Driver Lifestyles

The Long Road To Success

This article originally appeared in Vol 2 of Expedite NOW magazine.

Well into his third decade with the same carrier, Terry O'Connell is a well-known expediting veteran with fifteen years in the fast freight industry.

Until wife Rene's semi-retirement a few years ago, the couple could be often be found in truck stop restaurants during layovers, swapping tales of the road with fellow expediters.

Their vans, (they're now on their fourth truck) can be readily identified by their signature raised roofs and their custom Missouri license plate, "HOT FR8."

Terry tells us of his background: "I was born in Boston in 1941, and reared in Quincy, MA.  After high school, I entered the naval reserve, then joined the Coast Guard.  I became an officer in the Coast Guard and served in Cape Cod, Vietnam, Cleveland, Florida, California, Alaska and St. Louis, MO.

Rene' O'Connell was born near Leipzig, Germany during WWII. The first few years of her life were spent in bomb shelters during the Allied bombing raids of her country. Her father, who was in the German Army, was killed in France and she lost her mother when Rene' was 18.

Travel, employment and most aspects of life in the former East Germany were heavily restricted during that time. She left that country just prior to construction of the Berlin Wall and, with little more that the clothes on her back, made her way to a West Berlin  repatriation camp before her emigration to the US in 1965.

Terry tells of the couple's entrance into the emergency freight field: "After I retired from the Coast Guard, I didn't want to start another career.  One of our neighbors in St Louis was a recruiter with expedited carrier Roberts Express and he gave us the lowdown on the company.  We signed on with them as a team in July 1989."

"We started with a cargo van.  We briefly considered moving up to a larger unit, but we enjoyed the freedom from government regulation in the smaller truck."

"Our first truck was a conversion van which we had tried to convert to a cargo hauling van," Terry says." We just weren't comfortable with that. Our next van was our first Ford diesel van with a high top."

Terry states that he's always enjoyed the expediting lifestyle; going someplace new, someplace different, or as he describes it, "the nomadic, erratic existence."

"Even though Rene and I lived in a lot of places over the years, we'd never had the opportunity to travel the way we wanted and to see the country. We've been able to stop in and see our old military friends who were scattered across the country."

During their years with Roberts and FedEx Custom Critical, Terry and Rene' have traveled over 1.2 million accident-free and citation-free miles. The couple spent nine years together in the truck until Rene' decided to semi-retire from the road in 1998.

Terry still operates the truck on a full-time basis and Rene’ joins him

for team loads or when her schedule permits.

Terry has some thoughts regarding the future of this industry: "I think that expediting has reached a plateau with a lot of companies competing for the same amount of freight. I think the major companies will remain viable, but there will be some shaking out of the smaller mom and pop type expediting concerns."

"I believe the future of expediting is within the computer world with more contractors going online, using internet load matching and computer mileage programs. Even I have a GPS gadget on my dash. I use it in concert with the company routing info so I can maintain my on-time percentage."

"I continue to enjoy this lifestyle; when the freight is moving, it provides us with a good deal of discretionary income. I've been taking the truck home every weekend unless a load comes out to keep me on the road over the weekend."

With all those years of expediting experience behind him, Terry has some thoughts for the prospective expediter:

Drive someone else's truck first before making the financial commitment of buying your own. Whether it's a cargo van or Class 8 tractor, try it out at an owner's expense before jumping into this business. Check out the various expediting companies on the web sites and talk to as many people in the business as possible. Be realistic about this business and be aware that there are slow times through the year and that there can be substantial time spent waiting for loads. Remember that at times, it's necessary to stay out on the road in order to maximize income. For anyone considering a team operation, the co-driver should be a family member, i.e., spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc. The money earned from the truck has to go into a common fund. It's very difficult for one truck to provide two separate incomes.

Terry also tells us, "A team, married or otherwise, should make a conscious effort to separate their personal differences from their business differences. Rene' and I found that it made our "24/7" relationship in the truck much easier."

"Sometimes, one of us would be out of the truck and we decided to establish a policy that whoever took the info on the run was responsible for accepting/declining the load."

"It requires mutual trust and you can't second guess your partner."

Despite the fact that expediting in a time-absorbing business, Terry does have a life beyond the road:" I like to make sawdust. Rene' went out and bought me a bunch of power tools to build things in woodworking."

"I enjoy cabinetry; I've built a two story room addition on the house, a 40 foot deck and an 18 square foot party pavilion. The expediting revenue has given us the opportunity to fix up and improve our home."

Terry is currently running a 2000 Chevy 3500 series van with a 5.7 liter gas engine and an aftermarket high-top roof.

This veteran expediter's woodworking skill is on display in this van. The sleeper area contains a bunk measuring 72"x48" and is separated from the cargo area by a wall with "barn door" type doors. With the doors closed, 82 inches of cargo space is available and with the doors open and half of the bunk folded up, 9 feet of cargo space are available with 24" of bunk space remaining.

Terry has finished the inside of the sleeper area including the high-top with foam-backed velour. The area directly over the cabin is sealed with a faceplate in which mounts a 13" TV/VCP that is angled for viewing from the bunk.

Terry has also installed general/reading lighting in strategic locations both in the sleeper and cargo areas alike, with all of the electric items including the Qualcomm Satellite system taking their power from two deep-cycle batteries.

"We've had a great time in expediting; Rene' and I have met some wonderful people and made some great friends. We've been fortunate in our expediting career to have been associated with a company that is still considered to be the standard by which others are measured: FedEx Custom Critical."