To Those of You Still Standing

[ATeam]

For use in an upcoming article in Expedite NOW, This is a request for comments from expediters who, despite the recession, are still standing in the industry and can point to some measure of success.

The question is simple. If you are still earning a good living as an expediter (whatever that means to you), what are you doing that makes it possible? Put another way, how is it that you are succeeding when others are not?

Thank you in advance for your public responses. Private replies will also be welcomed.

 

[layoutshooter]

We are doing ok Phil, not lighting up the world but going forward slowly. Most of our numbers are up year to date over the same period last year. Both Fedex figures and ours say the same thing. Our number of runs are up as well. Our bottom line is a bit lower but that is due to shorter runs. We credit this to our planning when we can into this business. We read E.O. like the bible. We tried to pay attention to those who seemed to be making it. We made sure we could do it all. Like D.O.D. clearences, art work etc. The overwhelming number of our runs this year so far have been temp control work and almost half of those have been TVAL. I cannot say if this will continue for us but we sure hope so. We are still having to overcome losing all that revenue last year when our cargo box was replaced. Things are very tight and will be for a long time due to that mess. It would not take much to do us in right now. There is one other thing that we feel is helping and that is our attitude towards our business and FedEx's business. We always put forth the best image we can. We feel that when a shippers chooses FedEx for thier shipment they are choosing the best in the Expediting business and when that shipper gets our truck they get the best team that FedEx has. Don't mistake what I am saying. I don't claim to be the best and FedEx competes with other good companies. What I am saying is that is the image we try to project. In other words, we take pride in what we do.Every load is a new business opportunity and every load gets our best possible effort. It makes no difference if that load is worth $100 or 50 million. Layoutshooter

 

[Streakn1]

If you are failing at your current carrier, and we all know that can be for many reasons, then you need to seriously consider your options. Anotherwards, if your ship is sinking, jump ship! Your future as a business could very well depend on it. As an expediter of more than five years I speak from experiance regarding this.

I know some would say that now is not the time to change carriers, especially with the economy in the state that it is. I disagree! If you are barely making ends meet or worse yet, and you see no change for the better on your horizon, then I say you have two choices. Be a noble captian and stay on the sinking ship, or be a gambler and take a chance that a move to another carrier will better your situation. Consider the odds, moving you have a 50/50 chance of improving your situation. If you stay put?

Obviously I don't suggest changing without doing a LOT of research on the prospective carrier, as not doing so would be a foolish business decision in my opinion. In fact we had been researching our current carrier for more than five years before making our move. Unfortunately many of our friends do not have that kind of time to research prospective carriers in todays economic recession. Sadly some say failure is on the horizon for them if something does'nt change soon. Moves must be made much quicker to stay solvent, thus creating a slight disadvantage.

Our new President says the current economic crisis will be with us for at least the next few years. That is not good news. The good news is there are carriers out there that are able to move trucks even in these hard economic times. They are also still welcoming good dependable drivers and O/Os. You just have to find them.

Another suggestion is to find ways to lower your overhead. Consider your equipment ie truck, trailer,etc. See if you can opterate on a less expensive rig and still be comfortable and generate as much or more revenue than you were before. Bottom line is it could mean more $$$ in your pocket, not everyone elses.

We all have our different ideas on how to be a successful expedter/small business owner. What works for one may not work for others. But sometimes drastic times call for distract measures, and we've all seen many businesses change the way they operate in hopes of staying in business. For us our tactic has worked greatly and been quite profitable. Without taking a gamble I can truely say that I question whether we would still be in business today.

It has been stated by some on this forum that as others fail and get out of expediting it will mean more freight for them which equals more revenue in their pockets. Kinda like thinning the heard. On the otherhand, I hope all can hold on and make it through to better times for us all, and it will come. It will take making good business decision and quickly recognizing the bad decisions so that changes can be made before they compromise one's business future.

Although we all work in a competitive business environment, I for one don't want to prosper because of a fellow expediters financial demise. Rather I want that prosperity to come my way because of the service and rates my carrier and I provide our customers.

 

[moose]

. We read E.O. like the bible. . Layoutshooter

(The book of justices , EO 12:05 )
"One shell send donation to the Moose..."

