DannyD
Veteran Expediter
Hiya Folks,
I've visited this site a few times before, but until now I hadn't registered or posted anything. I think this is an awesome site & it goes hand in hand w/ the company I'm with. I did this job from 1994-1999 & while there were some weekly checks of $2-3000 range, being seasonal work (at least my company was) the year end amounts tended to be 30K or so. What I'm saying is it tended to be feast or famine.
I also had a tough time dealing w/ being on the road 20-25 days a month during the summer & then hardly getting a run after Thanksgiving. I wanted a little more consistancy I guess. I love to travel, but even when I'm having the vacation of my life, I'm ready to come home after 2 or 3 days.
Somehow I stumbled onto this site & it got me thinking of the good times I had in expediting (namely going to the bank after the good weeks) so I thought I'd look into trying it again.
This time though, I knew exactly what I wanted in a company. I don't live high on the hog, so I could make ends meet if I could make $1500/month. I mostly didn't want to be on the road for long periods of time. I applied to various companies listed in this site.
Oh, another thing I should mention is that when I did this before, I HATED going to Canada. I mean I HATED it. I'd take a 100 mile run thru backroads in the US paying gas money only over a 300 mile run to Canada paying $5/mile. (well, ok not really but you get the idea)
So naturally, of the two companies I considered, like a dork I went w/ Thompson. They have a 2 part recruiting system if you're in the US & the first part is to talk to the US recruiter. He told me they're a Canadian company & have "some" runs into Canada, he didn't tell me how much though. He also told me they paid for hotels, which they don't. I realize no other company pays for them, but that was one of the hooks that got me to Thompson. He also told me no other expenses other than the regular expenses, which also isn't true. There's a $157 workmans comp expense every month, so that didn't set very well w/ me either.
Once I got to the Canadian segment of the recruiting process, I found out the above wasn't accurate at all. That left a bad taste in my mouth, especially since I had just went out & bought a van. Still, I figured I'd give them a try, but I was definately having 2nd thoughts about what I got myself into.
There's a funny thing about life, & it's that things have ways of working out for the best, even if when you're going thru it ya sometimes wonder how. And MANNNNNNNNN!!! AM I GLAD THE RECRUITER WAS WHACKED!!! If he'd have been accurate, I wouldn't have chosen Thompson.
My first run was a trip to Port Colburne from Holly, Michigan (about 5 miles from my home). I took a nap, woke up, & they had a run for me to Laffyette, Indiana. They didn't have a run for me after that, being Friday, so I went home, but this was already off to a good start since I got paid for about 800 miles w/ maybe 300 dead. My previous company had a lot of one way runs unless you wanted to sit around for awhile. Worse yet, you could sit around & still not get a run. I always regretted when I waited a day & then still didn't get anything.
My next run was less than great, but hey, life isn't perfect. After that though, things have either been "great" or "AWESOME!!!" Every run has had one coming back it seems. Add to that I live right off the highway, & most of my return runs go right by my house. This allows me to do little things like reload the water bottles, grab a bite to eat, etc. I don't see burnout becoming a factor this time around, at least if things stay as they are. I'm finding that I don't mind being out there a few days as long as I can touch base w/ my house. What I didn't care for before was the Detroit to Chicago to Cleveland to Philly w/ lots of waiting in between. So far this current situation has been perfect.
While I'll take pretty much anything offered to me, my comfort level is in the 300-350 mile range. After they give me something back, I might have driven 6-700 miles & end up anywhere from 20-100 miles from my home. That's pretty awesome & it sure beats driving 700 miles & being 700 miles away from your house.
I know the other company pays more per run, but I've also heard stories that their drivers wait quite awhile to get runs. So far it seems that except for one day, as soon as I wake up they've got something for me.
Can this continue? I don't know. So far though, I'm extatic w/ Thompson.
I've visited this site a few times before, but until now I hadn't registered or posted anything. I think this is an awesome site & it goes hand in hand w/ the company I'm with. I did this job from 1994-1999 & while there were some weekly checks of $2-3000 range, being seasonal work (at least my company was) the year end amounts tended to be 30K or so. What I'm saying is it tended to be feast or famine.
I also had a tough time dealing w/ being on the road 20-25 days a month during the summer & then hardly getting a run after Thanksgiving. I wanted a little more consistancy I guess. I love to travel, but even when I'm having the vacation of my life, I'm ready to come home after 2 or 3 days.
Somehow I stumbled onto this site & it got me thinking of the good times I had in expediting (namely going to the bank after the good weeks) so I thought I'd look into trying it again.
This time though, I knew exactly what I wanted in a company. I don't live high on the hog, so I could make ends meet if I could make $1500/month. I mostly didn't want to be on the road for long periods of time. I applied to various companies listed in this site.
Oh, another thing I should mention is that when I did this before, I HATED going to Canada. I mean I HATED it. I'd take a 100 mile run thru backroads in the US paying gas money only over a 300 mile run to Canada paying $5/mile. (well, ok not really but you get the idea)
So naturally, of the two companies I considered, like a dork I went w/ Thompson. They have a 2 part recruiting system if you're in the US & the first part is to talk to the US recruiter. He told me they're a Canadian company & have "some" runs into Canada, he didn't tell me how much though. He also told me they paid for hotels, which they don't. I realize no other company pays for them, but that was one of the hooks that got me to Thompson. He also told me no other expenses other than the regular expenses, which also isn't true. There's a $157 workmans comp expense every month, so that didn't set very well w/ me either.
Once I got to the Canadian segment of the recruiting process, I found out the above wasn't accurate at all. That left a bad taste in my mouth, especially since I had just went out & bought a van. Still, I figured I'd give them a try, but I was definately having 2nd thoughts about what I got myself into.
There's a funny thing about life, & it's that things have ways of working out for the best, even if when you're going thru it ya sometimes wonder how. And MANNNNNNNNN!!! AM I GLAD THE RECRUITER WAS WHACKED!!! If he'd have been accurate, I wouldn't have chosen Thompson.
My first run was a trip to Port Colburne from Holly, Michigan (about 5 miles from my home). I took a nap, woke up, & they had a run for me to Laffyette, Indiana. They didn't have a run for me after that, being Friday, so I went home, but this was already off to a good start since I got paid for about 800 miles w/ maybe 300 dead. My previous company had a lot of one way runs unless you wanted to sit around for awhile. Worse yet, you could sit around & still not get a run. I always regretted when I waited a day & then still didn't get anything.
My next run was less than great, but hey, life isn't perfect. After that though, things have either been "great" or "AWESOME!!!" Every run has had one coming back it seems. Add to that I live right off the highway, & most of my return runs go right by my house. This allows me to do little things like reload the water bottles, grab a bite to eat, etc. I don't see burnout becoming a factor this time around, at least if things stay as they are. I'm finding that I don't mind being out there a few days as long as I can touch base w/ my house. What I didn't care for before was the Detroit to Chicago to Cleveland to Philly w/ lots of waiting in between. So far this current situation has been perfect.
While I'll take pretty much anything offered to me, my comfort level is in the 300-350 mile range. After they give me something back, I might have driven 6-700 miles & end up anywhere from 20-100 miles from my home. That's pretty awesome & it sure beats driving 700 miles & being 700 miles away from your house.
I know the other company pays more per run, but I've also heard stories that their drivers wait quite awhile to get runs. So far it seems that except for one day, as soon as I wake up they've got something for me.
Can this continue? I don't know. So far though, I'm extatic w/ Thompson.