How many days are u sitting at one location
- Thread starter skyraider
- Start date
Is Duncan SC area good for vans and your company? I don't think that I have ever sat for 5 days in one place, unless a Sat and Sun were involved and even then I would most likely relocate than sit empty.
Fluke maybe? We have been VERY busy lately. Different kind of truck though.
Is Duncan SC area good for vans and your company? I don't think that I have ever sat for 5 days in one place, unless a Sat and Sun were involved and even then I would most likely relocate than sit empty.
Fluke maybe? We have been VERY busy lately. Different kind of truck though.
I hope your main business is NOT tied to the auto industry. I think there is going to be a slow down with that industry, AGAIN, as oil prices continue to rise. Good luck, I don't think I could handle the CV route. I like keeping busy. I don't handle layovers well. 
I hope your main business is NOT tied to the auto industry. I think there is going to be a slow down with that industry, AGAIN, as oil prices continue to rise. Good luck, I don't think I could handle the CV route. I like keeping busy. I don't handle layovers well.
Part of what makes expediting expediting is the unpredictable nature of the beast. Plans can be made and expectations can be formed but circumstances develop that make it challenging to stay focused and perceive things well.
When you find yourself sitting longer than you think you should, doubts find fertile ground in your mind and it gets easier to think about the business or the market in ways that do not serve you. Drivers sometimes experience a slow streak and start wondering all sorts of things that would not even occur to them if they were busy.
This is where having a network of expediter friends can be helpful, especially if they are working the business the same as you (truck type, solo or team, same carrier, etc.). When you find yourself sitting and the doubts start running through your mind, you can call your fellow expediters (not one or two but five or six) to get their take on what is going on.
Maybe your carrier lost an important customer that you did not know about. Maybe it has been slow for everyone in the last few weeks. Maybe the price you demand to run has become just a few cents per mile too high to get freight on your truck.
Developing a network of trusted business associates gives you the ability to talk to them and accurately understand what is really going on. It works. More than once I have called friends and asked them, what are we doing wrong? Why are we sitting when everyone else seems to be moving? More than once the responses have chased the doubts away and helped restore my faith in business decisions previously made.
If you are not a committed introvert, it is easy to build a network. Expediters bump into each other all the time at truck stops, carrier meetings, EO events, truck shows, and loading docks.
When there is time to talk, try to avoid talk about the weather or sports or entertaining war stories. Talk instead about the business. Over time you will meet people who run as you do and seem to have their heads screwed on straight.
Theirs are the phone numbers you want to collect. They are the ones you want to call every now and then to visit with by phone. They will share not only what is going on with them but with others they also know. By investing a few hours a month in calls to say a half-dozen friends, you can learn what is going on with two or three dozen expediters who run as you do, and with that information in hand, you can adjust your practices as needed.
Here is an example. A friend told me the other day that a reliable and high-paying shipper that happens to be located in a remote area has stopped using straight trucks and now uses only E-units. Diane and I have in the past not hesitated to go into that area because that shipper would often get us out. But if it is true that a shift to big-rigs has been made, we would think twice before going there again.
I seldom take any statement about expediting at face value and will follow up with other friends and our carrier to see if that statement is actually true. That's why you want to have more than one or two friends in your network. Just because someone thinks something is true about a shipper, it does not follow that it is.
A lot of people get into this business because they like the freedom and solitude. Solitude is good but networking with others who run as you do can be mentally and financially beneficial.
When you find yourself sitting longer than you think you should, doubts find fertile ground in your mind and it gets easier to think about the business or the market in ways that do not serve you. Drivers sometimes experience a slow streak and start wondering all sorts of things that would not even occur to them if they were busy.
This is where having a network of expediter friends can be helpful, especially if they are working the business the same as you (truck type, solo or team, same carrier, etc.). When you find yourself sitting and the doubts start running through your mind, you can call your fellow expediters (not one or two but five or six) to get their take on what is going on.
Maybe your carrier lost an important customer that you did not know about. Maybe it has been slow for everyone in the last few weeks. Maybe the price you demand to run has become just a few cents per mile too high to get freight on your truck.
Developing a network of trusted business associates gives you the ability to talk to them and accurately understand what is really going on. It works. More than once I have called friends and asked them, what are we doing wrong? Why are we sitting when everyone else seems to be moving? More than once the responses have chased the doubts away and helped restore my faith in business decisions previously made.
