[blizzard]

Originally Posted by OntarioVanMan

cheri.....define good weeks and bad weeks....

is that your good or my good or turtles good or my bad?

i get sooo confused....


in the van world one can't measure good or bad in such a small time frame...you know that...aggregate average is the only way to measure.

On a good week, I can barely make my van payment, and I have to live on flying "J" corn dogs and burritos. On a bad week, I can't make my van payment, have to hide out from the repo guy, and I have to go to the local soup kitchen for food. lol

[blizzard]

Originally Posted by blizzard

On a good week I can barely make my van payment and have to live on flying J corn dogs and burritos. On a bad week I can't make my van payment, have to hide out from the repo dude, and go to the local soup kitchens for food. lol

Just kidding; but you get the point. Good and bad can be defined differently by different people.

[cheri1122]

A good week is when you've earned more than spent, and kept the shiny side up.
The latter was no problem, but the former was a bit tougher for me, in a van.
Bruno: I was NOT a pro, clearly, or I'd still be driving the van, eh? I am doing much better in a straight truck, and anyway, as Highway Star says, it IS a nicer place to sit.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by cheri1122

A good week is when you've earned more than spent, and kept the shiny side up.
The latter was no problem, but the former was a bit tougher for me, in a van.
Bruno: I was NOT a pro, clearly, or I'd still be driving the van, eh? I am doing much better in a straight truck, and anyway, as Highway Star says, it IS a nicer place to sit.

Well, You know more about vans than I do. And yes you are a Pro in my eyes
Take credit where credit is due. Your a great person and I'm glad your part of EO land.

[cheri1122]

Thanks, Dave.
EO Land? Sounds like a sitcom, eh?
We've got a whole crew of smartazzes, and a chaplain, and an administrator who probably rips his hair out on a regular basis, [reading some of the comments here], and a few who try their best to remind us that WE ARE PROFESSIONALS dammit - act like it!! We even have Iceroadtrucker, who might seem a bit odd to outsiders, but we wouldn't trade him for anyone, ya know? Yep, we're a pretty good ensemble, I think. Because we ARE professionals - and we have enough confidence in ourselves to laugh at ourselves.
And if we weren't all drivers, I bet we'd even have a still running, for martinis.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by cheri1122

Thanks, Dave.
EO Land? Sounds like a sitcom, eh?
We've got a whole crew of smartazzes, and a chaplain, and an administrator who probably rips his hair out on a regular basis, [reading some of the comments here], and a few who try their best to remind us that WE ARE PROFESSIONALS dammit - act like it!! We even have Iceroadtrucker, who might seem a bit odd to outsiders, but we wouldn't trade him for anyone, ya know? Yep, we're a pretty good ensemble, I think. Because we ARE professionals - and we have enough confidence in ourselves to laugh at ourselves.
And if we weren't all drivers, I bet we'd even have a still running, for martinis.

What group am I in lol. lets see the bad speller group. lol

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Twizted1

I have a very sour taste in my mouth from the latest events and ready to move to a carrier who appreciates a team!!!

That sour taste is from chewing on the unrealistic financial expectations of team expediting in general, and of team van expediting in particular, and then having to swallow the fact that you won't get special treatment because you are a team. Sorry. They can't manufacture "team" loads just for you.

The load comes in, they try and get it covered. Period. If, by chance, you are near the shipper and it's a "team" load, then you might jump other solo vans to get it. Maybe. They they aren't going to jump over you if a "solo" load come in merely because it's not a "team" load. They're going to offer it to you, same as any other vehicle of that size.

Unless, that's what they do to you. You're sitting there, a 600 mile run comes up, "Nope, they're a team van, can't put a 600 mile run on a team van, let's save them for a really long team load so they'll be happy." Is that what you want? No. You want them to magically come up with team load after team load just for you. And when there are no team loads, load you first ahead of the solo drivers, cause dammit you're a team van and you deserve it! "All hail the team van! Harumph! Harumph! Harumph!"

"I didn't get a harumph out of that guy."

If you truly want special treatment, team in a straight truck. Straight truck teams aren't golden to a carrier, but they are royalty. Straight trucks teams won't be loaded 24/7, though, but a straight truck team will jump a van, solo or team, in a heartbeat. Carriers want to keep those straight trucks teams loaded and happy. Vans, on the other hand, are a dime a dozen, solo or team.

