Olex126
Seasoned Expediter
Hi Guys and Gals. Just a short synopsis.
New to the forum, but not new to expediting.. Started in 1983 with (then) TNT Olex, Windsor, Ontario (now TST Expedited). Spent sixteen years there with vans and straight trucks. Left in 1999, and switched to running LTL from Toronto to Los Angeles with an FL 80 tandem axle straight truck. And if you don't believe you can make money running a "bob" truck on that run, you've got a bad dispatcher, 'cause done right, the money is there! Lasted for a year before I burned out (single driver!), so switched to an "easier" Toronto-Dallas run.
The Dallas freight lasted almost a year until the company I was with went under, so I switched out the van body on the truck to a twenty-four foot rack-and-tarp and went flat-bedding.
After three years of running flatbed freight (and loving it!) I decided to "build" my own version of my "perfect" short flatbed (at a price I could afford!) Started with a three-year-old International 9200 tandem tractor with low mileage, all the bells-and-whistles, and a Detroit Series 60/500 HP with a 13-speed transmission. Tore the truck apart and stretched the wheelbase to three hundred inches, and then double-framed it front-to-back. Added a new twenty-thousand air-lift axle with Michigan-spread (109").
Drove the cab-and-chassis to DeMonte, Windsor, Ontario to be outfitted with a new twenty-four foot "Quick-Draw" sliding tarp system built on one of their flatbed decks. This is the truck I presently drive. Currently licensed for 32,000 # payload, although I like to keep it slightly under 30,000# or I can run into some extra weight on the steer axle. I'm outfitted with dash-mounted air-weigh gauges for the drive axles, but nothing on the steer... The calculations kinda go "Well, if I weigh THIS much on the back 3 axles, then I MUST be legal on the steer... Uh Huh!! (The voice in my head repeats "A CAT scale is your friend...")
Most of the heavy-duty construction was performed by a company in Lucan, Ontario called Promechanical Truck Services. Kudos go to Pete the owner and his crew for their hard work in getting this thing built the way I wanted it. Highly recommended if you're thinking of doing something along these lines.
Anyone contemplating such a conversion should keep in mind that it ain't cheap!! The tractor was $52,000, the cost of the frame conversion/lift axle/drive-shaft modifications ran another $20,000, and the QuickDraw tarp/flat-bed system added the final $20,000+, for a total out-the-door cost of a tad over $92,000. Bank financing was a "treat" to deal with, since they initially would only finance the tractor and not the conversion.. After submitting endless details (and actually driving the banker to see the work-in-progress cab-and-chassis conversion) he agreed to finance the whole deal. Whew! I was running out of money!!
I drove the truck almost non-stop for the first two years doing tool & die work, and the initial cost has been repaid many times over. It's a move I've never regretted taking. The truck handles extremely well loaded or empty, fuel mileage averages 10.2 MPG, and the tractor-style cab and bunk wins hands-down over the Alumibunk-style of add-on bunk that I had with the FL80. And of course, with 500 ponies under the hood and a 3-switch Jake, places like Jellico in Tennessee or Elk in Wyoming are a LOT easier to navigate!
As always, I would make some changes if I had a "do-over", as the kids call it. Number one would be a 14,000 # front-end, as opposed to the 12,000 # presently installed, and number two would have been the inclusion of an APU when I went for financing. (The banker had already poo-poo'd the idea, despite all the calculations I gave him... By the time I thought I could afford one, the bottom had dropped out of tool-and-die work, so I thought being prudent with the pennies might be a better idea!)
I have been out there now driving and crossing the border for twenty-six years, and with the exception of the period of time after 9/11, I find border-crossing now is actually easier, quicker, and more hassle-free than in the early days of my career. Of course, being in possession of a FAST card, having "your ducks lined up properly" when crossing, and a pleasant attitude on your part (regardless of the frame-of-mind of the CBP line officer!) can make it a painless endouver.
I am now leased on with Walter McDougall International Expedite out of Lancaster, Ontario, and running some flatbed/LTL and some automotive expedite freight...I also pull double-duty as their Western Ontario Manager, trying to help develop their presence in Southern Ontario. So if you happen to be unloading at a GM/Ford/Chrysler dock somewhere, I may be just around the corner at the tool-and-die shop. Give me a holler if you spot me! My handle on the CB is "Tailgunner".
Regards.
