The cat got to big for me so time for a change

[hondaking38]

well today after 2.5 years with the cat, i gave her up...it was a very enjoyable couple years but the last half of the year it hasnt been profitable for me....i no, i no everyone will say, well what was your acceptance rate??? well lets just say i took the last 27 loads offered, to see what i would make if i didnt turn down any loads..most of the loads were 100-200 miles and every once in awhile they would toss me a bone...around 600 miles..expenses were made, but the pay definatly wasnt worth it for me to stay any longer..dont have anything bad per say, to say about panther except,old news, and thats too many vans..there closing in on some new accts in the near future so that will open the door to more loads..kinda felt a little wierd showing up in seville since i havent been there since orientation, finally met gilby who was my team leader,seems like a nice enough guy, i left under good circumstances,so that i would always be welcomed back...going to take this next week off to go bow hunting :7 and then go to orientation the following monday, i applied to bolt express and express 1 and am good to go for either company...do i think either one will be better then panther?? the answer is no, however sometimes it takes a change to get us out of a so called rut, met a guy from bolt on the way home and we got to discussing loads and he showed me his paperwork and i showed him mine and we compared loads and miles..it seems when they give ya a load they dont automatically tell you what it pays cause he took a load for 36 cents a mile...and when i talked to the recruiter and casually mentioned i turned down a load a while back that was 36 miles going into washington dc with a unpaid deadhead of 90 miles to pick it ,her comment was well it needs to be covered so why did i turn it down... the more i dwell on it the better express 1 looks plus ovm has been braggin up the miles, so maybe i better go find out for myself....needed the week vacation break and will be back to the grind soon enough

 

[arkjarhead]

well good luck which ever way you decide to go.

 

[LDB]

Why would anyone take a load without knowing what it paid? 36CPM? That's absolutely ridiculous. What company was the recruiter with who asked why you didn't take 36 paid with 90 unpaid deadhead? Yes, the load needs to be covered but the companies need to know you shouldn't do it under those numbers (you meaning anyone not just you). You didn't say but how did the miles/money of the Bolt driver compare to yours? Good luck with whatever you do.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
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[dhalltoyo]

The recruiter was correct!

Yep, the load needs to be covered.

Simple, they pay all miles at the loaded rate. 90 + 36 = 126 miles.

If it needs to be covered, the remuneration will be available.

 

[davekc]

Now there is a good question? How do you run something and not know what it pays?
I quess at the end of the run you tell them you aren't sure what you are going to charge?














Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[hondaking38]

sorry his numers were impressive his first week over 3000 miles, after that they fell off rapidly, he was averaging about 90 cents a mile excluding the load he took for 36 cents a mile..now he is starving like the rest of us..maybe 750 miles a week

 

[RLENT]

Brian,

I don't want to steal the thunder from your thread ..... but I'm in a similar situation myself - I just terminated our contract with our carrier effective yesterday and I will be at orientation at Bolt on Monday.

I obviously can't speak to the not getting pay info with load offers thing as I have no experience with Bolt - but I have spoken with a couple of o/o's re Bolt.

One is a former o/o and pretty much had nothing but good words for them - he was with them for several years.

Another was a current o/o who has been with them for some time (over a year I believe) This o/o was on his way to TX when I spoke to him - basically the second of back to back 1,000+ mile runs to TX. He confirmed to me that he is averaging 1500 to 2500 paid miles per week (which is what both recruiters from Bolt told me to expect)

Just curious .....

What type of a vehicle was this guy that you talked to in ?

And what was your impression of him as a business person ?

 

[hondaking38]

honestly not much he locked his keys in his van while i was talking to him...which i coat hangered out, and he has been with 5 different carriers...so i guess that says alot...i wasnt slamming bolt because next monday i will go to orientation and will run with them as long as i can.....met another driver for them but he was only working for them for a week, so i really didnt take his input too seriously,, we all no it takes a few months to get the real picture of a company, however i will let everyone know how it goes there after i give them a couple months, if its great i will say its great, if its less i will report that also..never really reported anything negative about panther during the 2.5 years with them..but sure have said a lot of great things about them...

 

[OntarioVanMan]

If you decide on E-1/ Welcome if not I too heard Bolt was good as well. they were our 2nd choice. The thing that swung in E-1's favour for us is there home country Western Mi and Indiana, Illinios and Wisc.& Minn.

 

[Moot]

Congratulations Randy! Hope all goes well for you with Bolt. Do you have that Sprinter set up to live in?

 

[RLENT]

Brian,

Glad (I think) to hear that maybe the guy might not be exactly the most reliable as far as being a source goes. Totally agree as far as giving it at least a couple of months to get any kind of an idea.

Look forward to meeting ya at orientation.

 

[RLENT]

Heya Moot !

Thanks - looking forward to spending my time running more paid miles and considerably less deadhead, hopefully.

On the Sprinter, I'm working on getting it set up. I had the Original Mattress Factory up in Cleveland (Thanks Terry !) make me up a custom sleeper mattress (36 x 66), and then I picked up some cabinet-grade oak plywood from Carter Lumber and constructed a base for my bunk, which will double as storage. I'm trying to get the last few sides of it polyurethaned now ..... I've got four coats on most of it .... but still have two sides on the inside that have none and still only one coat on the lid. Having to wait 6 hours minimum between coats and the sanding makes it seem like it takes forever.

I also picked up some of that foil bubble insulation stuff at Lowes and plan to cover any remaining exposed metal inside the van to help keep from freezing my cajones off (.... and of course, to keep the aliens and CIA from reading my thoughts while I'm out on the road)

And I have an appointment on the 9th with Uncle Ray up at Espar of Michigan to have an AirTronic heater installed.

At some point, I'll stick an inverter and proper house battery bank in it and maybe a fridge/microwave.

I forwarded the wife your "LOS SCRUBBERS CONS" post last night ..... and woke to her cackling this morning ...... and lemme tell ya - that's a sound that ya dunna wanna hear before da coffee.