ok anyone of a good place for down & out expediter

wombat52

Veteran Expediter
ok it might be me or it might be the whole expedite thing but where does down & out expediters go when they are broke bills ar mounting up fedex cc keeps offering single freight only to the truck when it is a team operation ,
fuel prices keep going thru the roof & that next peanut butter sandwich is something you got to look forward to or maybe my vegimite & cheese on special occasions ,

you sit for days on end yes you can move but at the price of fuel and lack of the george washingtons that makes it hard .
but you wait for that next single /team load for $1.20 if your lucky with no tolls on it as it is a special customer yep
WHERE DOES DOWN & OUT EXPEDITERS GO ??
 

Moot

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

I guess if things are that bad you should look for a rea, ah my fingers are cramping up, you should look for a real jjj...........
a real job. There I said it. Did I say that?
 

Gener8

Expert Expediter
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

Like the song says, sometimes you have to know when to hold them, and know when to fold them. I folded them about 6 months. After nine fairly prosperous years of expediting. That was the right time for me. No regrets. It's all about personal goals and expectations. Everyone is different. Good luck with whatever you do!!
 

wombat52

Veteran Expediter
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

wow crikey a real jobbbbbbbbbbbbbbb stone the bloody crows i thought i had a real job willing & able 100 % on time pick up & deliverie nice smile great body kangaroo ready to roll but nope i thought wrong the mother of all cannot say it it ok ( up )
we just want a fair piece of the pie like others not to much to ask for uuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmm
wombat
36 yrs driving exp
ooida 7 yrs
and just a real nice guy :):) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
 

wombat52

Veteran Expediter
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

hey i am not going anywhere the road is my heaven the road is my life i am a long termer just out here driving the highways & byways of north america or at least trying to do that
wombat
 

tallcal101

Veteran Expediter
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

I feel your pain brother.The "real job" comment was meant to be supportive,as expediting may get to a point where it's just really not worth it anymore(paticularly with FECC).
The big truck companies afford a living with benefits.They have dedicatd runs that keep you rolling.You can plan your fianances around a paycheck that you can count on.It may not be as much as expediting in the good times,but it's a h### of lot better then what seems to becoming the norm in the D unit world.
Best of luck.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

If your total rate with FSC is 1.20, that is a tough number unless you are doing some volume numbers. If you are sitting as you say, then you might want to look at some alternatives. Fuel prices aren't getting any cheaper.
Likewise, there are some at higher milage rates, but have excessive DH numbers. I would say those days are just about over.










Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator
 

TeamCaffee

Administrator
Staff member
Owner/Operator
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

If you are the Owner of an modest express truck 1.20 all miles with fsc is doable as long as you watch your p's and q's. What does it cost to keep sitting? If you put hard numbers to your bottom line and once again I am talking O/O express truck you will find that many can run for that price and make money.

Fleet owners change this equation as you are now keeping to separate families going.

Most Super Sleeper T-Val trucks with every whistle and bell known to man kind cannot run for that price.

The big question is what is your real bottom line not some pie in the sky number or a number several drivers discuss. Every person has a different situation and you have to figure your own cost per mile.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

Maybe a good time to plug OOIDA. I would use their spreadsheet to determine where you are at. As Linder mentioned, there is a lot of variables that come into play. If you are in a straight, you have to figure right off the bat 35 to 40 cents per mile just for fuel. That cost is still there if you are deadheading. Might depend also whether you have a paid for truck, a $3,000 truck, or one well 100,000. If your deadhead runs over 30 percent consistently at that rate, your a sinking ship.
One might last alittle longer with a used truck and alittle luck, but eventually, that luck will run out.
Oops...the "L" word twice.

