Several Questions?

[mstephensr]

OK, I am a green pea (at expediting) but I have driven professionally for a while. I thought I wanted to get into expediting but after researching a little bit more not so sure. Hopefully some of you who can answer a few questions for me. Here goes.

1. If I have my own tractor and lease on to a company what all do I have to pay for and who are the best companies for a tractor? IE... plates, ins. etc....., Do the companies provide a trailor or I do I have to provide that myself?

2. What are all these different units like DR, T-val, White Glove, etc......

3. All I see on here is pretty much negative, negative , negative for the most part. Can someone who is pretty business smart make a good living as a single truck o/o in a tractor? It seems that maybe things aren't so good for small trucks and vans but I would think that it would be fairly simple to find good loads for a tractor/trailer? Am I wrong?

Thanks

 

[greg334]

1. If I have my own tractor and lease on to a company what all do I have to pay for and who are the best companies for a tractor? IE... plates, ins. etc....., Do the companies provide a trailor or I do I have to provide that myself?

Most companies make you pay for the signs for the tractor and the escrow. on going expenses are usually insurance, qualcomm and workmans comp. Some pay for plates but it is recommended that you get your own plates in case you leave the company.

2. What are all these different units like DR, T-val, White Glove, etc......

What is a DR or CR or C or B unit?

These are truck sizes and capacities. Different companies have different definitions.

generally

b unit is a van or sprinter
c unit is a small stright truck, usually 14 or 16 foot box with a 5000lb capacity
d unit is bigger than a 16 foot box and more than 10K capacity
e unit is a tractor/trailer


FedEx for example has b,c,d and e units. The 'r' designates a reefer unit. Landstar uses b, super b, c and d units - I saw one C unit in the fleet the last time I looked. I was a cr unit at FedEx, now I am a d unit.

White glove is the elite of FedEx, special people drive for White glove - literally. Most of them have specialized training for ammunition and explosives and art work to name a couple. Panther has an equivilent to White glove, Panther Elite. I think that they are the same - sort of.

T-val, Temperature Validation for reefer units. It is a process where they test the reefer unit to ensure stability during the shipment. The Temperature Validation process is not FedEx exclusive but their marketing trademark (I know that is wrong term) is, temp-assured.

3. All I see on here is pretty much negative, negative , negative for the most part. Can someone who is pretty business smart make a good living as a single truck o/o in a tractor? It seems that maybe things aren't so good for small trucks and vans but I would think that it would be fairly simple to find good loads for a tractor/trailer? Am I wrong?

Yes, yes and no. Addressing the second question first, the tractor/trailer in my opinion is the best combination you can have in this business. It affords you to take full truck load freight if you can't find expedited freight. It is about moving the truck and in expediting, you sit a lot waiting. Lots of T/T freight out there.

As for the negativity, sure there is, but honestly I think if you keep in mind that not everyone can agree on one strategy or way to make it in this business. Many will say do this or that, I say something else, and a third says something completely different - the joys of a forum. I was so conditioned to look for problems and negatives in things to find positives, I come off like I am always negative, but I am not, really. If you read and keep in mind we all have different ways of looking at things, you will find answers.

Hope that helps....

 

[nightcreacher]

OK, I am a green pea (at expediting) but I have driven professionally for a while. I thought I wanted to get into expediting but after researching a little bit more not so sure. Hopefully some of you who can answer a few questions for me. Here goes.

1. If I have my own tractor and lease on to a company what all do I have to pay for and who are the best companies for a tractor? IE... plates, ins. etc....., Do the companies provide a trailor or I do I have to provide that myself?

2. What are all these different units like DR, T-val, White Glove, etc......

3. All I see on here is pretty much negative, negative , negative for the most part. Can someone who is pretty business smart make a good living as a single truck o/o in a tractor? It seems that maybe things aren't so good for small trucks and vans but I would think that it would be fairly simple to find good loads for a tractor/trailer? Am I wrong?

