Hey Phil ....

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Was reading your page .... I know who you are talking about here ....



One small correction .. he told ME to commit suicide! :)

That was a truly one of a kind load .... a particle accelerator that went to Fermi Labs west of Chicago.

Introduction to Expediting

I have carried several particle accelerators in my time as an expediter. I have carried them for Colt, Barrett and Morton Thiokol to name a few!:p

One of my very first loads had us moving some kind of bio stuff. The shipper was a real "nervous nellie". I asked him why he was SO nervous. He informed me that we were moving nothing less than his entire life's work.

The kinds of freight we sometimes haul is by far the most interesting part of the business we are in.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Was reading your page ....

I'll be taking down that entire web site soon. I stopped blogging months ago as we transition into a new career. There will not be the time or incilination to keep that site going.
 

Dreamer

Administrator Emeritus
Charter Member
I'll be taking down that entire web site soon. I stopped blogging months ago as we transition into a new career. There will not be the time or incilination to keep that site going.

Why would you take it down? It could still give a lot of info, and provide good reading for those interested.

Why not just leave it up with an explanation you have moved on?



Dale


Sent from my SPH-D700 using EO Forums mobile app
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Dreamer, the explanation that we are moving on has been posted since I stopped blogging there. And yes, Notanewbie, it costs money to keep that web site live.

I am taking the site down partly to save money but mostly because Diane and I are moving into a retail business in which well over 1,000 people and after that over 2,000 people of all persuasions will be our customers. The site contains several years of blogging in which I freely and frequently expressed my personal opinions. That's fine when you are a trucker and your dispatchers are in trucking too. It's not fine when people might take it upon themselves to learn more about their gym owners and I said something years ago that might offend them six months from now.

For example, I once posted a long, detailed and blistering criticism of Volvo Trucks when I learned that their D-12 engine EGR valve design was flawed and would cost us a lot of money over the years as we dealt with it. It's not the kind of thing I'd like a Volvo salesperson to stumble upon if he or she is also a potential customer of our business. (The D-12 engine has since been discontinued and the design flaw has been corrected in subsequent models.)

It might not matter at all, but why take the chance? It's easier, and better, I believe, to avoid the possibility altogether by taking the site down.

I spent an hour on the phone today with someone who wanted to know about Landstar. He knew of me through my online activities. I have had many such conversations over the years and they have been enjoyable and valuable. But in our new business, I won't have that kind of time to share with drivers and driver wannabees.

Even today, months after I stopped blogging, and months after I removed the "contact us" info from the site, people are still tracking me down in search of advice. When we make our change, our customers will be the focus. Trucking will soon be behind us and our new business will be the new game. My old blog site would only be a distraction so down it will come.

So that's it. The site is coming down because it will save money, better establish us as neutral entities with prospective customers and enable me to better manage my time.

That said, I'll also say that I dearly miss blogging every day. It has been great fun to share our day-to-day experiences, surprises and adventures with whoever took an interest, and it has been heartwarming to receive their feedback. Nevertheless, new adventures lie ahead and truck blogging will not be part of them.
 
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jjoerger

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Army
Thanks for posting all the info on your blog over the years. It helped many of us to learn more about this business. It also provided some great laughs when you were mad about something.

Sent from my EVO using EO Forums mobile app
 

hossman54

Seasoned Expediter
I am taking the site down partly to save money but mostly because Diane and I are moving into a retail business in which well over 1,000 people and after that over 2,000 people of all persuasions will be our customers. The site contains several years of blogging in which I freely and frequently expressed my personal opinions. That's fine when you are a trucker and your dispatchers are in trucking too. It's not fine when people might take it upon themselves to learn more about their gym owners and I said something years ago that might offend them six months from now.

For example, I once posted a long, detailed and blistering criticism of Volvo Trucks when I learned that their D-12 engine EGR valve design was flawed and would cost us a lot of money over the years as we dealt with it. It's not the kind of thing I'd like a Volvo salesperson to stumble upon if he or she is also a potential customer of our business. (The D-12 engine has since been discontinued and the design flaw has been corrected in subsequent models.)

It might not matter at all, but why take the chance? It's easier, and better, I believe, to avoid the possibility altogether by taking the site down.

FYI - You can take the site down, but your posts will remain for viewing for evermore. Google The Wayback Machine, which archives the web. Your entire blog and all its posts are already there, and there isn't anything that can be done to delete them:

Archived: Phil Madsen's Blog, Current Month
 
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ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
I know about the forever more part. I knew about that before I posted anything. But the more time passes, the less often they will appear in any search results. I'm not trying to obiterate anything I have ever written online. I'm only seeking to become a more neutral and less prominent online entity to anyone who does a casual search on my name in the future.

At present there is a singer in New Zealand who has the same name as me. In time, as I use my name less online, his name will dominate a search for that phrase. To those who want my blog content to remain available, now you have it, in the link hossman54 provided.
 

Wolverine

Seasoned Expediter
I know about the forever more part. I knew about that before I posted anything. But the more time passes, the less often they will appear in any search results. I'm not trying to obiterate anything I have ever written online. I'm only seeking to become a more neutral and less prominent online entity to anyone who does a casual search on my name in the future.

At present there is a singer in New Zealand who has the same name as me. In time, as I use my name less online, his name will dominate a search for that phrase. To those who want my blog content to remain available, now you have it, in the link hossman54 provided.

I have grown to admire your objective style of writing so much I'm considering changing my legal name to "Phil Madsen".

Either that or "Anytime F. Wolverine"...
 

Moot

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I have carried several particle accelerators in my time as an expediter. I have carried them for Colt, Barrett and Morton Thiokol to name a few!:p
Wow, those are some heavy hitters in the particle acceleration field. Especially Morton Thiokol! I once hauled some stuff for Thor Heyerdahl. It wasn't particle accelerators. Just a personal floatation device, shark repellent and a U.S. Coast Guard approved flare gun.
 
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