Need a Reality Check

[jhead64]

First, since I'm new to this site, I would like to say hello to everyone! I appreciate all the helpful advice that is given here.

Now for the reason for my post. My husband and I have been wanting to drive a truck for about 8 years now. Done countless hours of research, but always waiting for the right time. We had thought the time came last year. We had both lost our jobs and it seemed like a sign that it was now time to pursue our dream of driving.

We went to school at a community college, received excellent training and graduated with our Class A cdl's. We graduated in Feb of 2009, unfortunately, at that time the market was saturated with drivers looking for work and we were unable to find jobs. We even checked with Covenant, who I swore I would never drive for only to find they had a waiting list of several months and showed no interest in us.

To make a long story short, we were devasted and ended up getting jobs in retail making minimun wage. We were so traumatized from the way things turned out with the truck driving pursuit that we decided not to pursue it further. However, after being in retail making no money for the last 8 months, we are starting to dream of driving again.

We are really interested in expediting, but don't know if there is any demand for inexperienced drivers at this time. Also, it is a scary idea to take a job that has no guarantees on pay and visions of sitting for weeks with no loads and no pay scare me to death.

At our current jobs, we will be lucky to gross $35,000 combined for a year and we absolutely hate the jobs. We are very lucky in that we do not have any bills so we are able to live on $35,000 a year, however, we would like to make more so that we can save for retirement. More importantly, we want the benefits that come with expediting, travel, etc..

Is it realistic to think that someone would hire us at this time with no experience, and is it realistic to think we would make more than our current jobs are paying?

 

[teamliz]

First, since I'm new to this site, I would like to say hello to everyone! I appreciate all the helpful advice that is given here.

Now for the reason for my post. My husband and I have been wanting to drive a truck for about 8 years now. Done countless hours of research, but always waiting for the right time. We had thought the time came last year. We had both lost our jobs and it seemed like a sign that it was now time to pursue our dream of driving.

We went to school at a community college, received excellent training and graduated with our Class A cdl's. We graduated in Feb of 2009, unfortunately, at that time the market was saturated with drivers looking for work and we were unable to find jobs. We even checked with Covenant, who I swore I would never drive for only to find they had a waiting list of several months and showed no interest in us.

To make a long story short, we were devasted and ended up getting jobs in retail making minimun wage. We were so traumatized from the way things turned out with the truck driving pursuit that we decided not to pursue it further. However, after being in retail making no money for the last 8 months, we are starting to dream of driving again.

We are really interested in expediting, but don't know if there is any demand for inexperienced drivers at this time. Also, it is a scary idea to take a job that has no guarantees on pay and visions of sitting for weeks with no loads and no pay scare me to death.

At our current jobs, we will be lucky to gross $35,000 combined for a year and we absolutely hate the jobs. We are very lucky in that we do not have any bills so we are able to live on $35,000 a year, however, we would like to make more so that we can save for retirement. More importantly, we want the benefits that come with expediting, travel, etc..

Is it realistic to think that someone would hire us at this time with no experience, and is it realistic to think we would make more than our current jobs are paying?

First you need to have your own truck which in this credit crunch time its hard to get. Or you can contract yourselves to a fleet owner that has several trucks contracted to a expediting company. Then these fleet owners pay you on a 1099 which means you are responsible to take out your own taxes.
Now if you are still interested now is the slowest time of the year for expediting (as well as trucking in general) Freight begins to slow at this time of year. With all this being said it is hard to give a number on what the two of you can make because it all depends on how hard you are willing to work also.
Most if not all tractor trailer work requires at least one year recent driving experience also. You can look into driving a straight truck or cargo van (which requires no CDL or hours of service regulations). Some straight trucks require cdl's and the vey small ones do not. Most fleet owners do a 60/40 split and the drivers pay for the fuel. I hope this helps good luck in all your endevours.

 

[jhead64]

First you need to have your own truck which in this credit crunch time its hard to get. Or you can contract yourselves to a fleet owner that has several trucks contracted to a expediting company. Then these fleet owners pay you on a 1099 which means you are responsible to take out your own taxes.
Now if you are still interested now is the slowest time of the year for expediting (as well as trucking in general) Freight begins to slow at this time of year. With all this being said it is hard to give a number on what the two of you can make because it all depends on how hard you are willing to work also.
Most if not all tractor trailer work requires at least one year recent driving experience also. You can look into driving a straight truck or cargo van (which requires no CDL or hours of service regulations). Some straight trucks require cdl's and the vey small ones do not. Most fleet owners do a 60/40 split and the drivers pay for the fuel. I hope this helps good luck in all your endevours.

I have no problem with being ""self employed" and paying my own taxes and the other responsibilities that go along with that. I guess I forgot to post that we want to drive a straight truck, not a tractor trailer. We prefer the smaller truck as a way to be able to go to places we couldn't go with the tractor/trailer when we were between loads. Not interested in a cargo van as we want to drive as a team and I don't see how that would be possible in a van and it seems like the freight would be more limited in a van. Maybe I'm wrong...

