I've had a few loads, even in a van, which required 24-hour line-of-sight with the van. In every case but one it's been military electronics.
Send your thoughts on the Proposed 34-Hour Restart
- Thread starter TeamCaffee
- Start date
It is my most fervent hope that one day you will be able to recognize those two sentences, when paired together, constitute an oxymoron.
Did I hear correctly they are also requiring the 34 restart can only be accomplished while parked, and not in the sleeper while co-driver, huh, drives. If so, yet another enormous cut in income for teams. Personally I sleep better knowing we, as a team, are making money running down the road earning loaded miles rather than sitting at the truck stop worrying about when where, and how we can work the next load into our even more complicated schedules dictated by the ever changing HOS. Oh, and lest we forget about CARB. Someone will need to come up with an app to figure all of our options how when and where we are allowed by our illustrious leader's ideas of safety, to make a living out here.
I'm thinking more and more that Ateam has the right idea, career change maybe eminent for success.
I'm thinking more and more that Ateam has the right idea, career change maybe eminent for success.
It's the right idea for Diane and me but only partly because the trucking industry has changed. More influential in this move is the future opportunity. We would not be able to afford what we are about to do if not for the ten years we spent trucking and the money we made and saved as expediters. Having that money opens new opportunities.
It's not so much that trucking is driving us out as it is that the new opportunity is drawing us in. We could still make it as truckers if we stayed. The game is different today than it was ten years ago but we could still play and win. In our case, a new game is now available and we want to go there to play.
It's interesting to look back. When we first started asking about expeding right here on the EO Open Forum ten years ago, some of the veterans of the day were very outspoken and they advised us to stay out. No way could we succeed as new expediters because the good old days were gone. The game had changed from what it once was and it would not be as easy to succeed - especially since we had no experience as truckers. Ten years later, Diane and I can look back on a very successful expediing career and I find myself saying the exact same thing to newbies and wannabees.
Well, not the exact same thing, but my business observations are similar. It is not as easy to succeed in today's expeding arena as it was a decade ago. (Like we did not have to pay $25,000 in truck engine upgrades to drive in CA, like truckers must today.)
The old salts were not wrong. It was easier to make big money as expediters in the earlier days. I am not wrong. It was easier to make good money when we first started than it is now. And these days, the regulators have gone crazy making things even more difficult.
But that does not mean that a newbie, who has no personal sense of the past days of expediting, cannot enter the business, see it with fresh eyes, have the time of his or her life, and maybe even put a few hundred thousand dollars in the bank over a decade or so.
I received a phone call the other day from an expeditng team who, like us, have decided to leave the business. "Trucking is not fun any more." they said. And together we reviewed the list of all the things that have deteriorated in the business over the years. The degraded opportunity and increased hassles were on their minds. They were tired.
One thing that happens as you become seasoned is the you have fewer delightful surprises. Your first truck show is a blast. The next one great. But after you have been to several, well, its just another show. You can only see once a scenic landscape on I-10 for the first time. It will be spectacular the second and third time in different light and seasons. It is still a beautiful sight after 20 times, but you already have it deeply embedded in your memory. It's not as stimulating as before.
I love driving a truck on the open road as much today as I ever have. In my entire life, I have had few experiences that are as pleasant and satisfying as that. The hum of the engine, the sing of the tires, the scenery going by. Drivers know what I am talking about and it's a good thing because words are inadequate to convey the joy. But when you have options, or have it in your mind to retire, you kinda know that the next million miles are not likely to be as special as the previous million. Once you get it in your mind to leave, you will not be happy for long if you stay.
The people of expediting are always interesting if not just plain fun. But few of them become true friends. You end up with a few that you grow close to and stay in constant contact with. The rest are helpful (sometimes unbelievably helpful) colleagues until you or they make a change.
The fact is, people come and people go. Some are in and out in a few weeks. Others take decades to complete the cycle. Diane and I had a ten year run. The fact that we are exiting in 2013 says little about the business itself and more about where we see ourselves in the greater cycle of life. We have at least one more adventure ahead, just not in trucking.
Newbies and wannabees; I hope I can be kinder to you than the old salts were to Diane and me when we entered. The entry opportunity is different for you than it was for us. But that does not mean you cannot make a go of it. There will be expediters who succeed in the future just as they have in the past.
Do your research. Know what you are getting into. Set realistic expectations (even if they seem outrageous to old salts who know nothing about you and your capabilities), listen to the voices of experience and be prepared for the challenges they warn about, live within your means, manage your money, and make a special effort to enjoy the full measure of freedom and fun that expediting offers.
That kind of freedom and fun is not found in most other career opportunities. Enjoy it while you can, but also be careful to keep your eye on the financial ball.
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This thread has been debated a lot and I wonder how many found the time to take the survey?
moose
Veteran Expediter
I am not about to back up from a challenge. i see changes in our industry as a GREAT business opportunity. small business truckers can have a HUGE advantage over large carriers in many parts of our industry. think about it this way.Expedite is a 'per load' business. smart expediters understands their cost of moving A load. HOS restrictions can be easily calculated & passed on to the shippers. the ones that do not pass on their costs of doing business will not stay here for too long anyhow.
I took the survey before posting anything here.
Note that the survey sponsor, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), is not an independent organization or government agency. It is a captive entity of the ATA that produces research that helps the ATA promote its agenda. Given that arrangement, the objectivity of that research is questionable.
That is a high probability.
pearlpro
Expert Expediter
The ONLY way they pay attention is to write them, call them and speak to them every chance yopu get, and call your congress member/s...If WE dont make the noise and draw attention to REAL WORLD issues, they certainly dont know whats happening out here, BE BOLD and get involved.