[OntarioVanMan]

Turtle....now you are talking Panther specific...right?

It don't work that way at E-1....

[PalletJack]

Just how is it at E-1 if it is not like turtle explains the procedure of every other expedite co talked about on the EO?

[Turtle]

Well, yeah, of course I'm talking about Panther. That's who both I and Twizted1 run for. Other, smaller carriers, have fewer loads and fewer trucks to deal with, so they can play favorites a little bit more with respect to even being able to pick and choose who gets team versus solo runs, mainly because they can pick and choose the loads a little better in the first place. Panther can, and does, do it somewhat with straight trucks, because there aren't as many of those and they can pick and choose a little bit. But with cargo vans, they simply have too many vans and van loads to be able to do that kind of thing. We can now see online how many teams are on a given board. Well, for straight trucks, that means a lot. For vans, not so much.

Once I was first out in Laredo, only one there. Next day a second rolled in, a solo. A little while later a third, a team van. The team van was positive they'd get loaded out before us, because they were a team. Whoops.

Even at E-1, though, I can't imagine a team van sitting someplace for a day or two, then a solo comes in with 30 minutes of dwell time and gets a 400 mile run over the team. More than likely, they're looking at bid boards and bidding accordingly.

[highway star]

Whenever I meet a newbie van team, I make it clear that they need to temper their expectations of how much they'll work. They always listen, but some think that they somehow have what it takes to be "better". As has been pointed out, there's just too dang many vans! If you're going to be a team, get in a straight truck. You'll actually make a living.

Also, I'm humbled to be referenced by Cheri1122. I believe my life is complete now.

[Twizted1]

Originally Posted by Turtle

That sour taste is from chewing on the unrealistic financial expectations of team expediting in general, and of team van expediting in particular, and then having to swallow the fact that you won't get special treatment because you are a team. Sorry. They can't manufacture "team" loads just for you.

The load comes in, they try and get it covered. Period. If, by chance, you are near the shipper and it's a "team" load, then you might jump other solo vans to get it. Maybe. They they aren't going to jump over you if a "solo" load come in merely because it's not a "team" load. They're going to offer it to you, same as any other vehicle of that size.

Unless, that's what they do to you. You're sitting there, a 600 mile run comes up, "Nope, they're a team van, can't put a 600 mile run on a team van, let's save them for a really long team load so they'll be happy." Is that what you want? No. You want them to magically come up with team load after team load just for you. And when there are no team loads, load you first ahead of the solo drivers, cause dammit you're a team van and you deserve it! "All hail the team van! Harumph! Harumph! Harumph!"

"I didn't get a harumph out of that guy."

If you truly want special treatment, team in a straight truck. Straight truck teams aren't golden to a carrier, but they are royalty. Straight trucks teams won't be loaded 24/7, though, but a straight truck team will jump a van, solo or team, in a heartbeat. Carriers want to keep those straight trucks teams loaded and happy. Vans, on the other hand, are a dime a dozen, solo or team.

All I'am saying is that a solo driver is quoted to get 1500 miles a week so why cant they in respect run a team a average of 3000?I would even be happy with 2000,But a constant load offering of 200 mile loads or less just doesnt make any sense.If they want us to be the mini team run van, at least they could run me multiple minis a day?If I take a 100 mile load or what ever other ridicules offer I get on a regular basis,thats it for me that day.Do the math 100 x .77 is 77.00 + the fuel surcharge of .25 is 25.00 so oh boy I grossed a whopping 102.00 for the whole day.Now minus the fuel and it ends up being a whole 25.00 each.Take your living cost out of that and payments your bust.There obviously no need for a team in a van at panther,they have more than enough trucks to swap everybody out and make on load into multiple loads "so everybody stays busy".some of the loads they take dont even make any sense to do a favore for a customer at the O/Os expense.

[LDB]

I'd suggest you contact the driver council team van rep and talk things over. I know of van teams that had good weekly averages. You can't take solo miles and double them. Historically teams run about 1.7 times the average miles of a solo. Running team with someone other than a spouse is usually a good way to reduce income since the less than doubled money is divided into two different pots. A fair amount of this job is just being in the right place at the right time. One can do their best to get to the right places but it's nothing better than best guess a lot of the time. Talk to some successful van operators. There are some in the fleet. They are the ones you need to be talking to to get info that will help you improve things.

