After 10 years in the expediting biz I've called it quits. Was a great career before the crash of 2009 then went downhill fast. Thought I would be more distraught over the decision but the only thing I miss are the pre-2009 memories. I will not miss the:
waiting, living in parking lots, traffic around big cities, driving while dangerously sleep deprived, having to cook in my van because it's too inconvenient to wait at a healthy restaurant, driving in bad weather, sleeping in noisy parking lots, getting excited about a load then having it cancel, empty promises from my carrier, knowing I'm extremely expendable to my carrier, being at the mercy of the unpredictable and illogical price of gas, repeatedly exposing myself to the high probability of a traffic accident for very little in return, unfriendly border patrol agents, waiting hours to load because of this or that all for a canceled load, being alone and nomadic (was great the first 4 years then got old fast, humans are not designed to be alone), wondering if I'm in a bad neighborhood while parked overnight to sleep, being ready to go home for the weekend then getting a load going the opposite direction (almost never fails), getting no explanation as to why I was passed over on a certain load and that I need to "just trust the system", driving in the north east, virtually every aspect of driving in New York, paying a high monthly fee for a Qualcomm unit and being asked what my location is all the time, having to refuse trips to: Ohio because there's always too many trucks there, Indiana and Chicago because there is hardly any long runs from there and most runs are low paying, Detroit and Buffalo because most runs from there just go into Canada, down south because there is not much freight coming out of there, North East because there is no good place to layover, remote parts of anywhere because my carrier didn't want to pay for me to relocate, getting knocks on my door at 2:30 am from police wondering what I'm doing, getting to a pickup just to find the shipper clueless as to what I'm picking up, getting to the shipper just to find my freight was loaded on another truck and is gone, being woke up for really low paying offers, refusing a low paying offer and then being offered again for $10 more, and again and again...the false belief that my carrier has my best interest in mind, being woke up at 2am by the street cleaner at Walmart, calling Walmart my second home, trying to convince myself that my lifestyle IS better than most homeless people's, driving on Michigan's horrible roads, huge detours/traffic jams because of accidents/construction, trying to find safe places to jog or bike, thinking I have my "own" business just because I'm not legally employed by anyone, being snowed in at a parking lot in the middle of nowhere, having it rain and feeling like I live in a tin can, sleeping in my sleeping bag in fridged weather, not having immediate access to running water or a hot shower with out being at a truck stop or motel, constantly refueling my generator if I want heat in the winter or coolness in the summer, dealing with inconsiderate 18 wheelers, (for example when they go 80mph down a hill and 40mph up the next hill), day to day unpredictability of the industry, stiff backs, ..... just to name a couple things. However, I did enjoy things about the career such as_________. (fill in the blank)
waiting, living in parking lots, traffic around big cities, driving while dangerously sleep deprived, having to cook in my van because it's too inconvenient to wait at a healthy restaurant, driving in bad weather, sleeping in noisy parking lots, getting excited about a load then having it cancel, empty promises from my carrier, knowing I'm extremely expendable to my carrier, being at the mercy of the unpredictable and illogical price of gas, repeatedly exposing myself to the high probability of a traffic accident for very little in return, unfriendly border patrol agents, waiting hours to load because of this or that all for a canceled load, being alone and nomadic (was great the first 4 years then got old fast, humans are not designed to be alone), wondering if I'm in a bad neighborhood while parked overnight to sleep, being ready to go home for the weekend then getting a load going the opposite direction (almost never fails), getting no explanation as to why I was passed over on a certain load and that I need to "just trust the system", driving in the north east, virtually every aspect of driving in New York, paying a high monthly fee for a Qualcomm unit and being asked what my location is all the time, having to refuse trips to: Ohio because there's always too many trucks there, Indiana and Chicago because there is hardly any long runs from there and most runs are low paying, Detroit and Buffalo because most runs from there just go into Canada, down south because there is not much freight coming out of there, North East because there is no good place to layover, remote parts of anywhere because my carrier didn't want to pay for me to relocate, getting knocks on my door at 2:30 am from police wondering what I'm doing, getting to a pickup just to find the shipper clueless as to what I'm picking up, getting to the shipper just to find my freight was loaded on another truck and is gone, being woke up for really low paying offers, refusing a low paying offer and then being offered again for $10 more, and again and again...the false belief that my carrier has my best interest in mind, being woke up at 2am by the street cleaner at Walmart, calling Walmart my second home, trying to convince myself that my lifestyle IS better than most homeless people's, driving on Michigan's horrible roads, huge detours/traffic jams because of accidents/construction, trying to find safe places to jog or bike, thinking I have my "own" business just because I'm not legally employed by anyone, being snowed in at a parking lot in the middle of nowhere, having it rain and feeling like I live in a tin can, sleeping in my sleeping bag in fridged weather, not having immediate access to running water or a hot shower with out being at a truck stop or motel, constantly refueling my generator if I want heat in the winter or coolness in the summer, dealing with inconsiderate 18 wheelers, (for example when they go 80mph down a hill and 40mph up the next hill), day to day unpredictability of the industry, stiff backs, ..... just to name a couple things. However, I did enjoy things about the career such as_________. (fill in the blank)
