Expediter truck fleet owners are people who own a number of trucks and contract with drivers. In general, the owner purchases and maintains the truck, the drivers run the truck and the revenue earned by transporting expedited freight is split according to the contract they have. Some fleet owners own just a few trucks, others own dozens.
An additional contractual relationship exists between the truck owner and his or her carrier(s) of choice. Some fleet owners lease their trucks to one carrier, some lease to multiple carriers. In the latter case, drivers can sometimes choose a carrier to associate with. If a carrier change is later found to be best, the change can be made without changing fleet owners.
New people coming into the business are often advised to begin in a fleet owner’s truck instead of buying a truck of their own. It is good advice. These trucks don’t come cheap and until you try, you don’t know how good or bad you will be as an expediter. Trying your hand at expediting, failing, and moving on to something else is Expediter truck fleet owners are people who own a number of trucks and contract with drivers. In general, the owner purchases and maintains the truck, the drivers run the truck and the revenue earned by transporting expedited freight is split according to the contract they have. Some fleet owners own just a few trucks, others own dozens.
An additional contractual relationship exists between the truck owner and his or her carrier(s) of choice. Some fleet owners lease their trucks to one carrier, some lease to multiple carriers. In the latter case, drivers can sometimes choose a carrier to associate with. If a carrier change is later found to be best, the change can be made without changing fleet owners.
New people coming into the business are often advised to begin in a fleet owner’s truck instead of buying a truck of their own. It is good advice. These trucks don't come cheap and until you try, you don’t know how good or bad you will be as an expediter. Trying your hand at expediting, failing, and moving on to something else is much better than failing and finding yourself stuck with a truck you don’t need and payments you don’t want.
Even if you have done good research, have prepared yourself and your family for life on the road, and have strong financial reserves, starting in a fleet owner’s truck gives you the chance to learn much about what you want and don’t want in a truck of your own. Buying a truck of your own when you are new to expediting will provide the same learning opportunity but at a much higher cost.
If you agree that starting with a fleet owner’s truck is the way to go, the next question is, how do you find a good fleet owner? Since there are bad fleet owners too, this is one of the most important questions you will ask before entering the business, and one that deserves some deep and sober thought.
Start into this question not by thinking about fleet owners but by thinking about yourself. The question is, “How do I find a good fleet owner?” In other words, what is your technique? Will you ask the next expediter you see, “How is your fleet owner?” Will you call a fleet owner and demand to be treated like family? Will you post a driveravailable or team-available ad in the ExpediterOnline.com Free Classifieds and say yes to the first fleet owner that calls?
The flip side to this question is, “How will a good fleet owner find you?” Keep in mind that the instant you contact and evaluate a fleet owner, the fleet owner is evaluating you. Fleet owners receive dozens if not hundreds of calls a year from people who are thinking about getting into expediting. There is more to this than simply picking a good fleet owner. The fleet owner has to pick you too.
To find a good fleet owner, begin not by asking a prospective fleet owner a prepared list of questions. Begin by learning how to find a good fleet owner. Don’t start by looking for a fleet owner. Start by learning how to look for a good fleet owner.
You do that by talking to a number of expediters and fleet owners and asking them, “How do I find a good fleet owner?” If you are new to the business, understand that you probably don’t even know what the good questions are to ask a prospective fleet owner and what the good things are to say about yourself. Every loser slug out there knows to tell a fleet owner he or she wants to run hard and will treat the truck like his or her own. Every successful fleet owner knows to take such claims with a grain of salt.
By talking to people not about getting into a truck, but about how to find a good fleet owner, you will learn just that. By approaching expediters and fleet owners not as an applicant, but as a student, you don’t have to worry about being rejected as an applicant and you will win every time you learn something new. If you don’t know a number of expediters and fleet owners, that problem is easy to solve. Talk to one and ask him or her for the names of others.