I'm suprised to hear you say that this is the slow time for freight. Going into the holidays it seems to me like it would be the busiest time and I would have thought that after the holidays would be the slowest....why is this the slow time? Would we be better off to wait until after the holidays to try and get started?

 

[Tennesseahawk]

This is, by no means, the slow part of the season. However, the best time to get into the fray was back in August. There's no telling what the upcoming year will be like. Fortunately for those who survived the last year, many have dropped out, and graciously forfeited any freight they would've taken. I'm crossing my fingers that the first quarter won't be as bad as this year's.

As far as getting in a truck, I advise you post an ad in EO's classifieds. You'll get calls immediately. But please be wary of shady deals. There are many threads on here about drivers who got taken for a ride.

 

[LDB]

In answer to your showers question, buying fuel at Flying J gets a 1/2 shower credit each time 15 gallons is purchased. Buying 15.1 gallons each time the gauge is below the 1/2 full mark will maximize shower credits as well as maximizing your effective discount per gallon.

 

[Dakota]

WOW, if this is the slow time of year, I'd like to see it when it's busy. I've been working every day since last month(weekends excluded) and it keeps getting busier. I do hear it drops way of in January
In the freight business it seems the Holiday months are always busy, maybe it's just me though!!!

Also, I would think since you went to the time and expensive of getting your Class A's that you would be in a good position to hop into an owners Semi or Class8 straight truck. Keep on searching and doing research, use EO's classifieds Good Luck!!!

 

[jaminjim]

Most Expedite Carriers will not put a newbie in a Tractor trailer.

 

[greg334]

More importantly, we want the benefits that come with expediting, travel, etc..

You got jobs, you never been on the road and you expect to make more money and it to be better than what you are doing with some benefits of being on the road?

Here is a reality check for you -

If you are making $35k - stay where you are at! So what if you hate the job, its a job and you make money.

Seeing you don't have "bills", then start saving for a truck. For the next 8 months to 16 months, there will be deals for trucks - take your time and get one.

I would not hire you guys and here is why - because you seem to be too impatient and have your hopes on something you never have done before, which tells me you are not willing to wait and work into a good position. So as an owner, I would stick you in a truck and 5 weeks when it became really busy, you both decide to do something else because it wasn't what you expected or you wanted to take a vacation in Florida while sitting in three foot of snow for two days in Idaho.

As harsh as I may sound, reading about peoples experience's is one thing, living them is a completely 'nother. What some see as a dream job can turn into a nightmare quickly.

 

[jhead64]

You got jobs, you never been on the road and you expect to make more money and it to be better than what you are doing with some benefits of being on the road?

Here is a reality check for you -

If you are making $35k - stay where you are at! So what if you hate the job, its a job and you make money.

Seeing you don't have "bills", then start saving for a truck. For the next 8 months to 16 months, there will be deals for trucks - take your time and get one.

I would not hire you guys and here is why - because you seem to be too impatient and have your hopes on something you never have done before, which tells me you are not willing to wait and work into a good position. So as an owner, I would stick you in a truck and 5 weeks when it became really busy, you both decide to do something else because it wasn't what you expected or you wanted to take a vacation in Florida while sitting in three foot of snow for two days in Idaho.

As harsh as I may sound, reading about peoples experience's is one thing, living them is a completely 'nother. What some see as a dream job can turn into a nightmare quickly.

Wow, I don't even know where to start with a response to this message...first of all, yes we will make approx $35,000 for the year, that is our COMBINED GROSS annual income which comes from $9/hour for hubby and $7.70/hour for me, nothing to get excited about, yes it is a job and believe me, we are very grateful to have those jobs which just illustrates how pathetic our economy is at this time.

I do not agree with your comment about so what if we hate our jobs, at least we make money...if we could do a job that we will enjoy and make equal or more money than we make now, why should we stay in jobs that we hate?

Regarding your comment about saving for a truck of our own, on what we are making at our current jobs, we do manage to survive, however, there's no way we can save enough to buy a truck of our own, nor would I without driving for a fleet owner first to be sure that this is the job for us.

And you say we seem too impatient...perhaps you missed the part that we have been wanting to do this for at least 8 years. This is not something we just woke up and decided to try. You say we have our hopes on something that we have never tried before.....well explain to me how you can know for certain if you are going to enjoy something until after you have experienced it? Trust me when I say that we have thought long and hard about this and we are as confident as we can be that we will enjoy this job. Our two sons drive OTR as a team in an 18 wheeler, I speak with them both on the phone every day so I am completely aware of the lifestyle involved in trucking.