Dave
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x295/olex126/Expeditorsonline/WM126.jpg
New to the forum, but not new to expediting.. Started in 1983 with (then) TNT Olex, Windsor, Ontario (now TST Expedited). Spent sixteen years there with vans and straight trucks. Left in 1999, and switched to running LTL from Toronto to Los Angeles with an FL 80 tandem axle straight truck. And if you don't believe you can make money running a "bob" truck on that run, you've got a bad dispatcher, 'cause done right, the money is there! Lasted for a year before I burned out (single driver!), so switched to an "easier" Toronto-Dallas run.
The Dallas freight lasted almost a year until the company I was with went under, so I switched out the van body on the truck to a twenty-four foot rack-and-tarp and went flat-bedding.
After three years of running flatbed freight (and loving it!) I decided to "build" my own version of my "perfect" short flatbed (at a price I could afford!) Started with a three-year-old International 9200 tandem tractor with low mileage, all the bells-and-whistles, and a Detroit Series 60/500 HP with a 13-speed transmission. Tore the truck apart and stretched the wheelbase to three hundred inches, and then double-framed it front-to-back. Added a new twenty-thousand air-lift axle with Michigan-spread (109").
Drove the cab-and-chassis to DeMonte, Windsor, Ontario to be outfitted with a new twenty-four foot "Quick-Draw" sliding tarp system built on one of their flatbed decks. This is the truck I presently drive. Currently licensed for 32,000 # payload, although I like to keep it slightly under 30,000# or I can run into some extra weight on the steer axle. I'm outfitted with dash-mounted air-weigh gauges for the drive axles, but nothing on the steer... The calculations kinda go "Well, if I weigh THIS much on the back 3 axles, then I MUST be legal on the steer... Uh Huh!! (The voice in my head repeats "A CAT scale is your friend...")
Most of the heavy-duty construction was performed by a company in Lucan, Ontario called Promechanical Truck Services. Kudos go to Pete the owner and his crew for their hard work in getting this thing built the way I wanted it. Highly recommended if you're thinking of doing something along these lines.
Anyone contemplating such a conversion should keep in mind that it ain't cheap!! The tractor was $52,000, the cost of the frame conversion/lift axle/drive-shaft modifications ran another $20,000, and the QuickDraw tarp/flat-bed system added the final $20,000+, for a total out-the-door cost of a tad over $92,000. Bank financing was a "treat" to deal with, since they initially would only finance the tractor and not the conversion.. After submitting endless details (and actually driving the banker to see the work-in-progress cab-and-chassis conversion) he agreed to finance the whole deal. Whew! I was running out of money!!
I drove the truck almost non-stop for the first two years doing tool & die work, and the initial cost has been repaid many times over. It's a move I've never regretted taking. The truck handles extremely well loaded or empty, fuel mileage averages 10.2 MPG, and the tractor-style cab and bunk wins hands-down over the Alumibunk-style of add-on bunk that I had with the FL80. And of course, with 500 ponies under the hood and a 3-switch Jake, places like Jellico in Tennessee or Elk in Wyoming are a LOT easier to navigate!
As always, I would make some changes if I had a "do-over", as the kids call it. Number one would be a 14,000 # front-end, as opposed to the 12,000 # presently installed, and number two would have been the inclusion of an APU when I went for financing. (The banker had already poo-poo'd the idea, despite all the calculations I gave him... By the time I thought I could afford one, the bottom had dropped out of tool-and-die work, so I thought being prudent with the pennies might be a better idea!)
I have been out there now driving and crossing the border for twenty-six years, and with the exception of the period of time after 9/11, I find border-crossing now is actually easier, quicker, and more hassle-free than in the early days of my career. Of course, being in possession of a FAST card, having "your ducks lined up properly" when crossing, and a pleasant attitude on your part (regardless of the frame-of-mind of the CBP line officer!) can make it a painless endouver.
I am now leased on with Walter McDougall International Expedite out of Lancaster, Ontario, and running some flatbed/LTL and some automotive expedite freight...I also pull double-duty as their Western Ontario Manager, trying to help develop their presence in Southern Ontario. So if you happen to be unloading at a GM/Ford/Chrysler dock somewhere, I may be just around the corner at the tool-and-die shop. Give me a holler if you spot me!
My handle on the CB is "Tailgunner".Regards.
Dave
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x295/olex126/Expeditorsonline/WM126.jpg
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