What is the most famous Expedite trucks.
- Thread starter Bruno
- Start date
Yes. Absolutely. It comes down to the individual.
Our thinking was a little different when we built our truck. We did not think about maximizing load potential. We thought about maximizing revenue. The two are not the same. Nor are the circumstances the same when carriers make changes or when you change carriers.
At the time we spec'ed our truck, we were a FedEx Custom Critical White Glove Services team, qualified to haul the full range of White Glove freight. That included TVAL freight which was very lucarative at the time. We had three years in with the company and knew for a fact that a CR-unit could do as well or better than a DR-unit. That enabled us to build a truck long on creature comforts (132-inch sleeper) and short on the box (16 feet), and to quickly pay the truck off.
Years later, policy changes at that carrier reduced our revenue and opportunities such that a move to Landstar Express America was in our best interests. That happened at the end of June, 2011, neatly dividing the year in half. While it turned out that we grossed more revenue at Landstar, there have been many times that Diane and I wished we had a larger truck body.
That is partly because FedEx Custom Critical never offered us a load that could not fit on our truck. You don't miss what you don't see. At Landstar, agents often call before they look at our truck specs. Some prefer to call and ask us if we can haul say six 48x48 skids (we can't) than to look it up on their computer.
With a 12,000 lbs. payload, weight is seldom the issue. The diminsion that hurts us now is the same one that helped us at FedEx. That is the eight inches of interior box width we give up to the insulation that makes our truck body a reefer body. It makes our box too narrow to place two 48x48 skids side by side.
It is an ongoing conversation in our truck. Do we drop the reefer and reefer body to get a dry box that can haul 48x48 skids side by side? Or do we keep the reefer and the money it makes?
Landstar does not have the reefer freight that FedEx Custom Critical had, but it does have some. Every time we get to thinking seriously about putting a dry box on the truck, a nice reefer load comes along (including the highest paying load we have ever done in eight years of expediting), that gets us thinking the reefer should stay.
P.S. If you are thinking about buying a reefer to run at Landstar Express America, I advise against it. You will not make enough money with reefer freight to pay for a brand new reefer and reefer body. It is different for us because our reefer and reefer body (and the whole truck) paid for themselves long ago.
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All ready been thought of with a cure for anyone wanting to photo shop pictures....
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
And balance it is!
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
I like that one. Thats sharp. Like the lights.
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
Only OVM would say that. LoL! I guess I'm a weak creature. I like to wake from a deep sleep on a confortable bed, make a cup of jova, eat a hot bowl of oatmeal (old folks food), able to stand and stretch my old bones out while looking out across the great tundra while listening to some great tunes on the Bose. Maybe get a call from a nice young female dispatcher, "Good morning, I have a load for you. It's a thousand miles and pays $5.00 per mile and you have 5 days to get there."
Jumped up out of bed, banged my head and realized it was all a dream.
I don't understand the photoshop quip or your reply to it. If FedEx Custom Critical is paying a shop to put the logos on a truck, they would know the logos are on. No one running with that carrier is going to take the logos off after going to the trouble to have them put on. Why would they?
If a carrier change was being made, the logos would come off but there is nothing for FedEx to worry about because the bonus would only be paid to current contractors, not those who left.
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They may not remove the logos, but they certainly could add bumper stickers and other things which would make it unacceptable for branding.
As for the "already thought of" aspect of Photoshopped pictures, that's laughable. You can Photoshop something like crazy, and then easily remove all traces of editing. Easily.
I think their concern is mostly with things being added. Like Vote for Obama Bumper stickers.
BigRed32771
Expert Expediter
Unfortunately, according to a recent email from FedExCC, this truck is no longer "brand standard" and will not be able to wear the FedExCC logo after this year.
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Why this year?
they enforcing the age thing still?
When will they learn age of the truck has little to do with the performance of the truck?
They still rank far far behind the industry leaders in this industry.
The sad thing is that once they enforce the image policies on the contractor's trucks, they become mundane and forgettable and have heard that a few times . I understand the corporate culture thing, it is simple to have one rule for all but when you think about it, FedEx is starting to suffer from a image issue, especially when the home services have been on a decline in the last few years - fedex who?