Almost forgot,

http://www.ooida.com/trucking_tools/CPM/cost_per_mile.htm










Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator
 

Suds43

Seasoned Expediter
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

well, if your sitting that much, you have enough time on your hands to maybe start checking out other companies and see what they have to offer..........
 

sixwheeler

Expert Expediter
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

same boat wombat...time to go to plan b or plan c...in any case failure is not an option.
 

rollnthunder

Expert Expediter
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

I for one am tired of this reduced rate crap and sh$t fuel surcharge that we are getting.Im sorry but .14 to .16 cents per mile in a straight truck doesnt get it when the national average price for a gallon of diesel is $3.30 as of today.And what i find is really funny is some companies are paying a really decent fs and others are not.I have yet to figure that one out.I have 3 friends that are all driving for different companies.They all get just about the same fuel surcharge.I am not.I ask them about rates they tell me they are hauling some reduced rate stuff to get them back into the shippin zone.I have no problem with that but im hauling every load at reduced rates plus a bad fs.I have been spending time looking at other companies as well.I talked to a girl at the company im with about the fuel surcharge and rates,she just doesnt understand it thats what she said.She tells me they all are hauling the same freight and we dont know how they are getting the rates and fs they are.Sorry for this but i needed to vent just got out of freightliner having to have my truck worked on makes me even more mad.
 

TeamCaffee

Administrator
Staff member
Owner/Operator
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

FedEx Custom Critical does not pay the same as Panther so the dead head for us is a different issue. We get fsc and paid deadhead miles. When we get a load offer we are told dead head miles and loaded miles. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at the total pay and the total miles that includes dead head to figure out if the load pays well enough to take it. We all need to know our bottom line which includes what our fuel costs are and with FedEx Custom Critical it is very important as we do not haul for a set rate. Another thing you have to consider is we are sitting in a bad area and right now most things will look good to help pay the fuel to get out of here. If you do your homework and you know your costs and you are looking to the future on every load you will do well. Once again only talking FCC when you are in a good area you can be a little pickier and turn down the low paying loads that are at or below your bottom line. When sitting in a poor area take what you can get so you don't have to eat all of the costs. Hopefully you where thinking ahead and when you took the load to the bad area it was a really good one and you can afford to play the game to get back out. Always take a really good paying load to a bad area so it will help cover your costs of deadheading out to a better area. That is one of the benefits of running with FedEx Custom Critical and not having a flat rate.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

Not sure a flat rate or percentage matters much in this case. If he is doing Fedex loads at a total rate with FSC @ 1.20, that would certainly be the bigger issue. One would certainly have to hope there isn't much deadhead in that situation.









Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator
 

greg334

Veteran Expediter
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

Teamcaffee,
So I assume from your posts that you do not haul any of the contracted rate stuff that they continually discount?

I really can't buy into the competition thing I keep hearing when I know we are in competition with our own company. I have been offered some loads that I know the competition's contractors has gotten a lot more money that FedEx has quoted because they don't understand the cost of doing business for us.

Last night I was offered a run which I refused because I am out of service but anyway, I went through the entire trip cost with the girl on the other end of the phone and she never realized what it actually cost us to put that truck on the road. This customer was not charged tolls and it was $1.59 a mile but when I added up the tolls and worked out the FSC of the actual run, the run now came down to .75 a mile which is not really a good profit to me. I explained to her just the cost of getting to a layover would be more than $30, which she thought I could just park anywhere.

I had another load where I was told that they quoted the customer 1.18 a mile but if I didn't take it at .96 a mile, they would pay someone to pick it up from 250 miles out for that price. I could not take it for .96 a mile but took it for 1.10 because I was getting tired of them calling me. I get to the pick up and three Landstar trucks are leaving. I get loaded and on my way. When I arrive,two of the landstar trucks are getting unloaded and I find out that they both got the load for 1.6 a mile. The sad thing is we were hauling the same thing and I had more on my truck then they did on theirs.

Rates for FedEx should be going up, they should be getting their sales staff out and working and as I suggested with the attitude of we are front line people in this game, get a program that will properly teach us how to present FedEx as a solutions company.
 

TeamCaffee

Administrator
Staff member
Owner/Operator
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

Dave that price includes Dead Head!
 

TeamCaffee

Administrator
Staff member
Owner/Operator
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

Yes Greg we haul discounted loads but only if the price is right.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

>Dave that price includes Dead Head!
============================
He doesn't mention that in his post so I thought he was just talking loaded miles. In Greggs post, it would be more of a concern if he is talking .75 cent a mile and .96 respectively. I couldn't move our trucks on that rate.

Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator
 

x06col

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Retired Expediter
US Army
RE: ok anyone of a good place for down & out exped

Wombat, as slick as you turned that truck over here a while back, maybe Joey Chitwood could use you at some big bucks.
 
Top