys not getting your delivery on time. Try an expedite carrier. On time pu and del is expedite type of work. This way you could get rid of all your rolling stock. Just fly to the site and rent a car. Just a thought.
Not shoestring operation to be sure, but every buck I spend is a buck I don't make. Plus i don't mind driving around the country, and as a soundguy I'm used to doing most everything myself. I actually taught a class on packing sound gear in trucks, so I know the things that can go wrong with transporting sound systems.
However, the biggest problem with using an expedite service is probably that the security at the places I teach is pretty bad. For instance, many of the churches I go to at are not in the best areas of town, so leaving my gear unattended for even a few hours has bad side effects. And the schools I've taught at can't secure the classrooms since everybody and his brother seems to have a key. I would have to have the expediter truck waiting on the dock when I arrive at 4 PM , and if I'm 6 hours late due to a plane delay the driver could not leave the gear on the dock with the church or school. They would have the wait for me to arrive. I assume that's not inexpensive.
Also, I'm not being critical of truck drivers as an industry, but a few years ago I had a national trucking company leave a skid of speakers worth $20,000 down at the end of my driveway in the rain. After he dropped the gear, the driver came to my house to ask for a signature. It was only after I signed and walked down my driveway that I saw him racing down the street leaving me to get a handtruck and shuttle 500 pounds of gear up my driveway in the rain. I was not a happy guy that day.
Remember I've taught something like 500 sound seminars already, so it seems like the more I do myself, the less there is to go wrong. I've had sound companies offer to bring the gear I need, but they bring the wrong stuff or it doesn't work. I've had trucking companies deliver the gear to my teaching location and most of the time that works out, but sometimes it's been late, lost, or shaken apart. Once a trucking company put a fork truck tine go all the way through a road case and nobody notified me of damage until I unpacked the load myself and needed to set it up for a seminar. Again, I was not a happy guy that day.
So with all due respect, I need a way to get myself and my gear to these events at the same time and in the same vehicle. If I'm late, then my gear's late. If I'm early, then my gear's early. And if I'm a no show, then my gear's in the truck with me and not on a dock.
Now, please don't think I'm bitchin' at you guys, cause I'm not. You move tons of very heavy and expensive stuff every day and on schedule. It's just that I'm always in a different city every week and not all locations are created equal. I may seem overly paranoid, but I've had all my gear stolen in Canada once, and that was one time too many.
Again, any comments or suggestions are welcome and appreciated. I'm just trying to figure out how to take this to the next level.