In these conversations, you of course want to respect other people’s time. Most people in the expediting industry are delighted to share information and advice — especially if they know ahead of time that they are not going to get dragged into a long conversation at a bad time. Asking someone for ten minutes of their time before you ask, “How do I find a good fleet owner?” makes it easier for the person to give you that time. Keeping your promise to limit the conversation to ten minutes makes it easier for the person to refer you to others.
The question is a good way to begin the conversation. Actually listening to the answers you receive is a good way to learn what you want to know. Remember, you are not starting these conversations to sell yourself. You are starting them to learn. Keeping your mouth shut and ears open then someone responds has an additional benefit. Like most human beings, fleet owners like to be listened to. In that ten-minute conversation, if you make it a goal to say less than the other person, you will do more to sell yourself to him or her than most anything else you can do.
Notice that we are not talking about having one conversation with one person, but several conversations with several expediters and fleet owners. These conversations will likely drift from topic to topic, depending on what the other person thinks is important. This drifting will help you not only learn more about the business, it will give you practice in talking about the business itself. When the time comes to approach prospective fleet owners as a prospective contractor, you will be better informed and more at ease in that conversation and process.
How do you find a good fleet owner? (1) Focus first on yourself and the technique you will use to find a good fleet owner. (2) Respect people’s time. (3) Ask expediters and fleet owners, “How do I find a good fleet owner?” (4) When they answer, listen more than you speak. (5) Get referrals to other expediters and fleet owners. (6) Do this several times to gain industry knowledge, fleet owner selection skills and practice for future interviews.
Comments - Tell us what you think below
Paul Jacobs
17 Jul 2009, 22:33
17 Jul 2009, 22:33
Well crafted article. Puts the focus where it needs to be; what you have to
offer and how well you learn.
Jim Getten
18 Jul 2009, 13:24
18 Jul 2009, 13:24
Generally a good article. I would suggest anyone considering a career in
trucking should spend a minimum of one year on the road with a large fleet
such as Swift or Knight. If, after this experience, you still want to
truck, going with a fleet owner as a contract driver is only one choice you
have. There are a few lease/purchase contracts with medium sized carriers
that are not rip offs but you must be careful when choosing this route.
Getting your own authority or leasing your own truck is also an option if
you are the business type. Trucking is a high risk/medium reward business
if money is the only reward you expect from your career. You must want the
lifestyle and travel opportunity as well as an average income or yu will
not last in the business.
Marco Minardo
03 Sep 2009, 13:44
03 Sep 2009, 13:44
Amazing! I have been interested in trucking for sometime now, but more so,
now that the 'economy is bad' and there is one scary gremlin that keeps
popping up: who do you work for? Oh there's plenty of jobs, but not enough
miles...plenty of training possibilities but all with ambiguous repaiment
methods...everyone is ready and willing to share their 'knowledge' but if
that was so there would not be a need for articles like this. And then
there are those knowledgeable friendly recruiters. Where do they get those
people? They are vague about everything. They do not know how many miles
you can run, they don't know how you get paid, they don't know anything
except do you have enough money to pay for the CDL couse. I had an
Expediting Recruiter tell me I had to re-read the paragraph on their site
over and over again to see how much money you could make driving a cargo
van. The site was very clear about running 3 weeks and being home one. The
site was very clear about reimbursements. When I finally deduced that I
would make 500/week tops, never be home because of geographical location
and be out several hundred dollars for gas for keeping cool/warm while
sleeping, I confronted him (via e-mail) his answer was, well the site says
a lot of things, it's up to you to figure out what is what. Everyone just
loves the open road but the best dedicated runs jobs with normal home time
are reserved for only the 'best'. Go trucking you don't have anyone looking
over your shoulders, except the DOT your dispatcher, your customer and the
satellite that even knows how many rpm's you're running. It sure sounds
like truck driving is a lot like every other other job in America. No
wonder there are so many openings. And I don't really have a problem with
any of it, but please, grow some cojones and tell it like it is.
