Driver Lifestyles
Success Express: The Phillips Team
Several weeks ago, Expedite NOW Publisher Lawrence McCord was touring New York City with his family on a mini-vacation. They were in Times Square on a Thursday evening and his attention was drawn to a Landstar straight truck that was in the process of being unloaded.
The delivery seemed to be an interesting one, so Lawrence met the truck's owner-operator couple and told them we'd be in touch to get the details of the story as well as some information about their experiences in expediting.
Meet Ray and Joyce Phillips.
NYC delivery
"We were contacted by a Landstar agent in Nashville about a load coming out of Clearwater, Florida," says Joyce Phillips. "We weren't quite sure what we were picking up, but when we saw that it delivered to a Broadway address, it I thought, 'Uh oh, Times Square.'"
"Usually, going into New York is a little difficult, but this wound up being a fun trip. It's not my favorite place to go because it takes a lot of time, it's a hassle going in there and the roads are so bad."
The shipment was a number of crates containing the pieces of a large, high-value sign that would be assembled and mounted on the outside of the Music Television (MTV) offices. The crew from the installation company met with the Phillips and Joyce gives us the details:
"Everyone was so nice, and they had really coordinated everything we needed to make the delivery including our parking spaces. Our truck was filled with these oversized crates and the crew used two crane trucks to offload."
"The idea was to pull the crates out, pull the signs out and hang them at that time, but it didn't work out that way. Because of this, it took them about five hours to get us unloaded, but for us, it really was no-touch freight."
This was just one of the more interesting loads that this couple has had during their two years of being Landstar Express America 'Business Capacity Owners' (BCO's). A good deal of their freight comes under the heading of 'specialized handling' that also includes sensitive government loads.
Beginnings
As is typical of expediting's owner-operators, the Phillips, who admit to being, "past middle age, but not old enough to retire", came to the emergency freight business after working in other fields. Ray Phillips, who is originally from New Jersey, had a long career in sales in the kitchen and bath design area, and Joyce, who's from Illinois, was a sales representative for Southern Bell and GTE.
Ray's career necessitated a move to Fort Myers, Florida around fifteen years ago, after which, his company closed. The couple then started their own cleaning company, serving an upscale residential clientele as well as commercial accounts.
"We eventually sold the cleaning business and because I'm kind of an adventurous person, we went to truck driving school and got our Class A licenses," says Joyce. "We worked in truckload trucking for around nine years as company drivers with Covenant and Landspan."
"You know, when we were learning to drive the tractors, it was an adventure because neither one of us had done anything like that - it was just fun!"
"In truckload, we averaged between 4,000-5,000 miles a week with a lot of coast to coast runs. We'd run from California to Miami, for example, then back again."
Introduction to fast freight
Ray Phillips picks up the story: "We had been reading about expediting and we would stop and talk to expediters at truck stops. We also had a friend who had gone into expediting and it seemed like the kind of busines we would enjoy, so we went with FedEx Custom Critical. We stayed with them for two and a half years."
"Joyce and I had heard about Landstar from a few people and we liked what we heard about their business operation, plus they were a Florida-based company. We went in and talked to Jessica, a recruiter based in Rockford, IL. She was very nice and we were impressed with what she had to say about Landstar, that is, the freedom that they offered, so we signed with the company."
"We're still running our first expediting truck and we have about 600,000 miles on it now. We've got a 2001 Freightliner Century Class with a 73" integral sleeper with a back pack for extra storage and a 22' cargo box. It's got a CAT C-12 with 400HP and an Eaton 10-speed Smart Shift."
"We took the top bunk out and installed cabinets all the way around. We've got our TV/VCR and microwave in there as well."
Ray's PM on the couple's truck includes: Fluid changes at 20,000 miles and oil analysis at Speedco. He uses Rotella oil and the occasional bottle of fuel additive.
Commenting on the transition from big trucks to 6-wheelers, Joyce says, "It was wonderful - expediting gives you a lot of freedom!. And, a straight truck is a whole lot easier to back up."
"It took some adjustment when we went into expediting. Orientation told us we were going to be busy constantly and we weren't prepared for waiting for a load."
"But," she continues, "expediting is easier on you than driving general freight. I like the way I can make my own decisions and decide what loads are going to be profitable. I can decide to take a load that's not going to be profitable but it might take me where I want to go."
"Expediting pays more than general freight, especially last year which was a phenomenal year for us. In 2005, we haven't run as much as last year, but we took a month off at the beginning of the year. We've had some problems with our transmission this year, but we've still been able to average around 3,000 miles a week."
Roy speaks highly of their carrier: "Landstar shows it's people a lot of respect and they don't try to micro-manage us. We have a lot of independence and we go where we want to go."
"With Landstar, everybody seems to cooperate. Corporate wants to keep the drivers happy, the drivers want to keep the agents happy and so on. When we work together, everybody makes money."
Some new wheels
The big news from the Phillips' is: They have a new truck on order!
Ray says, "We usually stay on the road for 6-7 weeks and that's one of the reasons we want to buy a bigger sleeper."
"This new truck is a major expense, it will cost more than our house did! We're going with a 120" Bentz sleeper that will have a standup refrigerator/freezer and a bathroom with toilet/shower. It'll have all the bells and whistles on it.
Keith Bentz is in the process of working out the details of the roofline right now for a walk thru. We figure this will be our last truck."
Their new ride is a stretched 2006 short-nose Freightliner Columbia, metallic blue in color. It's powered by a Mercedes-Benz engine with 450HP and the Eaton Ultra-Shift. Because of the oversize sleeper, the Phillips will mount a 19' cargo box on the new truck. They say that during their expediting career, there have only been a handful of times where they needed a full 22' of space. This new unit will also have a liftgate, tag axle and Onan generator.
Keys to success
Ray says, "We've found that you have to have a lot of patience. You sit and you wait, never knowing when a load is coming. It's tough, because the bills keep coming in. With Landstar though, we know that we'll have a lot freight offered to us and we can make money. We've done well with them and we expect to continue doing well."
Joyce relates, "Be sure to have a lot of minutes on your cell phone plan! Get to know your agents (dispatchers) and treat them with respect. And, have a good accountant."
The downtime
Joyce tells us, "To pass the time during a layover, we read, go to movies and visit relatives when we're in their area. Ray likes to run and I go to Curves to work out. I try to avoid Wal-Mart, but I like to shop at Target."
"When we pull over for the night, we like to use Flying J or a rest area. If we have a couple of days to kill, we'll get a motel room. I love to get out and move around - the truck is nice, but it's not my home."
When asked about their future in expediting, Ray tells us, "We're not quite at retirement age yet and we're having too much fun! We'll put five years on this new truck and go from there."