Driver Lifestyles

Driver Profile: The Rinard's

"Ed and Cathy are excellent contractors!  Their on-time performance and willingness to take any shipment that we send their way have kept them running hard. It is always a pleasure to talk with contractors who are just as excited about the 50 mile run as the 500 mile run."

So says Stacie Moss, Operations Manager of Toledo, Ohio-based Bolt Express.  She's speaking of Edward and Cathy Rinard of Grand Rapids, MI who are relative newcomers to expediting with just over a year in the business.

Beginnings
Edward had worked in a factory for 27 years before becoming a victim of company downsizing. Cathy drove a school bus and a bus for the disabled as well as managing her own day care business.  She says that when it was time to make a career move, "I didn't want to go back into an office setting, and I couldn't make any money driving the school bus.  You know how it is when you're in your 40's and there are college graduates working in McDonalds...."  

"Edward and I decided to pool our experience and hit the road."She continues, "One of the guys who Edward worked with had gone into expediting.  We talked to him and a couple of other people in the business.  We also went online for information as well as talking to drivers in general trucking.  I already had my Class B license.  I had the experience driving a truck, but not a tractor-trailer."

"I love to drive and we've always wanted to see the country.  Edward took an accelerated course at a truck driving school and and I helped him in his training as well."

So, how does she compare driving school bus to expediting in a straight truck?

"Driving the straight truck is actually easier and besides, I like cargo that doesn't talk back."

A different approach
Prospective expediters are typically told to 'drive for someone else and don't invest your money in a truck until you've got some experience in the business.' 

That's usually sage advice, but the Rinard's took a different route into expediting.  Says Cathy,"We talked to drivers who were driving for owners and they were making no money, so I say, if you're going to do it, do it!" 

"Driving for an owner means that you're working for someone else - you've got a boss on your back.  We always wanted the independence of working for ourselves."
 
She goes on to say, "We can turn down loads and we go home when we want - we don't ask anyone's permission.  Of course, we have all the responsibilities of truck ownership - it's our truck, our maintenance, our breakdowns and everything else."

Cathy recommends that the prospective expediter researches the expedited carriers before signing the lease: 
"With our first carrier, we would be missing loads on our paperwork, missing money from the settlements and we found they were keeping fuel surcharge money.  It's important to check out the company you're considering.  Talk to drivers with that company, but not the drivers the recruiter refers you to.  You want the good and the bad."
 
Another viewpoint of the Rinard's that some would say flies in the face of conventional wisdom is: 
"Start with a new truck."

"Our first truck was a 2000 Freightliner FL70 and it had 600,000 miles on it when we decided to go with a new truck.  We had two major breakdowns in Texas and  we spent a total of $8,000 in one month on repairs.

We said, 'enough is enough, we might as well be making truck payments.'"

The 2005 Expedite Expo was a turning point for the couple.  They went looking for a new carrier and a new truck, and found both!

Cathy tells us, "We were there looking for another company to lease with.  We were all set to go with one company, but the recruiter wasn't there that day." 

"We went to see Mark Heiges at Bolt Express and found him to be honest and straightforward.  Edward was tired of the nonsense we had seen with our previous company so he was outspoken when talking to Mark, but Mark handled it very well.  One thing that he said that impressed us was, 'Look, if you're not making money with us, then we're not makingmoney.'"
 
She says, "Something we liked about Bolt was that the company is small enough that we're not going to get lost in the system."

"We also met Wes and Heath Wood from Middle Georgia Freightliner-Isuzu at the Expo and basically ordered our new truck then and there."

"They're got great people down there  What other dealer do you know where a woman can buy a truck over the phone and have everything done when you get there?"  

Cathy continues, "The Expo was in August and we got the new truck the day after Thanksgiving.  We've put over 25,000 miles on it to date."

The Rinard's new ride is a 2006 Freightliner M2-106 powered by a Cat 335HP engine running through an Allison automatic.  The truck features a AA King Leisure 96" raised roof condo sleeper with 20" TV/DVD, sink, full size fridge/freezer, microwave and other amenities.

Cathy adds, "The truck also has an Alliance generator that's built by Freightliner.  Now we can stay warm without idling and we're saving lots of fuel money." 
 
"When we picked up the truck, it was ready to go with load bars, ratchet straps and it was DOT-inspected.  It's a beautiful truck."

Edward and Cathy say that they're just as happy with their new company as well:
"We're finally with a company that we know is not going to lose us 'in the system'.  We know that the dispatchers are working to find us freight and they make us feel that we're part of the Bolt team -  everybody works together." 

"Bolt is very good about finding us some longer-mileage loads.  When a Bolt customer calls for a team, they pay top price for the truck but it's never a full truck load.  Our average weight is a 3,000-5,000 pound load."  

"They're strong believers in communication; if there's a problem, they want to know about it.  The settlements are correct.  I don't have to call up and say, 'Hey, I'm missing four loads.'   One of the dispatchers who we work closely with is Collin Padgett, a real professional.
If he doesn't know the answer to a question, he'll find out and get back to you."
 
"Coming to Bolt was a shock!  It wasn't long before we had a $5,000 week and we never came close to that with the old company."  
 
Despite their brief time in the emergency freight business, Cathy and Edward have been to 36 states so far but Cathy says that several trips down south following Katrina are among the most memorable:
"We picked up a load for the Coast Guard in Baltimore that we took to Mobile, AL.  The devastation was unbelieveable!" 

"Some of the memories that we have are of all the shelters for the evacuees.   And, the problems we had in trying to fuel.  If a truck stop had fuel, they didn't have power and if they had power, they didn't have fuel.   Of course, if they had fuel and power, their phone lines were out, so we had to pay cash." 

"We also had a load of boat motors for Alexandria, LA that delivered to a shelter, and seeing the people's empty faces was a sobering experience."

The business
When asked about the couple's thoughts on expediting, Cathy responds with enthusiasm:
"We love expediting!   But, if you're looking to be home every weekend, you picked the wrong kind of work!"
 
"We're usually out about a month to 6 weeks. The only time we go home is if, let's say, we drop in Detroit on a Friday.  Grand Rapids is so close that we'll take the weekend off and be back on the road Monday."

She touches on a topic that still has drivers up in arms:
"We hate the recent change in the Hours of Service with a passion.  We used to do 5 hours on and 5 hours off.  Now, we're forced to do 11 hour shifts and that makes for a long shift but it's the only way for me to keep our logs straight."

Of team driving she says:
"If it's a husband/wife team, you'd better have a good relationship before you start.  We've been married 26 years, but this is 24/7 togetherness and the farthest you can get away from the other is the sleeper."
 
Cathy handles all the couple's paperwork including logs, record keeping, the truck maintenance scheduling, and, "I do most of the navigating." (With a Garmin 2600 GPS unit)
 
"We listen to the CB a lot, there's a wealth of information out there.  Of course, you've got your BS'ers, but if you ask for help, you can get it.  Sometimes you get guys ranting and raving, so that's the time to turn it off.  We've also got XM radio that we listen to country music on."
 
She says, "I've been getting our tax information together and I can't believe how much money we spent last year on truck stop meals. Now that we have the larger fridge with a freezer, we stock up up at Wal-Mart and I do more cooking in the truck."

From the company
Stacie Moss of Bolt Express says of the Rinard's:
"Sometimes, the top customers don't give us the miles we would like on every load, but Ed and Cathy roll with the punches and take it all.  They'll take a run to a bad area and are willing to reposition anywhere, anytime." 

"Of all our contractors, they have taken the "run the averages" approach to the business to heart and are proof that there is money to be made in every load opportunity."