When will buisness pick up?

[tbird165]

Last month January me and my wife were out all month. We laid over alot waiting for loads one time for a whole week. We tried everything deadheading to different areas and cities to get freight and all that. I heard alot of talk on the CB that January and July are slow months in trucking in general. Is this true? When will it pick up? I heard by the middle of Feburary. Have any of you noticed it got slow in Juanuary? Is this normal? Thanks for all the info.

 

[TJ959]

There are those who will tell you that they were never slow in January. Especially this year. My belief is that they are either very lucky or being less than truthful. January has always been my slowest month of the year. It also seems that size does matter. The smaller the truck the slower business seems to be. Last year I had a very slow January through April. I think this may be effected by the company you are leased to. My company is mostly (90%) automotive freight. Last spring automotive freight was very slow. I was far busier when I was in a "D" truck and with a more general freight company. Moving to a Sprinter may have been a mistake looking back at it, but it's very difficult to run profitable and compliant in a "D" truck as a single driver. I hope things pick up for you and I know how you feel. It can be very discouraging when you're not making money and you have plenty of time to sit and dwell on your situation. Good luck and hang in there. There is always someone who will tell you they are doing great but the time to worry is when everyone else is doing great and you are not. Then its time to change something.

 

[terryandrene]

TBird:

By now, it's no secret to you that expediting is can be a fickle business. The time worn phrase about expediting being the ambulance service of the trucking industry becomes apparent to new folks every January and July. As TJ mentiond, the bigger trucks tend to be busier than the smaller trucks and some carriers also tend to be busier than others. If you are in a D truck you should be as busy as the many D folks with whom I've talked this year. As a B, I've been very slow. I've received 3 run offers during the past 10 days. I've been home in St Louis area since Monday night and might not get going again until tomorrow (Fri). If I lived in the Chicago area, I would most likely get an offer every day.

Your carrier should have someone in the office that could help you identify the areas that you should avoid. You might also consider sending a PM to someone in the Forum who is leased to the same company and drives the same truck size driven by you and your wife. Or, you could also state you carrier and truck in these forums and someone might have some more specific comment than I have. No need to be secretive about your carrier.

 

[bamamule]

yep but try and stay north as much as you can seen
ms to bemore expiditers out this year to

 

[tbird165]

Well I do live in Chicago went in service Monday and it is not that busy here at all still waiting for a load I talked to the owner of my truck and he has trucks with other companies than the one I am with and they are saying the same thing so I must not be me or the company I am with. Its just slow and have to work thru it right? Thanks for the info oh by the way I am with All State Express and the owner of my truck has a fleet of 50 and he has trucks with Panther and FedEx just to name a few. There drivers with them companies are slow as well right now. Thanks for the info :7

 

[tbird165]

What is the difference between a D truck and a B truck me and the wife are in a straight truck with a 24 foot box 84 inch sleeper 33,000 GVW is that a B truck?

 

[greg334]

It's slow?

 

[tbird165]

Yep been in service waiting for a load here in Chicago for more than 48 hours. :-(

 

[panther_art]

Do you want to know if things are picking up or when they start to pick just come to these forums and see how many messages are posted in the last couple of days.
When its slow you will see a lot of post from those thats been doing this for a long time, when it gets busy you may not see a post from some of the oldtimers (I don't mean age old) for weeks at a time.

Thats true if you go back and read some of the old post you can almost pick up on when things are busy.

Panther Art

 

[Dispatched]

tbird....

Get yourself a http://www.getloaded.com/ account

Ive used it diligently for 1 1/2 years & I don't sit.

Once you've covered numerous loads off the board, you'll also be obtaining contacts with various brokers. These brokers can assist you in many ways once a good relationship has been established. I have accumulated a list exceeding 30 brokers and I make it a point of checking in with them monthly. Even if it's just to say "HI", I call them and at least make them aware i'm still an active carrier. If you REALLY work the boards and the broker network, you'll rarely sit.

You'll also need to do a little legwork [and legal advise]in how to haul loads without dragging your current carrier into the financial cut of the load profits. If all you have are door signs it's a very EZ workaround. If you're a bill-boarded box.......then it's a call you'd have to make. [but can be done] The cost to legally haul your own loads far out-weigh the frustrations of sitting. I own my own truck and I certainly am entitled to run my business profitably. I feel I had to take measures to ensure this vehicle is a rolling revenue machine.

I used these folks to get all my paperwork in order:

http://www.truckingstartupservice.com/

Trucking Start-Up Services, LLC
Post Office Box 980 Cumming, Georgia 30028

National Toll Free: (866) 419-3812
Atlanta: (770) 205-0218
Fax: (866) 836-4742

 

[layoutshooter]

Not setting the world on fire but we beat last years Jan numbers and Jan '06 was our 4th best month of the year. Feb was much slower. Layoutshooter.

 

[bryan]

Hi

Yep its slow here also.Its a good time to go home and do a complete check up of the truck and my equipment.That way when it picks back up I can stay out longer.Also its tax time.

Good luck.

 

[MSinger]

You are a "D" unit. "B" units are cargo vans.

 

[MR.SNAPPY]

This is my first post in 2007 and one of my goals this year is to keep a positive attitude so with that being said I would have to say that January has been my best month this year and Hope that February will be even better.this is my 4th year in the exipediting and I have learned that this is the time of year to spend a little more time at home and with the proper planning this can be done.I wish the best for every one and just hang in there it will get better.and please be safe MR.SNAPPY

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Good way to put it, MrSnappy!

"If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know." - Kansas

 

[tallcal101]

Just updated all the trucks with bigger,more powerful refers.Love the real cold and the real warm climate we're having.Bad for the shippers,great for the climate controls.Since FEDEX put the kabosh on new W/G units,the fleet is lean and mean.

 

[slfisher45]

Is it Mrs Nappy or Mr Snappy, I couldn't tell? What I could tell from the following quote of your post was

Mrs Nappy wrote,
"This is my first post in 2007 and one of my goals this year is to keep a positive attitude so with that being said I would have to say that January has been my best month this year and Hope that February will be even better."

I have to believe that you have a great sense of humor. That being said January was my best month so far this year also. I imagine it was for everyone else too....

 

[Outside_the_Box]

Dispatched,

Very good post.
You don't have to jump the fence to get to greener pastures you just have to water the pasture you're in.



Remember, always think.........

Outside_the_box

 

[Turtle]

For the month of January I had 8693 loaded miles. That's an average of 2173 per week. A little slow, as I usually average right at 2500 miles a week. Then again, I was out of service until Jan 8 and was only in-service for 24 days. Over 24 days, that comes out to 2535 per 7 days. A lot of it, busy or slow, is where you are and how many others are in the same place. I've had very slow months when others are talking about how busy they are.

 

[ABEJR2004]

I guess it's a little slower than we would all like. Doing ok but had a slow start and the middle of the month was good, fell off a little this week, but I beleive in my case it was just my layover locations + I am sure there is alot of low bidding going on right now by a lot of companies to try and keep drivers moving & keep busy. Had alot of offers but only a few fell through.


AbeJr
TranStewart #6680
Stand Tall & Be Proud