General questions

superdevil · Aug 11, 2008

Hi all, first post.

So I've been driving for a few years and I'm thinking about getting into expediting as a driver, no owner-operator aspirations here just yet. My driving history is about six months OTR on a 53 foot trailer and 2 1/2 years local driving a mixed fleet of combination and straight trucks. Local is not paying so I guess OTR is the way I have to go but I don't want to deal with the hassle of driving a big truck anymore.

I guess my general questions are

+Do I stand the chance of making any decent pay as a solo expeditor?

+What's the average deal with an owner paywise- 40% of the pay (no fuel) or 60% with fuel?

+What are some general trappings I should look out for?

+My girlfriend is wanting to possibly team, will she be able to secure a CDL or a job with a recent DUI?

I may have more questions at a later time, right now that's all I can really think of.

Thanks

arkjarhead · Aug 11, 2008

It will be tough as a solo. I know this from first hand experience in the past. Expedite is based on a team model. Most of the best teams are same household teams. Meaning all the money is going into one house. If you team with a stranger for an owner the pie is being split three ways. That doesn't leave you with much.

You have the pay deals correct. If you are paying for fuel you should be getting 100% of the fsc on top of the 60%.

I would watch out for anyone that doesn't want to give you a contract. If an owner says they are old school and do business on a hand shake I wouldn't walk away I'd run.

As for your girlfriend, I don't see her getting a job with a recent DUI. I could be wrong. It depends on how recent. It is more of an insurance thing than anything else. Plus alot of carriers require drivers to be able to enter Canada and I don't know if she can with a DUI.

The only other advice I can give you, and I know others will, is read back through at least a year's worth of the general, newbies, newbies faq, and ask the recruiter forums. You don't have to read every single one. Look at the title and read the ones that jump out at you. I can almost bet the questions you have and some you don't can be answered that way. Other than that there are plenty of people that will be happy to help if you ask. Another thing, I wouldn't jump into this to fast. Make sure you have money to pay bills before you jump. With some carriers it takes 3 weeks to get your first check.

Moot · Aug 12, 2008

Superdevil, if you are looking for an excellent paying job why not get hired as a driver with a LTL company. You can run local P & D and make $18/hr. or better starting pay or run linehaul and depending on the company be home daily. As for the GF with the DUI, forget about teaming with her.

greg334 · Aug 12, 2008

Hey, here is some advice, listen to Moot.

If his comment is not really what you are looking for, I would wait. If you are doing this solo, it is a b*tch. If you team, I would be careful and figure out what you want first, I mean where you want to go financially and then look for a company that will get you to your goals. Don't buy into the BS that this is easy work, it is changing and it has become more competitive, so it is not easy to get things rolling and stay rolling. A few of the 'successful' people who say this is easy have it easy to begin with.

ALSO if you do get into this after all I said, remember this is a business and you can't look at what you do weekly or every two weeks but monthly. I mean if you look at how you are doing weekly, it will drive you nuts and discourage you. Oh and don't forget, this is a business.

Moot · Aug 12, 2008

Greg, thanks for backing me on this one. It is my contention that if you want to make money in the trucking industry and can't afford a down payment and cash reserve to get stated as an O/O then a job with an LTL carrier is the way to go.

When I left the LTL industry 11 1/2 years ago I was grossing $50,000 plus. That included full medical, dental, vision, 401K and 3 weeks vacation. So if you need a steady income and benefits, LTL is where it is at.

Superdevil said: "Local is not paying so I guess OTR is the way I have to go but I don't want to deal with the hassle of driving a big truck anymore."

You would have to be more specific about the hassle of driving a big truck. But if you want to make some money and save for your own rig then check with one of the larger LTL companies. You should have enough experience to qualify.

superdevil · Aug 13, 2008

Thanks for the replies.