[pelicn]

Twizted if you want to run 3000+ miles a week consistently you need to go hire on with a Team T/T company.

[Turtle]

The average expedited load, team or solo, is about 300 miles. That's it. And since there are far fewer really long runs in the first place, that should tell you that there are a snotload of short runs. That being said, if you keep getting offered short runs, mini's in particular, then you're in an area that has mostly short runs. Leave. Get out. Go. Or that's all you'll get.

If you accept a lot of minis, trust me, dispatchers know that, and they'll start throwing mini after mini your way until you refuse more than they can throw at you. I've seen it time and time again, and in rare moments when dispatch supervisors have let their guard down they have said as much.

You used to run 1200-2500 miles a week as a solo, or so you said. Well, you didn't do that by accepting nothing but short runs, nor did you do it by sitting in an area that is bloated with short runs. You'll get the loads that come up, team or solo, and if you're in an area that's loaded with mini's, that's what you'll get. Did you not notice any of this the whole time you were a solo driver?

One of the problems with most minis is, as you have noticed, they come out of an area that is loaded with minis, and go a short distance to yet another area loaded with minis. Or not even minis, just short runs. Wooster to Chilicothe, deadhead to wait a day, or two, then Dayton to Defiance, wait a day, or two, then Van Wert to Bucyrus, then wait a day or two... pretty soon the weeks' gone and you've got like 800 miles to show for it. But, they're all right there in those precious "freight lanes" that they talk about in orientation and over the phone. Got to get back to those freight lanes, many drivers say. Yeah, there are a bazillion vans sitting there, right smack dab in the middle of the freight lanes, all complaining about only getting one short run a day or every other day. Well, duh. That's why I don't much like Detroit, as I mostly get offered minis, or worse, minis across the border. Oh, sure, you get a First Out after one of those, then you can sit there along side of 17 others who got First Outs after their mini, too.

Or, you can do like I do, and maybe take one of them, cause the loads gotta be covered and all that jazz, plus you do get the First Out, which you don't lose when you turn down another mini, and then turn down load after load after load, Acceptance Rate being a non-issue, until I get a load offer that I like. I've turned down 8 in one day before. Several times. I don't care. I'm neither a cherry picker, nor a fool, as both will eventually get you into trouble. I like that my acceptance is usually in the 90-100% range, but my Acceptance Rate is was down on the list of things to worry about. Profitable or not is the main thing. If they load's not profitable, or isn't a means to get me to a place where I can be profitable, I'll refuse it.

There are places where you can run several minis in one day, though, if you're the only one around. Provided the loads are there to begin with, of course. You can't do that in the midwest where you'll deliver and then sit for two more days just to get another mini, or drop to the bottom of the board looking up at #11 on a 3-a-day board. No thanks. Get me outta Dodge.

You know that bullseye? Stay out of it.

People say there are too many vans and Panther should quit hiring. Well, that's not really the case. Part of the problem is Panther's insane mentality of promoting fleet owners for cargo vans, cause if you're on a 60/40 split in a cargo van, anything less than about 500 miles isn't worth getting out of bed for, especially if it's one that you'll deliver and then have to sit another day or two before you get the next load. A solo that owns his own van can afford to take a 200 mile run, but if you drive for someone else, you can't.

There's too many vans, not enough freight! Yeah, that's true, in the freight lanes. Part of the glut of vans is because there are too many of them for the freight in certain areas. People luv those freight lanes, cause they're close to home, I guess, and there is always lots of loads there. You can look at the boards, and people see 8 a day - 16 vans, next closest board is 6 a day - 11 vans, the list goes on and one, most of them showing twice as many vans as there are loads. People say there are too many vans. Well, yeah, people are turning down loads at a rate that they need twice as many vans to cover half as many loads.

People who rarely get out of the freight lanes see that, nothing but that, and think there are too many vans. But, you get away from all that and see boards with 3 a day - 0 vans, 2 a day - 1 van, 2 a day - 0 vans. That list goes on and on, too.

It's like Leo says, be in the right place at the right time. Lost in the middle of that bullseye is rarely the right place, regardless of the time. There are simply too many people who live there, are sitting at home in-service, waiting on a load.