Thinking about becoming a fleet driver.

guest · Feb 7, 2007

Just a few questions for anyone who has time to answer. I have been thinking about becoming an expediter and driving for a fleet owner who leases to Panther. I am getting several stories as to how many miles I am going to get. I do have a partner I will be teaming with. I have no experience, he has some cargo van experience. We are looking at driving a straight truck. I have a CDL B and am currently driving a city bus.

I am being told anywhere from 1500 miles to 6000 miles. I am aware that a lot of that depends on our initiative. But we are both really hard workers and ready to go go go. How much, to start, can we expect to get per week on average? I want to make sure this is the right decision for me and my family. Make sure the money is worth the sacrafice.

The fleet owner that we are talking to is saying that 2000 miles per week total to start is all we can expect.

Any insight?

Thanks for your time.

arkjarhead · Feb 7, 2007

main thing is to get a contract detailing how much % you will get, who will pay tolls, fuel, truck washes, maintence, how home time works. what is the procedure for quiting if you decide to do that. if the fleet owner says he doesn't do contracts or he's "old school" and a hand shake works get the heck out a dodge and find another owner. plus read some past forums about contracts and what different ones suggest needs to be on it. have a lawyer look over the contract. google the fleet owner's name to try to see if their are any lawsuits against him. main thing is cya. cover your tail.

guest · Feb 7, 2007

The fleet owner has been doing this for 8 years...drove for 2. He hasn't mentioned anything about contracts, but I haven't asked. He says that he will reimburse for all tolls and we will have a fuel card. And maintenance is up to us to keep up on, but he will reimburse.

He seems like he really knows his stuff, I am more concerned about the mileage to start. I don't know that 2000 miles a week split between 2 of us is what I am looking for. I was hoping to double that.

arkjarhead · Feb 7, 2007

I drove for a guy that was in it for 15 years and he gave me the shaft and there was nothing I could do about it because we didn't have a contract. If you don't get a contract and you get cheated you have no reason to complain. When it happened to me I didn't know any better, now you do.
the whole milage thing depends on a few factors. where you are in the country,what freight is like at that time, and what is available. no 2 weeks are the same. No one can promise you miles. what if you have a break down, or get shut down by the dot. there are so many factors that come in to play. that's why he gave you such a wide range of miles to expect. plus you have to learn where the freight is and that takes time. then you know where to go and where not to, or where you can go and usually get right back out and where you go and have to sit for a couple of days.
I'm not trying to discourge you from entering this biz but it's not a 9-5 and there are gaurentees on how much you will make a week. That's why people in this biz usually get paid %. The main thing is it's not a rose garden, and a lot of times it seems like it's feast or famine. so you have to save during feast time to be ready for the famine.
That's the truth about this line of work thru my eyes.

greg334 · Feb 7, 2007

A bit of serious advice,

Get a lawyer

Tell the person that you want the contract up front to review, many will say "sure here it is" but if they say there is no contract or no, WALK

If you get a contract, read it through yourself and than make notes of what you don't understand or copy the contract and make notes on the copy

Than hand it to the lawyer and let them read it and explain the contract to you

Then ask the questions you wrote down

Once you get that done, go back to the owner and tell him what you think you would like to have changed and if they say no, WALK.

There are more fleet owners out there looking for good drivers.

The thing about contracts is that they serve more than one purpose, mainly to protect you and the people you driver for.

If in doubt, ask questions here on EO.

RonnieJ · Feb 7, 2007

If you want good information on Panther, I would email or send a private message through this site to Davekc. He has been a fleet owner for a long time and has helped us out several times.

Ronnie

davekc · Feb 7, 2007

Thanks for the plug. Please feel free to PM me and I will be glad to help you out.

Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

Crazynuff · Feb 8, 2007

This old thread may help .http://www.expeditersonline.com/dcforum/DCForumID1/5038.html. Expediting teams don't run twice as many miles the way freight haulers doing . Teams just get longer runs .

nightcreacher · Feb 9, 2007

>Just a few questions for anyone who has time to answer. I
>have been thinking about becoming an expediter and driving
>for a fleet owner who leases to Panther. I am getting
>several stories as to how many miles I am going to get. I
>do have a partner I will be teaming with. I have no
>experience, he has some cargo van experience. We are
>looking at driving a straight truck. I have a CDL B and am
>currently driving a city bus.
>
>I am being told anywhere from 1500 miles to 6000 miles. I
>am aware that a lot of that depends on our initiative. But
>we are both really hard workers and ready to go go go. How
>much, to start, can we expect to get per week on average? I
>want to make sure this is the right decision for me and my
>family. Make sure the money is worth the sacrafice.
>
>The fleet owner that we are talking to is saying that 2000
>miles per week total to start is all we can expect.
>
>Any insight?
>
>Thanks for your time.

you have to realize,expedite isnt a high mileage business,the average load is only about 450 miles,thats on an average,as most of the loads are very short,this brings the mileage down to that.
if you can average 2000 loaded miles per week,you will be doing good,and as a team that doesnt seem like much,and not knowing what you will be making to drive the truck,you must figure if you can afford to work for that amount.in expedite its not how hard you want to work,but is there enough business to keep you busy,this is a lazy mans job,those that want to run run run,dont last very long in expedite.
now about a contract,if you are to be contarct labor,yes you need a contract,it has to state what you get paid,and what money's you are responsible for,if this is a job,(boss pays workmans comp,and takes taxes out)no contract is needed.

terryandrene · Feb 9, 2007

Rootie:

Many folks visit EO, ask for advice and then move ahead and sign on with an ownerwithout heeding any of the advice given. Pardon me if I'm wrong, but I sense you are one of those folks that are more interested in the number of miles you are likely to drive rather than the myriad details you should be considering before making the decision you are about to make.

My greatest concern for your future is in the following statement you wrote:

And maintenance is up to us to keep up on, but he will reimburse.

What does that mean? Is preapproval required by the owner? If you have a seriuos breakdown, must you pay for the tow truck ($hundreds) and the following repairs? Will owner pay for hotel during repairs? or, transportation home if repairs are extensive? How will the owner reimburse and on what time frame? Have you viewed the maintenance record for the truck? Have you talked to other drivers working for this owner? Why do they no longer work for the owner?

Will this truck earn enough money to feed three families? If the truck grosses an average of $120,000 annually, you and a partner would normally receive $72,000 which you would split after driving about 100,000 miles and spending about $24,000 on fuel.

I'm not trying to discourage you, just giving you food for thought so you have a chance to enjoy this business without worrying about repairs the truck needs.

JohnMueller · Feb 9, 2007

Rootie;

To answer your "root" question - regardless of your iniative, no carrier should promise a "set" amount of miles, nor should any driver expect a difinitive answer to the "amount of miles" question. No carrier posesses that elusive crystal ball that allows them to see exactly what any driver will do. Carriers can provide an "average" number of miles for each vehicle type. Remember that expediting is time-sensitive, red-hot, ambulance service type freight. Nothing is carved in stone.

Thanks,
HotFr8Recruiter

LDB · Feb 9, 2007

During the slow time you might think a 1500 mile week was a blessing. I can't see a 6000 mile week as being likely at all but I'm sure someone will come along and say they do it all the time. I have a team running a truck and last year they did a little over 100k miles. They had some issues that forced them to be home more than they wanted. Had they been out like they'd prefer they'd have run about 125k. As already mentioned, dividing what that truck makes into 3 buckets is going to make all 3 buckets somewhat meager. You would almost assuredly find more in your bucket if you ran solo. Teams on average do about 1.75 times the miles of a solo. That means you get 30% of 1.75 versus 60% of 1.

You should not be paying for anything and waiting for reimbursement other than the replacement headlight you need right now or new wiper blades or other bulbs or similar small immediate items. All routine maintenance and true repairs should be paid by the owner.

Get a copy of the driver contract and have an attorney review it. An hours attorney fee up front is far cheaper than week(s) worth of unrecoverable earnings or the court costs to get them.

As I've said many times, read back at least a year in the general, newbies and recruiter forums. There is a wealth of good information in there.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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