Need Seasoned Expeditor Mentor

[Bambuild]

I used to drive for a pretty decent Company a few years ago but I've been out of the biz for a few years. I enjoyed the job, but I had little ones at home and it just caused too much pain at the time, it was almost like a vacation. My dad still drives Expedite but he and I run our business completely different, I'm a 'More irons in the fire' type of guy, he's more of a 'One at a time' type. I am looking for some serious Expeditors to help Mentor me or at least give me realistic numbers, not the recruiter type. I am looking to put on a Van or Truck and maybe add one or two as time goes on, who knows. I'm not looking to explode into this business or 'take Normandy by storm', but If I feel the urge to drive myself, I will. I would like to talk to O/O's and some just Owners, I would like to see how the True numbers work. I have other businesses with auto's and I believe in a maint. schedule and preventive maint. schedule. I Do Not want my driver to be stranded anywhere due to vehicle issues or even freight issues, so any help is extremely appreciated. You can reach me immediately by email or just Pm me, orpost it here for all to read. Thanks for your help.

 

[moose]

Ownership is EZ, retaining drivers is a skill.

from what i read over here keeping good drivers in a van is an uphill battle . and keeping up with business expenses running a solo driver in a truck is hard. more so making money out of it.

if you are ready to buy a new expediters truck and place a team in it, then you are welcome to contact me.
i can also Email you the 2 contract i have in place ,but only if you will take it to your own accountant and lawyer, otherwise they will be worthless for you.

 

[Bambuild]

I obviously left out the little details of whether I should have a Solo or Team drivers, although I know that teams usually make more per person. I'll definately be getting a hold of you on the truck details but I'm still looking for numbers if anyone would be willing to share.

 

[teamjdw]

You should contact Gregg334 he seem's too know everthing there is too know.You could be his grasshoper.

 

[Bambuild]

You should contact Gregg334 he seem's too know everthing there is too know.You could be his grasshoper.

Thanks, If I can find him in here, I will.
Anyone have recomendations on which company is good to start with, no sense applying with the big boys until I have the experience or all of my facts.

 

[scottm4211]

Thanks, If I can find him in here

Check any thread

 

[Bambuild]

Check any thread

Found him, thanks scott

 

[Bambuild]

So I have some figures for a straight truck, I don't know if their right but at least I have something to start with.
I spent some time looking through some of the other posts and took all of the pricing and averaged them all together. The below figures are figured low but I did this so that I don't have high expectations and then get depressed with a low check.

These are based on 1500 miles/wk.
Maint., QC or Satellite, Ins. all comes to $.13/mile or $181wk.
Fuel & Driver comes to $1.02/mile or $1,528wk. (60% cut)
Balance $465/wk or $.31/mile is for Truck payment with the leftover for me.
Does anybody feel that I am forgetting anything or do these numbers seem way off base. I am still working on the numbers for a van, so if anybody has any figures or suggestions, please let me know.

 

[tbcabs]

Now you need to add about 200 dollars a week for food and phone and all the other little things.

 

[ts675]

Your numbers look fairly accurate for an owner. If you are going to drive it, then u would need to add a minimum of 200 for expenditures as was mentioned above. I always budget 150 a week for food just in case then another 85 for cell, but that depends on your carrier.

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App

 

[Ragman]

I always budget 150 a week for food

$150.00 for food? Wow! With some creative shopping you can get a weeks worth of meals for under $75.00

 

[ts675]

I budget high so there are no surprises. I did not say eat 150 worth of food
:rolleyes
Posted with my Droid EO Forum App

 

[Bambuild]

Now you need to add about 200 dollars a week for food and phone and all the other little things.

Your numbers look fairly accurate for an owner. If you are going to drive it, then u would need to add a minimum of 200 for expenditures as was mentioned above. I always budget 150 a week for food just in case then another 85 for cell, but that depends on your carrier.

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App

I wasn't planning on driving, I am looking as an owner. I have other businesses that require me to be here, I am looking at this as a business only, not a new career. I was a driver for a couple owners in the past and like I was telling TS675, I've experienced those types of owners who make keeping a team in a truck very difficult. I have workers who work for me in other businesses and being paid on time and the correct amount along with throughing in a little bonus every now and then keeps everyone happy. I understand that a sitting truck makes absolutley nobody any money.
I've recently been told that being just a van owner and not the driver is not a good venture, anybody have any numbers contradicting that?

One thing that I'm still looking for is what is a good average on miles for a Team in a straight truck. I figured 1500 as being low, anybody got any averages that seem a bit more realistic. So far I've also been told that Panther and Load 1 are good companies to start out with, anybody have other suggestions?

 

[JOHNCLARK]

I wasn't planning on driving, I am looking as an owner. I have other businesses that require me to be here, I am looking at this as a business only, not a new career. I was a driver for a couple owners in the past and like I was telling TS675, I've experienced those types of owners who make keeping a team in a truck very difficult. I have workers who work for me in other businesses and being paid on time and the correct amount along with throughing in a little bonus every now and then keeps everyone happy. I understand that a sitting truck makes absolutley nobody any money.
I've recently been told that being just a van owner and not the driver is not a good venture, anybody have any numbers contradicting that?