 

[layoutshooter]

LOL!!! Are those donations tax deductable? You are most likely a charity case!!!! HEHEHE
Layoutshooter

 

[spudhead911]

Hi Phil,

The most important thing is we know our bottom line. We know how much we need to make to break even and make a profit. If we can't make a profit we don't take the load, there are exceptions, like if we want to make a move to an area where there might be more freight we will take a load at our break even cost, and sometimes, but rarely lose a few bucks, but only if it is to our benefit to move. We watch fuel prices very carefully, it helped very much, especially when the price of fuel was really high. We have slowed down our speed. Slowing down our speed has increased our mpg by up to one mpg, this is a great money saver and costs nothing to do, just drive slower. We do not idle our truck. An APU is a necessity these days, the investment in an APU both extends your main engine life and saves you money by not having to idle your main engine. Weather permitting we shut down the APU and set it to auto start to keep out batteries charged. We check our tire inflation, this has saved us money both on mpg and tire life. We got over 165,000 miles on our steer tires. We make sure we do all our preventive maintenance on schedule. We have our APU oil and filter changed when we have the same done to the truck, even though it might not be time for the APU to be serviced. We figure the small extra cost is worth it, the small engine on the APU works hard so we figure the early service might extend the engine life. We eat more in the truck and less at truck stops, fast food joints and other places. One thing I should have mentioned at the beginning is that we spec 'd our truck to fit our needs and to earn the most money we could. We are a full WG CR T-VAL unit. We have every Clarence necessary to haul all freight FedEx CC handles. We chose to go with a class 8 truck with an automated transmission. We get the same mpg as most class 7 trucks do with the advantage of the class 8 engine and chassis. We also chose to go with a C unit. We have not noticed any decline in our income going with the C unit, and have four less tires to replace having just one real axle. We also make sure we have all scheduled maintenance done on the reefer unit. We have bought a set of Air Tabs, but have not installed them yet. When we do, we expect to increase our mpg. We are always looking for ways to be more profitable. We read industry publications, read the EO forums, talk to fellow expediters, we use any and all means to find ways to save money and increase our income.

 

[Wingnut]

I have had to change some things in order to keep my company afloat. I cut back on how often the trucks get washed. I shop around more and play the 'let's make a deal game' when it comes to buying tires. I also try to have hubby do the oil changes, lubes, and other maintenace on the trucks as much as we can instead of haivng to pay someone else to do it, like speedco. Our drivers buy fuel at places like TA, where they get a good discount thru our carrier. The drivers also check for proper tire inflation more ofen than they ised to. We buy things like wipers, wash fluid, etc at places like walmart where it's cheaper than at most truck stops. Doing all these things has helped us and our drivers to save $$$$$ and keep afloat.

 

[inkasnana]

We drive for a fleet owner so we do not have the overhead that owning a truck has attached to it. We do, however, try to keep costs as low as we can for the owner, such as slowing down to improve mpg and making sure the tires are properly inflated. We keep a close eye, and ear, on the truck to try and catch any mechanical problems before they become major breakdowns, and we make sure to have all PM's done on time.

We have a very pro-active relationship with the owner and our carrier, and regularly discuss where we should go after delivering to be in the best position for another load. We seriously consider those short runs that we might have turned down in better times, deciding if the delivery point would put us in, or closer to, a better freight area.

For our own side of our business, we prepare all of our meals in the truck and regularly stop at a Walmart to restock groceries and other needed items. We invested in a small electric skillet, a rice cooker, a sandwich maker, a toaster and a 4-cup coffee maker so food preparation is easy. This saves a lot of money over the cost of truck stop restaurants and fast food places.

We buy gallons of drinking water and packets of Walmart brand sugar-free kool-aid for our drinks throughout the day. We recycled a couple Aquafina water bottles and just refill them with water, add the kool-aid and we're good to go. Not only is it healthier than drinking soda all day but it's a lot cheaper.

The extreme slow down in freight and the economy has had some pitfalls for us though. We were no longer able to afford the $2,000 a month that our home was costing us so we had to let it go. It was a difficult decision but we are in a much better position now financially. We have a room at my daughters house to go "home" to and the money that was going to the payment and utilities of a home we only visited a few days a month is now going into savings.

We carry enough clothes in the truck so that we can wait until we go home to do laundry rather than spend 2 to 3 dollars or more per load at a truck stop. We avoid truck stops that charge for parking and we put all of our spare change in a small bucket. It adds up fast!

We aren't getting rich right now, but we are making ends meet and then some. As long as we can continue to have some extra money to put in savings each week I think we can weather the recession and survive until the economy turns around. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, we just have to hold on until we get to it.

 

[layoutshooter]

Look at the Culligan re-fill stands in most Super Wally-Worlds. The price for a gallon of water is between $.29-33 per. We bought the bottles the first time since they have screw on tops that work. We have had the same 6 bottles for over two years now. Many other grocery stores have similar stands. Layoutshooter

 

[inkasnana]

Look at the Culligan re-fill stands in most Super Wally-Worlds. The price for a gallon of water is between $.29-33 per. We bought the bottles the first time since they have screw on tops that work. We have had the same 6 bottles for over two years now. Many other grocery stores have similar stands. Layoutshooter

That's a great idea that I never even thought about. It will be a lot cheaper than buying pre-filled gallons every week. Thanks!