If you are not a committed introvert, it is easy to build a network. Expediters bump into each other all the time at truck stops, carrier meetings, EO events, truck shows, and loading docks.
When there is time to talk, try to avoid talk about the weather or sports or entertaining war stories. Talk instead about the business. Over time you will meet people who run as you do and seem to have their heads screwed on straight.
Theirs are the phone numbers you want to collect. They are the ones you want to call every now and then to visit with by phone. They will share not only what is going on with them but with others they also know. By investing a few hours a month in calls to say a half-dozen friends, you can learn what is going on with two or three dozen expediters who run as you do, and with that information in hand, you can adjust your practices as needed.
Here is an example. A friend told me the other day that a reliable and high-paying shipper that happens to be located in a remote area has stopped using straight trucks and now uses only E-units. Diane and I have in the past not hesitated to go into that area because that shipper would often get us out. But if it is true that a shift to big-rigs has been made, we would think twice before going there again.
I seldom take any statement about expediting at face value and will follow up with other friends and our carrier to see if that statement is actually true. That's why you want to have more than one or two friends in your network. Just because someone thinks something is true about a shipper, it does not follow that it is.
A lot of people get into this business because they like the freedom and solitude. Solitude is good but networking with others who run as you do can be mentally and financially beneficial.
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Ya nailed it Phil....
I have acquired quite a network over the years..of POSITIVE people, of like minds...
if you find yourself at a truck stop with a lot of whiners and negative vibes...MOVE...it is like a disease and you'll lose your focus and your brain will be in the wrong mode...waiting is part of the game...always keep in mind it only takes 1 load to come out of a slump and that time can come at any moment...ones fortunes can change in a blink...
I have acquired quite a network over the years..of POSITIVE people, of like minds...
if you find yourself at a truck stop with a lot of whiners and negative vibes...MOVE...it is like a disease and you'll lose your focus and your brain will be in the wrong mode...waiting is part of the game...always keep in mind it only takes 1 load to come out of a slump and that time can come at any moment...ones fortunes can change in a blink...
1 load or load 1?
Well written,,my time in grade out is very short,,2 years is nothing I know, to early to make judgements till I have been out here 5 yrs.
I have been out here almost 6 years, please let me know when you understand it. I don't.
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
30 years for me,I understan it,but I'd rather not.I wouldn't make a very good recruiter.
greg334
Veteran Expediter
I'm trying to figure what's well written.
If you are independent enough to make your own work come to you, why would you worry about what others say. Are you such a person you can't tell them just to go away if it affects your mental well being?
On the other hand, many are dependent on what their company brings to them and most of the time in order for you to see that work, it is not what you do to gain it (because you can't do a thing to gain it) but being in the right place at the right time for that right load - LUCK.
Many successful expediters will (AND have) argue(d) the point that LUCK has nothing to do with it but they are so wrong and they won't actually tell others how they get the work or what makes them stand out.
I would offer this bit of advice - most of the time you can't do a thing about why you are not getting any offers, but you can figure out how to hedge the slow times or those times when you have no work by understanding your financial needs and cutting costs. Just sitting there stewing about what you are doing wrong is somewhat outside of reality in this business, especially when you work for a company they limits your information and access to work. Deal with your business, find out where you can go to get freight that your company handles and than stay within those areas at the same time not to be afraid of taking chances to find better ways to operate because all of it has to do with that important factor they call LUCK.
CharlesD
Expert Expediter
I don't think I'm a very good recruiter. I tell a van person the truth and never her from him again.
We sit a maximum of 2 days not including weekends. We normally will not stay in a known dead area longer than it takes to get a shower and meal. After 24 hours if we find ourselves in a very slow area we will ask planning to move us to an active area. Sometimes, when accepting a load, we will ask for a specific authorized layover location for after we deliver.
When evaluating a load offer we consider the delivery location and how far we will have to deadhead to get into an active area.
Sitting for 5 days makes no sense. Moving to an area where you can get loaded and moving, even on your own dime, will more than make up for the loss of revenue from sitting.
IMHO
When evaluating a load offer we consider the delivery location and how far we will have to deadhead to get into an active area.
Sitting for 5 days makes no sense. Moving to an area where you can get loaded and moving, even on your own dime, will more than make up for the loss of revenue from sitting.
IMHO
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Although that's very true, a few companies can and do have freight coming from most major population centers. Those are the ones who seem to have the biggest issue with their contractors saying that it is what they do that makes the difference.