As for quitting in 5 weeks to vacation in Florida, that is just funny because we live in Florida, have for the last 5 years, before that we lived in Indiana for 42 years so we are well aware of the differences in weather in different parts of the country and have plenty of experience with winter driving.

I have to wonder why you are so negative towards me, if you are unhappy with the expediting profession to the point that you try to talk others out of it, why do you continue in it yourself? You must not think it's all that bad if you continue to do it.

I apologize if I too sound harsh, but I am on this website to gain valuable insight and information, not to try to be talked out of expediting.

 

[jhead64]

Most Expedite Carriers will not put a newbie in a Tractor trailer.

I don't know of any company that will put a newbie in a tractor/trailer without 3 to 6 weeks of driving with a trainer. Most companies who hire student drivers also require that you start with them within a certain time period after graduating and receiving your cdl. So even though we have a Class A cdl, it's pretty much useless for tractor/trailer at this point, but that is fine, we really prefer the straight truck anyway.

Do most carriers require Hazmat? Also, what about a passport?

 

[jhead64]

WOW, if this is the slow time of year, I'd like to see it when it's busy. I've been working every day since last month(weekends excluded) and it keeps getting busier. I do hear it drops way of in January
In the freight business it seems the Holiday months are always busy, maybe it's just me though!!!

Also, I would think since you went to the time and expensive of getting your Class A's that you would be in a good position to hop into an owners Semi or Class8 straight truck. Keep on searching and doing research, use EO's classifieds Good Luck!!!

Thank you, this is the kind of info that I am looking for....honestly, I wouldn't mind waiting till Feb or March before jumping in. Really dont want to start driving right at the beginning of winter, as well as some other personal reasons.

 

[greg334]

Actually you were not harsh at all, rather a very good responds and answered a few things I and maybe a few others wondered about. I couldn't put my finger on what I was looking for but you said the right things. Sorry for the abrasive attitude.

The thing is that this business isn't for everyone as you know, read though some of what people complain about and see what you can do to prevent from falling into the same trap. Be careful on rushing into this with just any deal - truck or owner. Take the time to get someone who can advise you, and learn what you can about the business end of it - especially contracts. Protect yourself, recently there have been a few threads about owners and as I always ask, wheres the contract.

Hope that helps you and I do wish you luck.

 

[jhead64]

Actually you were not harsh at all, rather a very good responds and answered a few things I and maybe a few others wondered about. I couldn't put my finger on what I was looking for but you said the right things. Sorry for the abrasive attitude.

The thing is that this business isn't for everyone as you know, read though some of what people complain about and see what you can do to prevent from falling into the same trap. Be careful on rushing into this with just any deal - truck or owner. Take the time to get someone who can advise you, and learn what you can about the business end of it - especially contracts. Protect yourself, recently there have been a few threads about owners and as I always ask, wheres the contract.

Hope that helps you and I do wish you luck.

Thank you. One thing I do know is that truckers love to complain! It really helps us out having sons in the business, however, they don't know anything about expediting which is why I am here on this site to try and get some answers.

I completely understand your warning about rushing into something and being leery of fleet owners and their trucks. I have to say that is really bugging me about this business. How can I possibly know if we are signing on with a "good" fleet owner? I am worried that with this economy, we could sign on with someone only to have the truck repo'd a month or so later because the owner has failed to make payments....or that the truck needs repairs and the owner either won't or can't pay for those repairs...or just simply fails to pay us for loads...

I also understand that it is a two way street, we are expecting someone to hire us with no experience and put us into a very expensive truck and turn us loose. I know I would have a hard time letting a stranger drive a truck of mine.

Guess there's a lot of trust involved needed in this business.

Thanks again and feel free to offer any advice you can think of!

 

[greg334]

Here is a bit of advice I give to everyone and most ignore it - get a lawyer and an accountant.

You know it is hard to find people you trust and these are the two you need the most - the first when you get into trouble and the second as an on going advisor. Both you can very as part of your tool set in business.

The lawyer is in a way the most important, he/she will help you with any contract (I would be cautious about the handshake thing I tell everyone get a contract) but more importantly when something happens, like an accident with a fatality, he/she is there to protect you. The funny thing is most people don't think of building this relationship until there is an issue and that is where they get into trouble because sometimes the lawyer is acting in the best interest of their client but don't really know their client and mistakes happen. When you are under duress, like in an accident, you may not be thinking straight. I can tell you that most companies will not care what happens to you in an accident, they are there to mitigate any loses to them and will hang you in the process.

The accountant can also be an EA, someone who is capable of representing you but also one who has the knowledge to advise you. You could even choose our in house EO guy Frank Katz or any number of trucking specific people to help you along but as my former accountant used to say, it does matter when you start what goals you have, how you want to approach your life work and where you want to end up that determines what steps you take to lessen your tax burden and protect your assets.

