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Such a gauge is meaningless. It accounts not at all for your business expenses, taxes and your actual productivity as an expediter. By the formula you imply, an expediter could pay $30,000 for a brand-new van, run one load per year, derive from that load a $20 per hour value on one's time...

To bring this back on topic, it would be interesting to see someone familiar with cargo van expediting compare the opportunity before to the opportunity now: Communications: Before: Pay Phone Now: Cell Phone Typical Van MPG: Before: ??? Now: ??? Typical Pay Per Loaded Mile: Before: ??? Now...

Well said. Our generation rode a wave of prosperity that has not been seen since. We had the best schools, often in brand-new buildings. We went to the best colleges, when private-college room, board, books and tuition cost less than the price a new car each year. We drove on the best highways...

You make a good point. If making "good money" is less important to you than the lifestyle van expediting provides, go for the lifestyle. On the other hand, if making good money is important to you, other choices may be wiser. Even if money is not important to you, van expediting is a business...

News broke yesterday that the first fatality attributable to a self-driving car (semi-autonomous) has occurred. It happened in Florida on May 7. The investigation is not yet complete. Brief account from Tesla, the vehicle manufacturer in question: What we know is that the vehicle was on a...

Given your past experience in a van and a big-rig, would you not already know where the busy freight centers are?

The construction contractor who built our gym had several employees on the job that he paid by the hour. When something needed to be done like run an off-site errand to get a needed tool or materials that were unexpectedly unavailable, this business owner made the trip because, he joked, "I'm...

What would you be hauling with such a truck if it could be built?

Have things changed that much that quickly? When we left the business in Dec, 2013, ours was an 11-foot, straight-truck sleeper. Nine-foot sleepers were seemingly common. Are they common no more?

That could become a significant issue. Trucks have to log all the time so having an ELD all the time makes sense (assuming you you agree with the requirement to have an ELD in the first place). Vans only have to log when placarded but they would have to pay the cost of having an ELD in the van...

It makes a difference how people drive in construction zones, and how states manage the laws. I-95 is undergoing major construction near our home in Florida. Construction zone speed limits are reduced slightly, if at all, and most drivers fly through because you do not see troopers on site like...

On the other hand, Ragman, while many expedited loads are scheduled days in advance, the nature of the freight makes them time sensitive once it is on the truck. An example would be a custom-made gear needed to get a big crane back in service. The load is scheduled days in advance while the...

That raises an interesting point that goes to the original question in this thread. Drivers do not have visibility into the true urgency of the load. Shippers and brokers certainly consider the urgency when booking trucks for various services at various prices but how does a driver know before...

Every load we did in our straight truck was LTL in the sense that it did not fill a semi trailer. With rare exceptions, every load we did was exclusive use in that the entire truck was dedicated to that load. Not every load we did was time-critical. When we moved from FedEx Custom Critical to...

I guess it all depends on your point of view and purpose in expediting. For Diane and me, expediting was very much a quality-of-life endeavor. First and foremost, it had to be a profitable business, which it was. Other reasons for entering the trade included seeing the country, spending time...

You are right about the feeling better part. Gym users routinely report that they feel better after a workout. The statement that "going to the gym does not extend life" is factually incorrect. Go to Google and ask, "do people who exercise live longer?" and you will find numerous studies that...