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Everyone talks about the cost per mile and cost per day (week, month, year) of operating a truck. Why is talk about profit per mile and profit per day (week, month, year) so infrequent? For whom exactly are expediters in business to make a profit for?

While Diane and I were stopped at a rest area today (E I-40/N-I-85, M139) a truck rolled in with a bad Michelin super single tire. A few minutes later a road service truck pulled in and changed the bad one with a new, re-capped super single. The original tire was bought new, it was not a re-cap...

Link: An Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking

It is very helpful. Thank you again for the good work you are doing with this and for the interesting and informative information.

Reconsidering Super Singles

Thank you, Doug. I appreciate the good work you are doing. I'm sure others do too. :)

That is an interesting point about personal conveyance ("accountance") and you are right. There is more than one liability issue in play here. A carrier that restricts how an independent contractor legally uses his or her truck when that truck is not under dispatch is a carrier that may create...

My concern is broader than 0.7 or 30 minutes or whatever the number may be. My concern is that the number is arbitrary. It is becoming clear from the FMCSA rules and publications posted here in EO, and from the contractors who have had serious visits with FMCSA officials about this, that...

Well, at least there is a sign someone is listening and he admits to not knowing the whole story. That 0.7 rule is looking more and more arbitrary all the time, and unecessary. As our carrier office people get more educated about the rules the paper trail issue should go away. As I read the...

I believe DOT truck inspections are required once a year by the law. Some carriers impose the same requirement on its contractors. Our carrier requires DOT truck inspections twice a year. I know of at least one carrier that requires them every three months. Just because a carrier has the right...

Please see this item in the FedEx forum. Panther has been on electronic logs for some time. My questions to Panther drivers are: 1. Have you had similar encounters with the DOT? If so, what were the results? 2. What does Panther say about off-duty driving and using your truck as a personal...

As you may have heard, Panelite, a supplier of truck lights, recently suspended operations. Having 96 Panelite marker lights (a/k/a chicken lights) on our truck, this was not good news. I found a replacement as described in my blog entry today. I am asking readers here for any additional...

The blank line thing is important but easily resolved. Find out what the number should be and fill it in yourself before sending both copies in. That way, the copy they sign and return to you will include no surprises.

I'll ask the same question here that I asked in the FedEx forum, asking it about Panther's 30 minutes instead of FedEx's 7/10 of a mile. I see no benefit whatsoever to the company in saddling its drivers with mobility disincentives that have no safety impact, undermine driver freedom and...

The company answers questions all the time. I have asked many over the years. No one at FedEx Custom Critical has ever said they cannot respond because it would open them up to questions of legal liability. Our corporate critters of choice may wish to check with their in-house legal department...

These are legitimate and well-informed questions coming from capable and loyal contractors. I sincerely hope the questions will be seriously considered, and that the answers will be more respectful and informative than "the new rules are in place and you can take it or leave it."

There was a time when FedEx Custom Critical required White Glove HAZMAT drivers to come to company headquarters for HAZMAT training every two years, while the legal requirement was every three years. That changed so the carrier requirement and legal requirement now match. There was a time when...

While it is vital for contractors to actually read and understand the lease agreements they sign, I did not mean to sound undue alarms. Regardless of the reasons a carrier gives for requiring a new lease agreement, it is the agreement itself that is important. Anytime you enter into a new...

Diane and I received our new lease agreement in the mail a day or so ago. We have skimmed it and determined that a careful, line-by-line review is in order. There are changes buried in the language that give us pause. I'm not going into specifics here. With some of the questions Diane (an...

Diane and I do not have a problem with this but I understand how solo drivers could. Teams have two 14 hour clocks to work with and two people to do the driving. Solo drivers have only one. We have never worried much about starting a 14 hour clock since the other driver can drive if the first...