E-unit teams

[Gone_by_Dawn]

Greetings to all members,

As a "newbie" to the expedite business, I have found this forum to be a wonderful place to get much needed information. As the senior member of an experienced team (E unit), I am in the process of looking into the expediting field as a lower mileage alternative to churning out 5000 mile plus weeks at other companies (outside of expediting). Needless to say, the negativity exhibited here is thought-provoking. Speaking of negativity, one company I am looking into is FedEx CC.

I did a search on this forum for "Fed Ex CC" and came up with approximately ninety-percent negative reviews, comments, etc. I do understand the concept of expediting and the posts about dispatchers "fibbing", no freight, sitting long periods, blah, blah, blah. In most cases, this seems to be the norm for B, C, and D units. But I see very little about the big rigs. I have fifteen years experience in transportation (I realize this means nothing more than having a high tolerance for pain) and understand the ramifications of a bad economy. But....there have to be some of you who are making a good living. I can't possibly believe that expediting is that bad! Which leads me to the question following this long-winded post.

Are there any E unit teams making money at Fed Ex CC...or any other expedite company? Or is bankruptcy the norm?

Thanks for the time and interest.

Bill

 

[Lawrence]

Bill,

Welcome to EO and thank you for your participation.

You asked a great question. Is anyone still making money in expediting?

The answer is yes.

There is still money to be made in OTR, ground expediting. Now with that said there are a few important factors to understand.

1. Low hanging fruit
Many, many moons ago (approximately 15 years ago) there were only a few, truly qualified expedited carriers. It was a new service that was offered only by a few exclusive companies. These carriers were truly innovative and rode the wave of a new and upcoming business model in the automotive manufacturing business, it was called Just-in-Time or JIT.

As the JIT concept grew outside of the automotive arena - so did the opportunities for the carriers. For many years these few carriers (and owner operators) enjoyed triple digit growth as they were the only game in town. The carriers set the freight rates and the shippers were eager to pay "whatever it took" to get the freight to it's destination. Many of us on this forum were fortunate enough to have benefited during these earlier times when the freight was plentiful and the rates were outstanding.

That was then, this is now.

2. Everyone wants in
As the industry grew so did amount of companies who wanted their piece of the pie. It was inevitable - triple digit growth catches alot of attention. As truckload carriers were experiencing a major downturn in freight rates - expediting was busy raising their rates.

Where would you want to be?

The first wave of new companies were from full truckload carriers starting their new expediting divisions. Then a few years after that there was a near avalanche of smaller mom and pop operations.

For the first time in the history of the industry - expediting was getting crowded and marketplace competition kicked in. Over the last five years, expedited freight rates have fallen. One could even suggest that they were artificially too high for the marketplace, similar to what happened in the tech stocks a few years ago.

For those of us who remember the "good ole days" it is sometimes frustrating when we look at what we had and where we are now. The fact of the matter is the rules of this industry have changed. There is a great book available at Amazon.com called "WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?" that deals with the constantly changing business arena and how we should respond to the changes.

3. 9/11/2001
It is a FACT. The horrible events in NY had a devastating impact on not only our industry, but on the general economy is well. My point is this - you can't judge an entire industry based on the events of the past year. You really have to look at the entire picture to see what is going on.

4. Open Forum Comments
I love the freedom we have and I love the fact that we can speak our mind openly - even here on this forum as it pertains to our industry. There are three kinds of posters at EO:

a. Community Minded
My favorite kind of member. These people contribute with their comments, ideas and suggestions, they really offer alot to the online community. The generally tell you like it is and are always willing to help anyone. Down right good neighbors!

b. One Hit Wonders
These folks have a simple question and want a simple answer. They make one or two posts and then they just "lurk" in the background, reading the post but not participating until they have another question. They don't generally offer help to anyone else, but that's ok.

c. Hot Flamers
These posters generally come armed and loaded! They are angry and frustrated that no one at their company could or would address their issues so they think that they will get some action by posting their grievance here in the public for everyone to see. Typically, these posters never participate on any other topic or offer anyone any help whatsoever.

They are on a mission to vent.

We see them come and go and often wonder what became of their situation. Most of these posts while they may be factual - the poster is often very distraught.


5. So where are we headed?
The rules of engagement have changed. If you operate your business expecting 1985 - 1999 rates and freight you will not survive. Your business plan has to be smart. You must prepare for long stretches of slow times. You must be truly independent minded, if you depend on the carrier to solve all your issues, you are headed for a big disappointment.

RichM has a great business plan and has proved over the many years in this industry that you can be successful - but you have to plan it that way. As the saying goes. Failure to plan is planning for failure.

Those are my thoughts and the way I see it.

We wish you well Bill!

Lawrence
Expediters Online.com

 

[Fr8 Shaker]

( EXPEDITORS ) The new common carrier...lmao sorry just had to throw that in.

 

[dog]

for #2

A very informative assessement of the expediting business, I was aware of the past 3 years, but not of the very good years. I find your writing very informative and appreciate the opportunity to read it. Keep up the good work, Lawrence.

 

[Gone_by_Dawn]

Lawrence,

Thank you for the prompt and informative response. I agree that a good business plan is essential. I am still investigating the prospects of the expediting business and your post answered some of my questions. I'm hoping to be able to work through the negativity displayed and filter it into two sides; Those who don't want to work hard and are never happy and those that have legitimate complaints.

Keep up the good work.

Bill

 

[evilspirit]

Before I made a change and went into expediting I spent several months reading post on EO as well as talking to drivers on the road. You find much more negative than positive on any of the companies involved. I simply went with the one with the least negatives and held off as long as I could before I made the move. So far I'm satisfied, and I'm keeping the bills paid and now that I'm learning the system I'm actually beginning to make a little profit. With a good plan based on reality and not on hope for better times, you can make money in the business.
:7 :7 :7

For what it's worth I'm with LEA}>

 

[louixo]

Most of the E unit teams i have encountered, seem to do well. They typically get about $1.00-$1.10 per mile...all miles. Some I have talked to have dedicated runs, and do better. The single E units don´t seem to do much better than a D unit, based on conversations I´ve had with some of them. It also appears that some companies are going in that direction, Emerson, for one. A few monhts back I spoke with one of thier recruiters and all they were putting on at the time were E units. One thing i´ve always thought was a plus for an E unit, is that if expediting is slow, you can take your truck elswhere pretty easily. Another plus is that with an E unit, you can take any load, unless it takes special handling you can´t accomodate, like a liftgate or refrigeration. Also the longevity of your unit is 10 year road life, as compared with 5 on the smaller trucks. But your expenses are higher with an E.