So i have been really considering getting into the expediting business . I like to drive im single no kids and am a solitary person for the most part and driving for a living is something i have been wanting to do for a long time. I have been looking around talking to alot of recruiters for information but i would like drivers opinions as well. I know its going to be a huge learning experience. I plan on going down to a dealership and financing a van . one of my questions is . is it smart to start off in a new van with a payment attached . I dont have alot of bills outside that so as long as i can afford to pay for the truck and insurance and make a little for me until i get some experience in and get the hang of things and possibly make it a little more profitable for me. Im pretty much set on doing expediting and would like as much advice for starting out as possible.
Thinking about getting into Expediting
- Thread starter jerry015
- Start date
Jerry, welcome to EO.
I would strongly suggest that you dont buy anything right away. Drive for an owner for 6 months, learn the ropes of expediting, and see if you can stand it. Some people cant stand the sitting, and in this business you will sit. If you dont like it, you can turn the van back to the owner and walk away, something you cant do if you buy a van.
And, if you decide to buy something, make sure you have about 6 months of expenses in reserves somewhere. You dont want a breakdown to put you out of business.
Good luck.
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You probably know people working as plumbers, bookkeepers, paralegals and other professions. They all trained and studied for their careers. Expediting is a career as well and should be taken just as seriously with just as much preparation. At the very least you should read back a few years in the General, Newbies and Recruiter forums here. You don't need to read every single word but you should read every thread title and every word of all that seem remotely applicable to your situation.
The advice of starting small as it were is good advice. If you commit to a $40k van plus all the work to prep it properly and find this isn't for you the loss will be significant. You won't make much money working for an owner but if you find an honest owner to work for and if you have decent luck as far as loads and locations you'll make enough to eat at every meal time. Good luck.
The advice of starting small as it were is good advice. If you commit to a $40k van plus all the work to prep it properly and find this isn't for you the loss will be significant. You won't make much money working for an owner but if you find an honest owner to work for and if you have decent luck as far as loads and locations you'll make enough to eat at every meal time. Good luck.
You may find some advertising here in the classifieds. Some of the major carriers also will have a section in their recruiting that tries to match drivers with owners. The most common split is 60/40. The 60% side pays for the fuel and should get 100% of the fsc money paid on the loads. The 40% side is the simplest. Whatever the load pays in mileage or linehaul pay you get 40%. If it's a per mile company paying 80cpm then you get 32cpm for every loaded mile. Run 1000 loaded miles and you make $320. If you're on the 60% side you'd get $480 plus the fsc money which would likely be $160 or so with today's fuel prices. That would be $640 total, double the money, but with all the fuel costs coming out of that.
To run 1000 paid miles you'll have deadhead before and after the loads so you'll have to buy maybe 1200-1250 miles worth of fuel. That's probably 70 gallons give or take or around $280 give or take. From the $640 that leaves $360. That's better than the $320 but the $320 is absolute based on the scenario given and the $360 is speculative depending on fuel prices, fuel economy (partly controllable by you depending on the amount of control you have of your right foot) and the fuel economy of the van.
To run 1000 paid miles you'll have deadhead before and after the loads so you'll have to buy maybe 1200-1250 miles worth of fuel. That's probably 70 gallons give or take or around $280 give or take. From the $640 that leaves $360. That's better than the $320 but the $320 is absolute based on the scenario given and the $360 is speculative depending on fuel prices, fuel economy (partly controllable by you depending on the amount of control you have of your right foot) and the fuel economy of the van.
The biggest problem with running for an owner first, in a van, is all the sitting you'll do in a van combined with making no money because you're splitting it with the owner. That right there can turn a lot of people off in a hurry. My advice would be to take $5000 to $8000 CASH and buy a good used van, then put a couple of grand (whatever) in maintenance into it to make sure it's road worthy (belts, hoses, any wear parts that haven't been replaced recently that are likely to go), and have about $5000 in the bank left over for emergencies and to live on while you're learning.
You run it, paid for, for a year or so as your trial-and-error van, while you learn how the income comes in and goes out, what you want to do and not do to your new van insofar as outfitting it for living in, and whether or not you want to stay in the business at all. If not, you're not out much, and you can keep and use the van or sell it. If you want to stay in the business you'll then have the knowledge and experience on how to minimize your mistakes that will be rather costly with a new van that you're making payments on. Mistakes made with a used but paid-for van are no big deal, but mistakes made with a new van take on a certain level of gravity that can pull you down. Even something as fundamental as how you outfit the van for living, a mistake with a used van that you're not going to keep for more than a year or two is a trial and error learning experience, but the same mistakes with a brand new van becomes an error that will try you, because the trial is over.
Meanwhile, you're banking money to put down on a new van a year later. If you can pay cash for a new one, or close to it, then you're that much ahead of the game from the start. The learning curve out here goes right through the wallet. You can flatten that curve a great deal if it doesn't have to go through a bank payment first.
You run it, paid for, for a year or so as your trial-and-error van, while you learn how the income comes in and goes out, what you want to do and not do to your new van insofar as outfitting it for living in, and whether or not you want to stay in the business at all. If not, you're not out much, and you can keep and use the van or sell it. If you want to stay in the business you'll then have the knowledge and experience on how to minimize your mistakes that will be rather costly with a new van that you're making payments on. Mistakes made with a used but paid-for van are no big deal, but mistakes made with a new van take on a certain level of gravity that can pull you down. Even something as fundamental as how you outfit the van for living, a mistake with a used van that you're not going to keep for more than a year or two is a trial and error learning experience, but the same mistakes with a brand new van becomes an error that will try you, because the trial is over.
Meanwhile, you're banking money to put down on a new van a year later. If you can pay cash for a new one, or close to it, then you're that much ahead of the game from the start. The learning curve out here goes right through the wallet. You can flatten that curve a great deal if it doesn't have to go through a bank payment first.
paullud
Veteran Expediter
It is normally on dispatched miles but you will find the real miles are more than dispatched miles. It isn't a huge difference but it will be noticeable. Some companies may not pay fuel surcharge on deadhead but that's something you should ask when you are looking at companies. Be careful about the owner you choose and research them on sites like www.ripoffreport.com because the company you drive for will pay the van owner who then pays you. If you just sign up with someone without research you may find that last step gets skipped and then you are stuck trying to sue or just losing the money. I would go with a bigger company like FedEx or Panther to learn the ropes.
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ebsprintin
Veteran Expediter
what turtle said. follow the links in my signature line for other thoughts on starting out.
eb
eb