Thanks

I can only tell you about fecc
1st you will have escrow,that will come out weekly out of settlement,next if you need insurance,a down payment will be needed,and their ins. is pretty good for both cost and what you get for your money.The lisc.plates are on you,there is no charge for useing their trailer,they can hook you up with pre-pas and the qualcom is a weekly expense.you get 60% of all charges,and 100% of fuel sur charge,that is paid on all dispatched miles.In the fleet you will see cr dr er that r stands for reefer unit,and t-val has to do with the reefer trucks,and this is all in white glove,and we also do government,dod,and flat bed loads.in expedite it is very difficult to make it running solo,it can be done,but if you have high home costs,you might be in trouble.Because it is a must to run legal,the HOS really gets in the way.I know,you can do this or that,but if you get cought and the load is late,it can shut a company down,and then the expedite company has to pay the bill.you may never get cought,but there is that 1st time,so this is why we all run legal.
Expedite isnt like truck load,as our loads pay more going 1 direction,than most guys get doing a round trip.There is a lot of negativity on this site for many reasons,but in the long run,your bottom line is what your after,and the less miles you run,for the most money you will be paid is why Im here for over 20 years.What negativity you see,is mostly guys running straight trucks,to much competition.Not the same in an E unit-tractor trailer.Tractors are special,never have enough.I run team,my miles are about what a TL truck running solo are,but my revenue is higher than same truck if it were running team
Now one big draw back that you will have to get use to,since youve been driving a tractor.we dont load everyday of the week,you could sit for a couple days,but bottom line,at end of month,you will have more money than if you ran all 30 days,of course thats running team,not so in a solo operation.If you live in the right area,you can do very well solo,but if you run solo and have to have those long loads,dont expect to be very busy.you might get a long over the week end run,but then you might be in the wrong area for a solo to ever get loaded til the next week end,dont think Id like that much time off.not at home
Hope this helps

 

[mstephensr]

Re: Several Questions? Tractor Trailer

Now one big draw back that you will have to get use to,since youve been driving a tractor.we dont load everyday of the week,you could sit for a couple days,but bottom line,at end of month,you will have more money than if you ran all 30 days,of course thats running team,not so in a solo operation.If you live in the right area,you can do very well solo,but if you run solo and have to have those long loads,dont expect to be very busy.you might get a long over the week end run,but then you might be in the wrong area for a solo to ever get loaded til the next week end,dont think Id like that much time off.not at home
Hope this helps

Not Sure if I did this quote thing right or not but I guess it doesn't matter. I know these questions are all variables but just want a ballpark. If I can get personal Night Creacher, How much does a typical T/T load pay for expediting? If I were running team and were available 80-90 % of the time what kind of income potential could I have? Is it feasable to do this as a non-same household team? I would not mind to run as a team but where could I find a team driver that lived close to me? You said

Now one big draw back that you will have to get use to,since youve been driving a tractor.we dont load everyday of the week,you could sit for a couple days,but bottom line,at end of month,you will have more money than if you ran all 30 days,of course thats running team,not so in a solo operation. If you live in the right area,you can do very well solo,but if you run solo and have to have those long loads,dont expect to be very busy

Where is the right area? I live in Richmond, IN right on I-70 at the OH state line, is this a good area ( I know it is for general freight) how about expedite? If I were leased on with a company could I get my own load if they don't have any loads for me? I see most of the straight truck drivers only get home every few weeks or longer, is it feasable to go home more in a T/T since it seems there are more load opportunites, or better paying ones at least?

Thanks for your insight.

 

[terryandrene]

Re: Several Questions? Tractor Trailer

2005-2006 FedEx Custom Critical Tractor averages for solo 71,320 miles at $2.48 loaded, $1.40 all miles, available 78%

Averages for tractor team operation were 125,332 miles at $2.15 loaded miles and $1.56 all miles, available for dispatch 74%

The above figures are average for the surface expedite fleet and do not include the more lucrative White Glove Division revenues.

 

[mstephensr]

Thanks Terry and Rene,

This sounds pretty good. Do you drive a tractor for FedEXCC or straight truck? It seems that the tractor is definetely the way to go in expediting since there is always the option of general freight in slow times. Anymore feedback from anyone is welcome, especially those who run tractors.

Thanks everyone.

 

[nightcreacher]

Re: Several Questions? Tractor Trailer

2005-2006 FedEx Custom Critical Tractor averages for solo 71,320 miles at $2.48 loaded, $1.40 all miles, available 78%

Averages for tractor team operation were 125,332 miles at $2.15 loaded miles and $1.56 all miles, available for dispatch 74%

The above figures are average for the surface expedite fleet and do not include the more lucrative White Glove Division revenues.

Those averages are pretty close, but they are averages,meaning some make more others make less.Your best place to run out of would most likely be Indianapolis,this is good for teams and solos.If you decide to run solo,dont wait for the 400 and 500 mile runs.our short runs pay very well for a solo,you can make as much as 600 bucks on a 200 mile run.I dont do the load board thing,i run 100 % for fecc,as thats my bread and butter.i happen to be one thats way above the average TT and I'm not in W/G,although i do W/G loads.
I didnt notice if your going to drive someone elses truck or yours,in either event,have patience,for the 1st couple monthes do most of what loads they offer,so you can keep a diary,make note of your layover spots,and keep arecord how long you stayed in each spot,and how the loads were that came out of there,There are about 4 or 5 cities that can keep you busy running solo,doing round trips.pay a little week,but would keep you busy.Thing is,i believe in running team,after I pay my co-driver and pay for fuel,i still have more money than if I were running solo.,My co-drivers pay is in the 4 figures every week.We usually run 12 days out and 4 days home.sometimes its less sometimes its more,just depends where we are when we need to be home.