I have been offered a job with Panther and also FedX. my question is ( can I truly make a good living as a single van driver) I know all you drivers out there dont have anything to gain so i'll get the truth and not a bed of roses! thanks
I dont mind hard work i've worked all my life and im 56 I just need to make it home clearing about 1250 a week to pay my bills. I hope thats a number I can reach.
Thanks everyone! I dont need that much,I would like that much. that's about what I use to make in the car buss. can I make 52 without much problem?
everyone has been a big help! I know im not going to get rich but I would like to bring home 1000 a week just so I wont hear (" I told you so from the wife!"
I guess thats true, but I feel my time is worth alot more then 500 bucks a week and to be out here for three weeks in a row I better be getting more then If I worked at wal mart.
OVM you have been out here for a long time. can I clear 1000 a week with watching what I spend and work hard?
thanks Chef! I just want to pay my bills clearing 750 to 850 will do that............
Welcome to the world of expediting! Your expectations have already come down from clearing $65K/yr to $39K/yr in 2 short days! Now reduce it again to average out by number of weeks 'worked', as 'Chef' stated, so say about 45-48 weeks/yr x $750 and you're down to $33,750/yr. Keep working at it. Do the math! Calculate
all your expenses. Pick an average rate to base your annual fuel price on, and your vehicle's fuel mileage on. Don't forget to calculate an estimated average deadhead on every mile you're paid for, and the fuel that will be required to run those miles (could be 30-35%). Have a good read of the archives here at EO, there is lots of relevant information!
You ask a valid question for a newbie, 'why do it if the money is no more than working at Walmart'? This is like any self-employment venture, where you cannot know your earnings in advance, you cannot rely on clearing a certain amount on a regular basis to help with your mandatory household bills, you cannot count on only working a set number of hours per week, your 'holidays' will be chosen for you like it or not, based on your customer's needs, rather than your own. There are regular downtimes in this industry and they may not be when 'you' might choose to have a week off. Things will happen that are totally not in your control which will affect your ability to earn. You may be ready and willing to run run run, but your carrier will limit you for safety reasons and to share the wealth amongst all their contractors.
Like any successful entrepreneur, you've got to be mentally prepared and financially able to work contentedly within this huge unknown. You'll revel at your earning-ability when you get a good streak of luck here and there, and you'll cry when things seem to be in a slump. And then it can change again at the drop of a hat. Walmart people would rather know what they're going to make, they'd rather have structure, a supervisor telling them what to do, regular business hours, be told what to wear, take a regular lunch break, no stress, no calculating, no big decisions, etc.
Pretty well every dollar you earn at Walmart is going to be taxed, whereas your expediting income will be offset so that most or all of it (after expenses) will be yours. You'll have some writeoffs that you would not have if you worked at Walmart. So if you ended up clearing an average $500/week after expenses in expediting (do Walmart people make $500/week?), most of that $500 is going to stay with you. The Walmart people are going to be taxed on top. So in effect, you can make much less in expediting, and end up with the same in your pocket, because of the taxes.
With all that said, you will find that many expediters are in a position, for one reason or another, of not HAVING to bring home a certain amount of cash for household expenses, ie they may be single and live on the road, or they may be a couple and live on the road, or they've whittled down their household expenses to very little (ie no car loans, no mortgage, no cable required, none of the usual trappings of suburbia, etc), perhaps they might have a home address shared with other family; They might also have another more reliable income source (such as a pension of some sort, or a high-earner spouse) to rely on to pay the mandatory bills, whatever.
A recipe for failure would be to enter this business knowing that you MUST bring home $2000/month (or any other amount)
clear for the household bills on a regularly scheduled basis. And just like any other self-employed venture,
never calculate your earnings by the hour. You'll read it in the archives and you'll see it come up again, this is a lifestyle, and not a job.