 

[MISSBUDDY]

Hey jhead64 check your private messages

 

[DannyD]

I read about half the posts before replying. Up to Gregs repsonse about 35K & stay where they're at.

I'd differ 100% here. The 35K they're making is combined. I'd think that as a team they could exceed that. Even in a van. I know that they said they didn't want a van. I'm just saying I'd think that they could exceed 35K in one. Plus they'd be doing something they enjoyed. So if for some reason they ended up making a little bit less, I still think they'd be a lot happier because they'd be doing something they enjoy.

As for a straight truck, which they want, finding a company or owner to accept someone with no experience might be a challenge, but if they look hard enough I've got to believe they could find one. I think once they do I would think they'll exceed 35K. And they'll be a lot happier w/ their lives because they'll be doing what they want.

Worst case scenario is that it doesn't work out as well as they'd hoped. But as it stands now, their life isn't going as well as they'd hoped. They'll never know until they try.

So to this couple, I'd say:

GO FOR IT!!!

Best of wishes to ya's.

 

[jhead64]

I read about half the posts before replying. Up to Gregs repsonse about 35K & stay where they're at.

I'd differ 100% here. The 35K they're making is combined. I'd think that as a team they could exceed that. Even in a van. I know that they said they didn't want a van. I'm just saying I'd think that they could exceed 35K in one. Plus they'd be doing something they enjoyed. So if for some reason they ended up making a little bit less, I still think they'd be a lot happier because they'd be doing something they enjoy.

As for a straight truck, which they want, finding a company or owner to accept someone with no experience might be a challenge, but if they look hard enough I've got to believe they could find one. I think once they do I would think they'll exceed 35K. And they'll be a lot happier w/ their lives because they'll be doing what they want.

Worst case scenario is that it doesn't work out as well as they'd hoped. But as it stands now, their life isn't going as well as they'd hoped. They'll never know until they try.

So to this couple, I'd say:

GO FOR IT!!!

Best of wishes to ya's.

DannyD.....you completely understand! Thank you for your positive response. I'm basically just trying to figure out if we can expect to make at least close to what we make now, hopefully more....cause if we can't, we would really be working for pretty much nothing...$35,000 a year might sound like a lot to some people, but just buying the necessities and paying the monthly bills like electric, water, insurance, taxes, etc. take almost all of that, at least here in Florida. We have no car payments, no house payment, no credit cards, basically as debt free as you can get and still live which I think puts us in a very good position to pursue expediting.

I just don't want to give up the crappy jobs we did manage to find and try expediting if I can't expect to at least make enough to survive on. I would hope that as we learned and got better at the job, and hopefully this lousy economy will pick up, that we would even be able to surpass our present incomes. I know there's no guarantees, but it makes me nervous when I read about drivers saying they are going bankrupt or have to get out of this business because they are making no money and can't feed their families.

One thing I do wonder about, if we drive for a fleet owner, how could we end up with loads that cause us to go in the hole? I read that somewhere. I thought the owner paid all expenses for the vehicle repair and fuel and that most pay the drivers 40% of the revenue, so how can you lose money? I must be missing something there.

 

[x06col]

Bout the only reason "they" are going bankrupt is because they are/were lousy contractors with lousy money management and lousey agendas. And, many that can't afford to feed their familys, spend too much on their "toys", down time, and other things so there isn't anything left for feed. {PRIORITYS}

Look around your town. Think about the folks around there that didn't have the cahoonas to find and work those 35K collective jobs. THEN, you'll understand you are not missing ANYTHING!!

 

[davekc]

One thing I do wonder about, if we drive for a fleet owner, how could we end up with loads that cause us to go in the hole? I read that somewhere. I thought the owner paid all expenses for the vehicle repair and fuel and that most pay the drivers 40% of the revenue, so how can you lose money? I must be missing something there.
==========================================
That speaks volumes. I believe you have a lot more research ahead of you if you are asking that question. There are a lot of variables in this business from fleet owners, carriers, to the economy. I would also advise having sufficient cash reserves (like six months of all your expenses) PRIOR to even considering this.

 

[LDB]

I'm going to agree with Danny. I know of VERY successful van expediting couples. They are not unique but they are not widespread either. One key element they share is knowing their business and working it as a business. That means learning/knowing the right areas to be in with their carrier, knowing when to take off and when to run, knowing when to spend money and when to horde it, in other words being professional and businesslike not playing paid vacationer or being a robotic steering wheel holder.

My operating cost for my van, based on 78k miles, is 30.53cpm which rounds off to a working number of 35 cents per mile. That's based on national average fuel prices adjusted for fsc and average mpg about 1.5mpg less than I'm actually getting. I wouldn't want to be getting 70cpm plus fsc on loaded miles only but at 85cpm loaded plus fsc on every mile driven a van can make decent money, especially if driven by a h/w team who keep all the money in the same piggy bank.