One thing that I'm still looking for is what is a good average on miles for a Team in a straight truck. I figured 1500 as being low, anybody got any averages that seem a bit more realistic. So far I've also been told that Panther and Load 1 are good companies to start out with, anybody have other suggestions?

Watch the little cost that add up. What do they pay for deadhead. How many miles until they cover it. Are their admin fees (weekly,biweekly,monthly). DO they require a escrow. I hear too many horror stories that it never gets reimbursed.

Make sure your getting at least a $1. per mile for d/h. Make sure you don't give them any free miles. This is important. And refuse to pay a escrow. A escrow is fine, however the company should have at least 3-4days in the bank of your money to cover issues.

Don't let them charge you for lettering,satellite tracking or any other product they use for advertising or tracking their freight.

Admin fees are ridiculous. That should be built in to their cost of doing business. The problem is that these companies are getting "too fat" for their own good. Trim them down.

Striaght trucks right now are "gold". It's your turn right now to make $. I would NOT suggest a percentage contract. You will NEVER get your true percentage. Get a per mile. you can't go wrong with that. And if you go to Canada get a premium and make sure they reimburse your bridge crossing. That should be at least $50.00 for that run.

Best of wishes!!

 

[westmicher]

From our perspective, you've got to be very careful in selecting the carrier you work with. Really watch for two things: 1. Watch the rates they pay out of good areas. Anything less than top rates don't do any good for anyone but the cheap carrier. 2. Watch how hard they work to get you out of marginal areas. Tell they what you expect and see if they pay attention. If you don't see much action from them, they are probably cherry-picking for trucks in good areas.

These are the things we've seen from marginal, and/or start-up, carriers. Avoid them like the plague! They hurt the industry just for their short-trem gains!

 

[Bambuild]

I have been told, as a straight truck owner, not to do a percentage with the driver but to do a mileage rate. Doesn't the percentage give the driver more of an incentive to try to pick higher priced loads, you know instead of taking a van load. How would a percentage hurt me as an owner? It seems like mileage could be a bigger loss especially if my driver took a van load just to move, maybe back into the freight lanes. What is a good mileage price, I'm looking for fairness but to make money at the same time.

 

[greg334]

If you go miles, make them employees, it will be easier on you when there are issues.

I would actually suggest that you drive for a few months to see what this is all about, an absentee owner in the clueless sense is the worst one to have in a fleet.

BUT this goes back to what I asked, what do you want to get out of this? I mean do you want to do a hands off approach to the business which means little involvement with the drivers or do you want to supplement your business holdings by having more assets on the books and run it as a loss to offset other gains? (I know that is really two different questions but...)

 

[Bambuild]

If you go miles, make them employees, it will be easier on you when there are issues.

I would actually suggest that you drive for a few months to see what this is all about, an absentee owner in the clueless sense is the worst one to have in a fleet.

BUT this goes back to what I asked, what do you want to get out of this? I mean do you want to do a hands off approach to the business which means little involvement with the drivers or do you want to supplement your business holdings by having more assets on the books and run it as a loss to offset other gains? (I know that is really two different questions but...)

Right now I would love to get back into a truck, as strange as it sounds, it was like a vacation when I was on the road. BUT, I really can't, seriously I have other business obligations here. I haven't bought or signed anything yet, I am working on crossing T's and dotting I's right now. I don't intend on being clueless with this which is why I have been corresponding alot with some of you through PM's.
What do I want out of this? To replace one of my other businesses which is slowly dying off due to the economy, is this the wrong answer, maybe but its my current intention. If I could find someone to run my operations here, I would gladly jump into a truck and see what's changed in the past few years. Over the past couple of weeks I've been watching this forum and I've gone from excited and ready to go, to hmmm I need more info. Does any of this answer your question gregg?
I have gone from interest in a van to a ST now and from a single driver to a team. What is my biggest risk here? I mean are miles running that low right now? Has the freight slowed that much in the last few years?

 

[davekc]

Unless you really understand this business, I wouldn't recommend it as a absentee owner. Could find it is a very expensive educational experience. If just looking for a write off, there are much easier ways to do it.
If just looking to gamble, odds might be better in Vegas.

 

[greg334]

I wouldn't even worry about miles until I establish my financial goals and seriously look at whether or not the expediting niche market is stable enough to sustain it.

IF I was going to make an investment into this, I wouldn't. I would actually look at conventional trucking for a lot of reasons, one is the capital investment is less than this market and the flexibility is greater.

Getting rid of a tractor may be easier than getting rid of a used straight truck of the same age - one factor.

Picking the type of freight I haul is another issue, I right now can do reefer and dry freight but if I had a tractor, I would look at heavy haul or specialized flat bed work which is a lot of work but revenue is higher.