Congratulations, Toes -- i expect that you will be KEPT ON THEM! ;-) Also, welcome to Expediter's Online!
Now, your questions:
As Dreamer said, it would be a very unusual situation for you to have to load/unload, and if you did have to fingerprint your freight, you WOULD be paid a premium; however, that premium can sometimes be a pitance, considering the load, so you will want to make sure, IN ADVANCE, exactly what the renumeration is to be. We were offered a load, with a different company than Panther, that consisted of 350 file boxes, weighing 50 pounds each, which we would have had to unload, in New York CITY, and no one could tell us exactly what the unload would entail -- it was to deliver to a hotel, with no loading dock, and no one knew if we would have to be carrying these boxes up 3 flights of stairs, or just WHAT the situation would be! i think we were offered about $100 to lump this load, but without knowing what we were getting ourselves into, we politely declined. For the most part, there is no lumper option at the places expedited freight delivers.
Now, for your "out and back" plan, there are several options for you to consider:
Expediter's Online currently offers a Load Board, where you list your equipment, and shipper's list their loads. This is a subscription service, designed to match equipment and loads. If the company you lease to has loads, either coming into your area, or going out of your area, the Load Board could help you to find freight going the direction you need it to. A lot will depend on the area that you live in -- some are just BLACK HOLES for expedited freight (nothing going in or out), and others are BEEHIVES of activity.
The much sought after, rarely seen, Dedicated Route is also an option -- but you would have to look for a small, local company to lease with for this.
i actually know someone that runs loads out of his area, then, if no load is offered, just turns around and deadheads back. This, of course, cuts your gross pay in half, and usually isn't a viable option for most drivers.
Besides the Load Board, there are also Brokers, many of whom handle LTL. The pay isn't great, but it's better than running empty.
The last option i can think of right now (i HEARD that sigh of relief, y'all! lol) is getting your own authority and finding your OWN customers -- perhaps a company that has satellite sites, and which needs to ship freight among these.
i sure hope this helps!
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Godspeed to all of you out there on the highways and byways!
