Why we did this....

mrgoodtude · Oct 14, 2006

Were you there to see your 1st born?
Have you ever seen...
Frampton in concert?
The Cubs win a series?
Saints win a superbowl?
Cirque du soleil live? (any version)
Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when a jet hit the 1st tower?
We did this to see what not many people ever get to see....
We thought we could have the best of both worlds and we did.....
That was then, this is now, it has been such a fun ride it REALLY HAS BEEN.
I wish the very best for you all that keep the faith and wish to continue down your chosen path, but please accept this as a sign to reevaluate your goals and decide if your needs are being met.
This is a lame azs post but my heart is with you all, my intent is only to motivate you to look inside yourself and be content with what you see.
As for us, we have pushed the envelope and reaped the rewards......
We are blessed beyond reproach.
In short, if I perished tomorrow it has been a "great" ride but the segment of my free ride life called expedite is done and as I move on I implore you, the potential replacement, to scrutinize all info available to you should you consider same.
I can only compare my scenario to a time share that is 80% occupied and you may be the sales person trying to take my place with only 20% shares to sell, if you are a TRUE salesman then go for it....if not then lets do something lucrative....
Your friends,
Mike and Cyn

P.S. Cynthia had to make some corrections to spelling (HAHA)

Coco · Oct 14, 2006

We have been expediting for 2 1/2 years. We did this out of necessity. We do like what we are doing and can't imagine working a traditional job. But, we were looking for a job when we found this one.

I wish you all the luck (a fout letter word spelled w-o-r-k) one could possibly have and regret that we did not get to meet you. You will be missed!

dhalltoyo · Oct 14, 2006

Me too! It was a necessity for me.

Corporations tend to not hire folks when they hit 55.

Why?

Because the cost of their health care expense increases by 40% or more. They just let you go and hire somebody who is 40.

I'd much rather be home every night, but one does what one has to do to pay the bills.

I have a bunch of folks praying that I will get a dedicated run and that would be an answer to prayer. I believe it will happen. Hey, if you think about it, send up a few more for me! It couldn't hurt.

Thanks.

My best to you Mike and Cyn.

cheri1122 · Oct 14, 2006

Mike & Cynthia,
Your good sense, good ideas, good humor, and good "tude" will be missed. Be well, and happy, wherever you are, and send me a mailing address, I'll send your shirts as a reminder that you have a lot of friends here.

terryandrene · Oct 14, 2006

Thanks for your support when Rene' was in need of well wishes; we now wish you well on your next journey.

Terry and Rene'

darkunicorn · Oct 15, 2006

David or any one with any sort of cancer and marked terminal by 3 doctors, dorks gave me 1 maybe 2 years 7 years last January, as if they know it all? I have a rare form of Lymphoma by the time they found out I had it also, it had spread from Lymph nodes to my prostrate and they thought liver didnâ€™t let them do any more tests if I was really going out in 2 years going to make the best of what I had left. Some how wound up here but am enjoying it mostly, Iâ€™m 3rd generation trucker swore Iâ€™d never do this for a living but now donâ€™t think I would do any thing else! Course donâ€™t have a family at home either kids lived/live with mom 1 left at home and 16 and knows it all of course. as some of you may of learned I donâ€™t give up easily at all. Just too darn stubborn, I guess Iâ€™ll be done when Iâ€™m done not one second sooner! If I died tomorrow I know I can say I may not have done it right but I did the best I could, didnâ€™t give up, give in, or settle for any thing. I done things and saw things most people never dreamed of. I have shook the hand of 5 presidents,climbed the ice face of MT McKinley, free climbed devils hand,was the first to do a HALO jump on purpose, walked on all contents except Antarctica, been to the north pole flew over the south pole, my buddy Johnny Beamer (once the Armyâ€™s #1 pilot) and best friend for many years may he rest in peace said that would have to do! your not getting an assignment down there youâ€™re a combat vet And weapons of any kind are not allowed, so ok I did settle once but Iâ€™m not dead yet

Iâ€™m not giving up on Expediting either yet but am moving on to a new company I still determined to leave some thing behind my kids can say dad started.
Ok now you all know more about me than Â½ my family and some of my close friends!

any way good luck Michael!

Alvin

Broompilot · Oct 15, 2006

No I have never seen the Cubs Win a World Series, or the Lions in the Superbowl.

BUT I GOT SOME GREAT NEWS, THE TIGERS IN THE WORLD SERIES

A G A I N.........................

Broompilot · Oct 15, 2006

As for the the delivery room..... Big mistake on my Brides part if she was planning on more..

WAS NOT THE PLACE FOR ME, I still cannot watch a baby being born even on TV so when my daughter has a baby (no time soon) Oh Grand Dad (ME) aint gona be in there nope not me no sir do not care do see that again.