When I say I don't want to deal with the hassles of driving a big truck, one of the main reasons I got out of OTR trucking was seemingly mundane things like finding parking, navigating confined spaces, jack-rabbiting a 53 foot trailer into a warehouse and loading dock that was designed in the days of cabovers and 48-foot trailers, etc. I know that's part of everyday trucking but I started getting interested in expediting when I saw these trucks pulling as many miles as I was and shooting in and out of loading docks, parking at shopping malls, hell just not having to stay in a truck stop because there's a state park down the street where they were allowed to park their "commercial RV". I guess the grass is always greener and all that but after searching for a loaded trailer waiting for me in the terminal yard one day, it dawned on me that if I was in a straight truck I wouldn't have just wasted four hours of my life if I didn't have a semi truck!

As far as LTL, that's basically what I've been up to for the last six months. I have one of the best paying dedicated route type jobs in Fayetteville, NC- $23,000 a year before taxes. I was making more than that fresh out of CDL school. The economy is unbelivably bad here in this area, and I'm a firm believer that if you have a CDL you shouldn't HAVE to relocate in order to find a decent paying job IMO. There are some places around that pay in the neighborhood of $30,000-35,000 a year but as far as I know they require at least five years OTR in most cases. If I was ex-military that would be no problem being that government retirees have preference in just about any job market within a hundred miles of Fort Bragg. I was told by FedEx that this was why I never recieve any word back on my applications (and trust me I've applied for **** near every driving position they have!).

So basically the best I've been offered here in the last several weeks is 9.89 an hour driving a dump truck. I feel that I'm worth more than that so I feel I have no choice but to go back OTR, I 'm just exploring a different way of doing it (i.e. expedited).

As far as my girlfriend teaming with me please don't look at her as being an unsafe driver or a drunk or anything. She blew an .007 (legal limit being .006) and the "hanging judge" nailed her. From what I understand, she can earn her CDL but it's the employment that I feel we're going to have trouble with.

Moot · Aug 13, 2008

Con-Way LTL, formerly Con-Way Southern Express has a terminal in Fayetteville.

As for your girlfriend, I am not passing judgment on her. But carriers and their insurance companies will. A DUI is difficult to overcome in the trucking industy.

late4dinner · Aug 13, 2008

You say things are bad in your job market, well things are slow everywhere. Then you say your girlfriend has a DUI because of a hanging judge. Whats that all about? Either she broke the law or she didn't. I'll lay odds that 90% of the people have had a drink and got behind the wheel at one time or another in their life. Most people are lucky and don't get arrested but some are lucky when they get arrested. Thats what it takes to wake some people up. Now I hope that your lady friend is a wonderful person and I'm not ragging on her, however ask yourself this. You are hiring for some company, be it large or small, and you have to decide who you are going to put behind the wheel of one of your trucks. Are you going to hire one of the thousands of people who never was arrested, or you going to hire someone who may or may not have a drinking problem??? Good luck at whatever you decide.

superdevil · Aug 13, 2008

You say things are bad in your job market, well things are slow everywhere.

The point of my orginal post was to get some general expected income figures for this kind of work, not b**ch about how tough things are economy wise right now. Somebody posted that they made 50,000 a year doing LTL. I wish I could meet somebody here in my hometown that pulls down that kind of pay but it doesn't exist or it's such a well kept secret that only a few people know about it. Either way, I'm thinking about going OTR expedited, thank you.

Whats that all about? Either she broke the law or she didn't

Yes she broke the law. Yes she made a mistake. And yes, I feel that she got lucky in that it stopped her from ever making that lapse of judgement happen again. Do I feel that she got a stiffer penalty than most people? Yes. Her BAC was 1 point over the legal limit. Most people that I know of have blown higher than that and gotten out of it. I believe the judge made an example out of her, so be it.

But I wanted to clarify that she was not a drunk, I just wanted to know how hard it would be to get her CDL and get her in a company. From what I've read here she won't be lucky finding work. From what I've found out getting her CDL will be iffy but it's possible. Once again, thanks for the info.

But I still haven't got a good average pay quote; what is the average monthly pay for a solo expeditor and team expeditor? (This would be driving for someone else as opposed to being an owner/op). I can say that, for reference, as a company driver for Roehl and US Xpress my paychecks were never under $1000.00 a week (barring very few exceptions). Can anybody out here throw out a basic figure? I understand that you have to look more at a monthly quote than a weekly quote in expediting but can I expect to make as much as I did in a big rig running just as hard? I was usually out three and a half weeks and home three or four days.