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This is a question for fleet owners. To help aspiring expediters understand what fleet owners look for in drivers, please describe the best team you ever had, the worst team you ever had, and what made them so.

From Land Line Magazine, "The National Biodiesel Board has issued what it’s calling a “winter weather advisory,†saying there’s a lot of biodiesel out there that doesn’t meet the industry standards against gelling and clogging." Full story...

Since purchasing our reefer last June, we've had two issues that combined have cost us several days of down time and several hundred miles of deadhead to resolve. One issue was a simple manufacturer's defect reparied under warranty. The other kept us from going in for T-Val testing since we knew...

You think expediters have problems? Here's a quote from the Fall, 2006 edition of RV Journal. In response to an article in the Summer, 2006 edition about the poor quality of RVs, a reader writes in saying, "Here in Santa Maria, a local RV sales and repair shop suggests not buying any RV made in...

While resting up and resetting our log books, we've been enjoying a very nice stay at the Pechanga RV Park and casino in Temecula, CA; about an hour north of San Diego on I-15 (take the CA-79 exit. Go East. Follow signs to the casino and RV park). The RV park itself is a bit picky about the...

Some EO readers know Matt and Katy Foscue. Until recently, they were a FedEx White Glove team driving their own truck. Today, they are lean, mean U.S. Border Patrol agents in Arizona. The LA Times wrote about them and others who recently became agents. You can read the story at...

In another thread that some consider too tedious, the subject of down time has been raised. While down time is a subtopic in the other thread, I'm raising the down time issue as a separate topic for simplicity sake. Let's say you are driving down the road and find yourself unable to avoid...

Today, I tip my hat to the truck drivers who run dedicated runs cross country and back, week after week. It's an amazing thing they do. Diane and I ran out of hours this morning when we delivered in California. We used them up on two rus; one from CA to PA and another from PA to CA. While the...

There has been an ongoing and hopefully informative debate in the Open Forum about the pros and cons of owning and operating a reefer-equipped truck (that's refrigeration unit, not the other kind). People of opposite views have shared their opinions in mostly respectful exchanges. Diane and I...

We just spent another weekend in our truck at the KOA Kampground (SIC) in Las Vegas. The freight left us in town for a couple days. Idling is not permitted. Generators are not either in quiet time hours (evenings). But if you have shore power in the truck and like Las Vegas, this is a great...

In another thread, cheri1122 spoke of a mix up with a CSA card where she had it but dispatch thought she did not, and clarifying things resulted in her getting a load she otherwise would not have had. Her story brings up an important point. For whatever reason, information on file at carriers...

There is an elderly Aunt in our family who I dearly love and respect. At a young age, I heard her say something I never forgot. It was a quote she once read. A man said, "I never complain in public about my wife. After all, I married her. If I complained, people might think I have poor...

Last night, Diane and I drove sixteen hours through the desert, from Carson City, Nevada to Phoenix, Arizona . The skies were clear and the moon was full. Most of the way, the road was two-lanes; well-painted and paved. Traffic was light. The wind was calm. The towns were hours apart. Beyond...

When our new truck first hit the road, I was unable to answer questions about fuel economy because reefer and generator use were throwing off the numbers, and the truck was early in its break-in period. We recently completed a series of runs that involved minimal reefer and generator use. The...

Leo's "Hand Truck" post and links he provided got me thinking about the moving equipment some expediters use. His link to handtrucks.com is excellent. Diane and I have purchased there with good pricing and service results. Handtruckstore.com does not feature a furniture dolly Diane and I use...

Someone recently sent me an e-mail asking, "What are some of the things you would do differently or change if you were to start expediting all over today? Also what are some of the things you do daily to make you successful?" The man asked two great questions. I thought it would be helpful to...

While it may sound strange to those who participate daily in the Open Forum and others who read EO on a regular basis, I'd be willing to bet that the majority of expediters on the road today have never heard of EO or if they have, rarely visit the site. I base that on the experience we have...