Fair Per Mile Pay (gas + labor) for Newbie ?

[zack100]

While trying to bust into expediting, I've located a 2 yr old expediting company (we'll call GF). It seems to be a combo between the expediting company (GF)which has 3 straight trucks and runs teams out of single sleepers ......... and another guy (for privacy I'll call him Mr. X) who has somehow attached himself to the 2 yr old expediting company (GF). Mr. X has three used 12' cube vans (350 engines), says they get 10 MPG and all have a seperate AC unit (where the pssngr seat used to be) and a Honda Generator. The owner of the "cubes" seems nice enough ...... from a small town and often drives.

I'm sure there must be a million questions from experienced guys, but for now let's stick to the basics. Mr. X has offered me 70 cents per mile ............ meaning 40 cents a mile for fuel and 30 cents per mile for me (the driver). I get 35 cents a mile for deadhead after 100 miles.

So ....... talk to this newby - 1) is this fair enough ? 2) After 30 days the potential and experience) to move onto a higher paying company ? 3) A general idea of the time I need to drive for another to gain experience before becoming an O/O ? As in 3 mo, 6 mo or 1 year ??

Thanks,

Zack [email protected] (cause I'm not familiar with PM yet)

 

[greg334]

My question is this, did you ever think about buying a van and bypassing all the BS?

Why would I say such a horrid thing?

Because vans are cheap.

 

[skyraider]

While trying to bust into expediting, I've located a 2 yr old expediting company (we'll call GF). It seems to be a combo between the expediting company (GF)which has 3 straight trucks and runs teams out of single sleepers ......... and another guy (for privacy I'll call him Mr. X) who has somehow attached himself to the 2 yr old expediting company (GF). Mr. X has three used 12' cube vans (350 engines), says they get 10 MPG and all have a seperate AC unit (where the pssngr seat used to be) and a Honda Generator. The owner of the "cubes" seems nice enough ...... from a small town and often drives.

I'm sure there must be a million questions from experienced guys, but for now let's stick to the basics. Mr. X has offered me 70 cents per mile ............ meaning 40 cents a mile for fuel and 30 cents per mile for me (the driver). I get 35 cents a mile for deadhead after 100 miles.

So ....... talk to this newby - 1) is this fair enough ? 2) After 30 days the potential and experience) to move onto a higher paying company ? 3) A general idea of the time I need to drive for another to gain experience before becoming an O/O ? As in 3 mo, 6 mo or 1 year ??

Thanks,

Zack [email protected] (cause I'm not familiar with PM yet)

do what Greg says, u will starve to death at that rate, really, get ur own van.

 

[zack100]

Thanks for the reply Greg,

Yes, I have seriously thought about buying my own van ......... however, it seems a reasonable thought process is to get a month of experience, learn via dispatch, talk with other expediters while on the road and you understand. I'd like to say I've been an O/O before ......... not. Nor have I owned my own business. However ........ are you saying I can simply buy a solid used sprinter, cargo or cube and immediately be hired as an O/O (with no experience) and would learn the same amount of knowledge in 30 days ??

 

[jjoerger]

This is just my opinion. If you can get by on the income you will be making for a couple of months I would suggest trying it before you invest a lot of money into a van that you may not have a use for if you decide you don't like expediting.
This life style is not for everyone.

 

[paullud]

Thanks for the reply Greg,

Yes, I have seriously thought about buying my own van ......... however, it seems a reasonable thought process is to get a month of experience, learn via dispatch, talk with other expediters while on the road and you understand. I'd like to say I've been an O/O before ......... not. Nor have I owned my own business. However ........ are you saying I can simply buy a solid used sprinter, cargo or cube and immediately be hired as an O/O (with no experience) and would learn the same amount of knowledge in 30 days ??

As long as you know it is what you want to do, you can jump in as a CV or sprinter O/O with no experience. You will want to have some cash saved up before doing this. There are some companies that want experience but a lot will take you with none.

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App

 

[greg334]

See it's like this, vans are cheap, I mean cheap to get into and if you are going to get into this business as a business, it would be a better fit for you to start out making as much money while learning.

In fact many make this out as rocket science but it isn't hard at all. The hard part is your end of it, from selfcontrol (meaning not eating at those fancy truck stop dives) to maintaining the van and records. The other end of the business is simple, but not to forget that the company makes or breaks you - no one else.

AND if it don't work out, you can sell the van.

The problem with driving for someone in a van is the margin is so slim it would be a better thing to apply to Schneider and go through their training program to get into their truck for 40 cents a mile.

 

[BillChaffey]

With a few exceptions, there seems to be a lot of Cargo van drivers\ O\O struggling to do 1200 miles a week. With that thought in mind, can you live on the road for maybe $420.00 a week or less?.