Heck I dont bring my dog on the road just incase she got sick in my truck, cause one sicky makes this one sick. Cannot deal with it, this from a guy who cleaned toilets for a living. I just do not understand myself when it comes to this stuff, so dont try to change me please.....

wallytrucker1 · Oct 15, 2006

I am confused by your post. Have you two decided to leave the business because of lack of revenue or lack of an exciting lifestyle that this career once offered you. I also miss some of the events you highlighted but we all have events in our life that we probaly would have not have had if not for expediting. If reasons are revenue related, there are other companies. I have only been at this a short time but certainly prefer it to other areas of trucking I have worked in. I enjoy the lifestyle for the most part and when I do start to burn out,I find it mostly to be self-inflicted since sometimes I choose to stay gone. I don't know if it's greed or a small inner voice saying "make it now, January is coming". If your decision is to leave, I wish you the best. I have enjoyed your insights and sense of humor. Keep us posted on your future plans.

highway star · Oct 15, 2006

I was there for the birth of both of my sons. Seeing your children come into the world is, for me, an indescribable feeling. The first one was a bit scary. The cord was wrapped around his neck and his heartbeat started becoming very weak. After being turned to unwrap the cord everything went fine. I did see Frampton in concert. As I recall, in the 70's it was required that young people own at least one copy of "Frampton Comes Alive".

Anyway, best of luck to you in the future. Don't be a stranger here.

mrgoodtude · Oct 15, 2006

Thank's to everyone for the great replies..
We have both been down in the dumps a little of late and you guy's and gals really lifted our spirits.
We are waiting to see what happens this week and take it from there, we have a "really great" fleet owner and don't want to leave him in a lurch.
Our decision to leave would strictly be a monetary one, the last 2 years have been a blast and we have managed to see more in that time than most people get to do in a lifetime but we need to make a "decent living to boot".
I have been on the crap end of a stagnant industry before and don't wish to back there again, not saying the same will happen to expedite but the signs are that history can repeat itself. I am somewhat of a paranoid sort but reinventing oneself although sometimes rewarding can be tiring .Whatever happens going forward it is our intent to log on and annoy someone on occasion.
Again, thanks
Mike and Cyn

guest · Oct 15, 2006

Well, in my time in this wild and crazy business I started out not knowing anything about expediting and almost lost my 1st truck because I "Didn't plan to Fail, I failed to plan". I was 6 months behind on my truck payment at one time back in 1995. I ran my butt off and got it all caught up and then went on to have 4 trucks with Robert's Express and then get told you can't have your altisic Child because you drove truck.

I got myself a great Lawyer and took on Summit county for custody of my child and won. Having Driver's fighting going down the road at 45 mph 400 yards from where the truck was parked and doing $28,000 in damage to the truck and leaving the city they was in without power for over 24 hrs was not fun. Man you should have seen what an Fl 70 can do to 2 telephone poles and what they can do to a trucks sleeper.

Then I got married and went threw a nasty divorce. I sold one truck that was paid for for $1000.00. It was worth $35000.00. But Diddn't want my ex to get anything so I sold all of them but one. It took me 3 years to get divorced. Then a year later I ran into some I knew when I was in Jr High and had a crush on back then. Having to start all over in this business was not fun. I was lucky that my wife knew alot about this business because she worked for a different company as a agent.

She was God sent, She moved into my house in Akron, Ohio and we started building our business again. Then the world came Crashing Down on me with everything. I got sick in Jan of 05 and couldn't work for 3 weeks then when I did go back to work my son Got sick and my wife couldn't get ahold of me to tell me to come home because my clink was off and I didn't have no phone service. She was going crazy. When she did get ahold of me she was in tears telling me to get home as fast as I can That they didn't think my son would live.

Then when we are at the hospital a driver hit skips my truck running over the truck and dragging it from where it was parked. So know I'm home and my Co driver can't even run by himself because my truck is messed up. It was hard but we make it. We took the down time money and got our 2nd truck. Then my wife got some bad news her, mother had Cancer and was only given a year to live.

So now was we driving to Cleveland everyday from Akron to be with my son and then going to Medina to be with her mother. So we started looking for a house that was big enough to take care of here Mom and Dad and my son. We found the house we live in today in Seville, Ohio.

We told her mom that we was going to bring her there so we could take care of her. we signed the paper on the the house June 1st and her mom passed away june 28th. So we are still waiting on our house to close and her father which is 80 years old trips over one of the dogs toys and broke his hip. I was thinking when is this all going to end.

So now we are back to going to 2 differnt hospitals again each day. In the mean time business is doing good at FedEx and we got our 1st White Glove Truck from a friend getting out of the business.

So we closed on out house on a friday and getting ready to move in on Sunday when my wife had to be taken to the hospital to had her gald bladder taken out. She was there 9 days. I was going Crazy trying to move and deal with all of this. Then one of our driver's pass out at the wheel of the truck when he was driving. Thank God his co driver was smart enough to pull the parking break. Thanks to Tony Amoto the was no accident.

So this business and home life can be crazy at times. when it rains it it really does fall hard sometimes.

Drive Safe
David Mayfield
O/O since 1/27/95

TeamCaffee · Oct 15, 2006

mrgoodtude I hope that all works our for you and you can stay and if that doesnt work your next segment of your life will be great. We are also going to miss your posts so stay in touch either way.

cheri1122 · Oct 16, 2006

If you don't see the door that opens when this one closes, go in through a window - you're around my age, & we haven't got that much time to waste. (I meant that metaphorically - burglary may be lucrative, but it's not for the inexperienced)
Seriously, let us know how you're doing, ok?