 

[layoutshooter]

You are very welcome. That is what I really like about this site, everyone here has little tips to make life work better. I learn lots of cool things from others and try to pass on what we have learned. Layoutshooter

 

[broker]

I want to make this clear, we are not recommending anyone do what we are doing. This is what is working for us.
We are 3 month newbies, driving for a fleet owner.

Held to our original promises, to both the owner and carrier.
Examples:
In last 30 days we have been 100% on time, 100% In Service and 100% acceptance.
We have treated the truck like it was our own.
Have worked with the owner as a "team" player.

And never turn down a California run, especially when it pays $5,000.
Sorry ATeam, just couldn't resist that.

Are putting money in the bank every week.

BIG JOHN and Kathy

 

[DougTravels]

I'm stiil standing, but beginning to lean a little. I'm coming off of 3 pretty good years, 52k, 65k and 64k, so I can survive a little longer. If I were to judge this business by the last 3 months, I would put my tail between my legs and run. It has been real bad, I'm not really doing much different to save more money now. I guess that I've always tried to conserve out here. I've always tried to limit idleing and speed, and keep a close eye on maintainence. If the truck market was better, maybe I would think about getting out. I will not sell my truck for pennies on the dollar just to get into something else.

Here's to a profitable rest of the year for all of us!

 

[jeffman164]

Ontariovanman . Did I read that correctly when you said that if I use EZ Pass , it would be 50% less than if I paid by cash ?? I also drive a van . Thank You !!

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Ontariovanman . Did I read that correctly when you said that if I use EZ Pass , it would be 50% less than if I paid by cash ?? I also drive a van . Thank You !!

That discount is mostly in Illinois going thru Chitown and Indiana Toll road....
and it doesn't matter I-Pass, I-Zoom...all the same

 

[aileron]

Like Doug, I don't have anything else that I can do now that I have not been doing. I started all these things about a year ago when the fuel started going up.

I slowed down a lot and saw a big difference in mileage, don't eat out any more, drink only water that I refill at walmart or publix (win-win situation, healthier for the body than sodas and save money). I don't pay for showers, just take advantage of fueling at the J where I get half a shower for fueling 20 gallons, very rarely I do laundry on the road, only when I really need to, otherwhise I do it when I get home. I do my own maintenance, including tire rotations ( Funny thing, I was rotating my tires in a TA's parking lot one day and a fellow expediter pulled beside me and said that it doesn't look good. I reply that there is no problem, I just rotate my tires. He replies that he never does that becase 'It looks too much like work' and walmart only charges $20 for that. I said nothing at his comment and he pulled away. You know, I am not afraid to work. I look at it this way: not having to pay $20 for a half an hour work -or less- is just like making $40 or more an hour). I don't buy parts or suplies from truck stops, always go to Walmart or regular auto parts stores. I am sure I do a few other things, but cannot think about them now.

 

[ATeam]

Thank you for the replies so far. This post is just to bump the request back to the top of the page. My deadline approaches.

 

[nightcreacher]

Phil,in a tractor,as most know,our competition is much less,as far less trucks.The only thing I've run into,is i was solo part of Jan and part of Feb,in Jan only was away from home 1 week,and Feb the same.The offers were slow,so was easier to sit home than on the road.
The 2 weeks I was out in Feb,we did mostly DOD loads,was off then 10 days, while co driver finally decided to quit.Back to work 6 days,was taken out of W/G cause of co-driver not a citizen(one day wasnt going happen,next day it did)we just broke $5000 and might be able to get off one more.I will say,when things are slow,I layover where I want,not company wants.Any express center bogged down with trucks is only asking for trouble.We delivered friday in Mississippi,on way to our layover,got a run picking up on saturday,not a great run,but anytime you can deliver on monday,its a bonus

 

[Jack_Berry]

That discount is mostly in Illinois going thru Chitown and Indiana Toll road....
and it doesn't matter I-Pass, I-Zoom...all the same

works everywhere except the O and K states. i am told that ohio is coming onboard with the ipass/ezpass system this year leaving only 2 states you still need to dig in your pocket.

 

[nightcreacher]

works everywhere except the O and K states. i am told that ohio is coming onboard with the ipass/ezpass system this year leaving only 2 states you still need to dig in your pocket.

ohio is changing to axles from weight,going to hurt a bunch of tractor trailers