2nd job solution?

**DannyD** · 03-06-2005, 06:15 PM

Hi all,

I make no claims of being the authoritative voice in expediting. I can only say what seems to have worked for me. I realize that this industry has ups & downs. Getting runs is awesome. Sitting around waiting for the next run (or deadheading) is less than great.

Back in December I got back into this industry after being in it from 94-99. I had a weekend job running pizzas to kind of balance out the ebbs & flows of this industry. I was pretty upfront w/ em when I hired in (which btw/ is more than I can say about the original recruiter w/ me) & told em I didn't want to be on the road 20 days a month. 2-3 days at a time is fine w/ me. They said they were fine w/ that & I hired in. Ideally those 3 days would be driving & not sitting, but that's another thing altogether.

Things started out pretty well, so a month later, like a dork, I left the weekend job. Sure enough, as soon as I quit, the runs weren't quite as good. There seems to be return runs from only one area. Deadheading is bad enough if ya turn around after your drop off & head back. It's even worse if ya wait 2 days & then deadhead. If ya make $250 for a day, that's not to shabby. If ya make it for 3 days work, 2 of which ya sit around & wait, it's brutal. Especially when ya factor in that the $250 comes down some due to expenses while you're out there waiting for another run.

Having said that, I'm going back to having a weekend job. Yea, I know a lot of people think of it as a kids job. I also know that if you're w/ a decent expediting company you'll never make the total money doing something like pizzas that ya will expediting. Then again if you're w/ a bad company, ya might actually make more. The per hour rate of pay doing pizzas is quite a bit more than the per hour rate in expediting, especially if you sit and/or deadhead a lot. Ya also get most of your money that night rather than waiting 2 weeks for it.

This might not be the solution for everyone & I'm aware of that. For me it takes some of the stress off when things are slow in this industry. Therefore I feel I get the best of both worlds. I can possibly have some great weeks expediting but if I don't, I know I still have an income coming in. I know others on this board work another job around expediting (or expediting around their job) & I'm curious as to how they manage things.

Thanx for reading,
Danny

**Dreamer** · 03-06-2005, 06:15 PM

Danny,

You have to do what works for you. I have to agree about delivering pizzas tho.. I spent several years doing that. No, it's not high prestige.. but I had cash in my pocket. On decent nights, when the tips are flowing, it's easy to make $20 an hour. I still stop by to visit, and help out now and then. It's a nostalgia thing for me.

Dreamer

**geo** · 03-06-2005, 07:57 PM

when i ran the road, i had a couple of side lines while , l lay over
i sold mary kay (help my wife out with that)laptops, genset proheat,new and used truck's, sold mason shoes, mircoheat for window wash heat it up, windshield wriper heater strips and couple of other things and looked at each layover as a business opp and helped pass the time

**ATeam** · 03-06-2005, 08:46 PM

I'm not recommending this and do not intend to do it myself, but I've thought running an eBay business from the road might be possible. Just something to think about.

You'd need dependable and regular Internet access to communicate quickly with your bidders. If you specialized in little stuff like coins or collector post cards or whatever catches your eye at flea markets and closeout sales, product inventory and shipping would be managable right from the truck.

The advantages are that you could work your eBay business while waiting for loads, and make money running when there is freight to haul. One possible catch is the HOS rule that says you have to log your time spent earning income in other jobs, which would then count against your available driving time. Don't know if being self-employed in an eBay business counts. Never looked into it that deep.

**raceman** · 03-06-2005, 08:59 PM

It has been a while since I really spent anytime on here and I hate to use my third item to come across as a smart a$% but as I read this post I am scratching my head wondering if I am doing something wrong or something right. The folks that are talking about these second jobs and busineses, are you in OTR expediting with one of the big four or five? I am very much confused as to all this time that folks are saying they have. I am not being a jack ##### here but how in the world do have a job somewhere delievering pizza if you are on the road? The ebay thing I can see and figure out but I am lost on this other stuff. As most of you know I am a truck owner and as of December I am back in one of them myself. My driver and his truck and me and my truck have no kind of time for this. Am I missing something? I mean more power to you if you can do it but in my mind you must be sitting a hell of a lot or you work with smaller companies in your home town. Just curious please do not take offense

Raceman
Owner Two Straight Truck.
Part time driver of one of my trucks and local TT.
15mon.OTR Expediting
1 yr local Expediting
Line Haul TT 2mon.
OTR Straight Truck Plt to Plt off and on 5 years.
Based in Cincy Ohio
Currently at Express-1

**Dreamer** · 03-07-2005, 12:05 AM

I beleive Danny was talking about a company that doesn't keep him running the weekend, therefore he can deliver pizzas, and I know from Geo's posts that he would sell to other drivers while on layover.

