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We receive a stream of crap (specifically, money-losing) load offers on an ongoing basis now. It is annoying and demoralizing, and becomes even more so when it continues days, weeks and months at a time. They no longer take the first refusal. We have to decline the same load sometimes three...

Reports like this illustrate the difference between what is now called citizen journalism and professional journalism. After looking at it, The Cypress Times earns no standing with me and I will put no faith in its reports without confirmation from more reliable sources. Yes, there have been...

I'm not sure I get your meaning. Diane and I don't ship freight, we haul it. We don't drive 9,000 pieces of equipment. We drive just one. By national reach I mean our carrier has freight that takes us everywhere in the country. We have been surprised and delighted many times by the exotic...

Mistakes with locks are common in our experience, which is why we frequently check our status when waiting for loads. Most often the mistake happens when a dispatcher locks our truck while talking to a customer but then, for whatever reason, the customer backs out. That's all fine and good until...

The most important thing you wrote and on which to focus is: I don't know the penalty for hit and run but if the officer is right, your truck driving career is at stake. Do not discuss your case in public. Clam up now because the other side may use what you say here against you. Get a lawyer...

We may have to forget to remember to rember next year, not this. Diane and I will attend the Expo this year if the freight permits but otherwise plan to run. We have already taken off a fair amount of time this year. The freight is running strong and we want to maximize our revenue from now...

You are exactly right, but the smart business people know this risk going in and are prepared to deal with it.

Be the carrier large or small, I don't know a single expediter who is 100 percent satisfied with his or her carrier. Some leave small carriers for large and are happier there, and vice versa. One of the reasons among several that Diane and I chose a large carrier was the carrier's national...

Truckers who run on hopes and dreams are the first to be forced out of the industry when business slows down. Success in this business is a function of one's accurate perception of it and one's choices, far more than it is a function of a carrier's fleet count. If the recession has taught us...

For someone who wants to learn more about expediting and get a feel for the industry, there is no better place to spend a couple of days than the Expedite Expo. Arrive early. Leave late. Soak up as much information as you can.

Exactly right, and easier said than done.

That is an impressive list for a new EO poster and expediter wannabee. Good job! Clearly, you are researching the expedite opportunity well. I would add only that researching this industry is not a sequential process. It is ongoing and your questions will shift in focus and depth as as your...

The photo below shows our truck when it was new. We treated the floor with a products called Crack Filler and Floor Restore and loaded our equipment. (Details here and here) The crack filler filled the cracks and screw holes to keep the dirt from accumulating in those recesses and make for...

Diane and I drove fleet-owner trucks as independent contractors for the first three years we were in the business, and have been driving our own truck since then.

My wife Diane and I are a straight-truck expediter team. We publish our monthly trip maps here. Notice that we only traveled through Idaho just once in 2010 so far and have stopped there zero times. If getting home is important to you, you will have to make plans and a special effort to get there.

Our home express center is Minneapolis, which is generally a good one. In seven years with the same carrier, we have never noticed or had reason to wonder if on-road trucks get dispatched ahead of us when we are home. The dispatch experience seems the same as any other good express center...

May I ask what prompted your question? Just curious. It has been clear for a long time that if there ever was an accepted definition of expedited freight or an expedite carrier, it has become muddled over time as technology emerged that made fast freight and monitored freight services easier...

Having recently purchased a house on Florida's Atlantic Coast, and as a reefer truck contractor, I'm daydreaming about a dedicated run on I-10 and I-95. Expediters home every week under load, and in Florida no less! That would be one for the books! Think of it. When the little baby turtles...

As I understand it, if a driver of any experience level gets tagged with a violation, CSA points for that violation count against both the carrier and the driver. Brand new drivers fresh out of school with no experience will have clean records as they have not driven before. If not for the fact...

OK. And what about thanking Canada for the active members of this forum who hail from that part of the continent?