An observation

[Twmaster]

If it is so slow why am I seeing *lots* of expediter trucks out there?

Not looking to start any wars about slow vs. hot but man I am seeing a lot of hot freighters out there. In the last 4 days I have seen 5 FDCC, 3 P2 and a Landstar as well as 3 others I could not get a good enough look at to identify! Bear in mind other than a rush job to Allentown PA last afternoon I have not been out of the Baltimore area all week.

As for me I am busy as busy can be. DX is running the wheels off of 'Big B'.

--
Mike N

Faster than a speeding poulet.

Owner/Operator Big 'B'
Experienced
10 years auto transport
2 years local/distance expedite
Laurel, MD (Washington DC area)

 

[woobergoober]

Hey Mike,

I see the expediters out there as well. January was pretty blah for me, and this month has been decent. I took a load from Detroit to Doraville, GA the other day, got there, unloaded, and waited around for about 36 hours. They finally got something coming back, but had to pick up on the SC/ GA border, and they discounted the hell out of it too, just so I could get my tires turning. Oh well, I take what I can get sometimes. My personal saying it Take the good with the bad. I think this year will be quite profitable. Just my opinion.

Scott

 

[ATeam]

January was slightly-above-average for us. A good month.

 

[Tom Robertson]

The first quarter slowdown is a fact.

A single truck may... or may not be affected by the overall drop in the number of shipments available.

Your carriers however will tell you that the first quarter is always the slowest of the year. If a carrier has a great first quarter, it normally (but not always) indicates a great year.

 

[simon says]

That is correct, and personally, I think Feb. is the worse. I won't sit for more than a day during the week, so dead-head is way up and income down by at least 30%. Next year I take the first two weeks off and go to New Mexico...:-(

 

[Weave]

During this time of the year, after I drop off somewhere, I won't sit anywhere for much more than 24 hours. If no load in that time period, I've found it best to head elsewhere. I check with my dispatch to find the closest area where things are moving and they have no other trucks at, and go there. Sometimes you just have to put a few coals of your own on to keep the fire burning

-Weave-

 

[woobergoober]

Yep.... I took a spanking this past week.......took some freight from Detroit to GM Doraville (GA). Unloaded at about 7:00am and went and found a place to crash for and get my 10 hours out of service over. Woke up, nothing happening anywhere in GA, so I went and got a Motel room for the night (I have a day cab unfortunately). The following day, I got dispatched at about 6:00pm (around 36 hours later) and drove over to Augusta and went back to Detroit. They discounted the load substansially just so they could get me the heck out of there and back to Detroit. I think I was running at about .80 cents a mile on that load. I wasnt so much interested in getting home as I was getting back to Detroit where my company has a knack for charging premium rates and getting the loads with no problem at all. Looking forward to things getting busy. Double me up baby!!!!!

Scott