As for the Ebay thing, that's one of those gray areas I suppose with the new HOS, but I've heard of several drivers who do ebay from the road. Usually it's a product they can order and have drop shipped tho, or their wife is at home shipping things as they sell.

Dreamer

**DannyD** · 03-07-2005, 12:10 AM

Dreamer,

I even forgot to mention the free food, which if you're gonna eat there anyways & pay for it, is that much more you're making. I'm w/ you in that even b4 I wanted to work back there I was open to em calling me if they needed some help. If I wasn't on a run I'd gladly do it. I'm at a different place now, but a few years back my friend had a store before she sold it. The place was in Lake Orion, Michigan. That place rocked. Girls in bikinis answering the door all the time. Occasionally getting invited to parties. One July 4th I borrowed my dads boat & hocked pizzas on the lake. Those were some really fun times.

Geo,

I'm not sure how ya were able to do that on the road, but call me impressed. When I'm on the road I'm either sleeping or generally sitting in my truck waiting for the phone to ring. Sleeping I don't mind. You've given me some things to think about as to what to do to kill some time while I'm sitting there.

A-Team,

I know a few people who started an ebay business. Two of em have done well enough to quit their regular jobs. One sells magic cards & the other sells CDs. I'm not the most computer literate person in the world, & have been on ebay maybe once. While that's not the business I'd be best suited for I don't think, I think it's an awesome idea for those that understand the ins/outs of ebay. So definately good thinking there.

Raceman,

No offense taken. The job running pizzas is a weekend thing. No way will ya make the amount of money running pizzas that ya will expediting if you're w/ a halfway decent company. The per hour pay is more though. The problem w/ pizzas is ya can only make kick butt money for about 3-4 hours a day. That's during dinner rush.

Yes I sat a lot this past week. Last Thurs (10 days ago) I picked up a run just on the other side of the Can border. Had to wait 4 hours cuz Fed Ex was the broker. Took it to Dayton & delivered at 7:30PM. Waited until Friday at 3:30 PM & still no run. That's an 20 hour wait. I slept some of that for sure, & no it's not the longest anyone's waited, but when ya figure it out it's $200 (gross) or so for about 28 hours work.

Last Saturday I had a pick up that delivered on Monday at 6AM. After I dropped that off, I waited until Wed at 3PM or so. That's 2 days of waiting & still no run. So I decided to head back home. That run probably netted me $120 for 3 days (Sun nite to Wed, I won't count the 3 hours on Saturday). Thurs I had things to do & couldn't get done until 8PM. Friday I didn't really want a one way run somewhere so I didn't put myself in service because I had to be back here Saturday.

I read the above & it appears I'm down on expediting, which I'm not. I also want to say that all in all things have been good. Since December I've paid off a few thousand on my credit card & that includes being sick for about 10 days. So all in all this job is treating me fine. I'm simply saying that a weekend job can absorb some of the blow for when expediting is slow or the runs aren't so great.

Ya all be well,
Danny

**terryandrene** · 03-07-2005, 12:40 AM

We met a Father/son team in a D truck in Jackson, TN one weekend. They were spending their idle time polishing wheels and tanks for the usual price. They seemed to enjoy the work and the extra bucks.

A retired military man expediting in a van parked at the Detroiter one weekend spent his spare time sharpening knives for a dollar a blade. His 110v equipment on an inverter earned him plenty of quick dollars.

I've often thought that repairing windshield chips would be a good sideline for someone other than me.

We've all seen GEO in action; he'd try to sell shampoo to a bald man.

Finally, many of us have seen a rotund guy selling cassette tapes from his expediter van; we've often wondered if he'd ever amount to anything!

Terry

**raceman** · 03-07-2005, 07:56 AM

Thanks guys, I misunderstood what was going on. Now I see where this is a good idea. I think Geo did sell me some kind off body or hair wash in a stop one day. He came up to the truck commented on the size of my arms and got me talking about my past football career and the next thing I knew I owned six bottles of whatever it was. May not have been him but sure sounds like it. :) Thanks again I meant no harm it just was not clicking for me.

Raceman
Owner Two Straight Truck.
Part time driver of one of my trucks and local TT.
15mon.OTR Expediting
1 yr local Expediting
Line Haul TT 2mon.
OTR Straight Truck Plt to Plt off and on 5 years.
Based in Cincy Ohio
Currently at Express-1

**RichM** · 03-07-2005, 11:09 AM

In addition to his selling every thing under the roof George used to advertise on his rear door. He had a C truck and one time had a sign on the rear door about the Titanic Museum or something similar.