I've been reading the messages for some time, but this is my first post as a new member...I have gained a lot of valuable info here and thought I should give something back...Lot's of new owner/operators have the same fears I had and I hope I can save them from making the same mistake I did...I've been expediting with a class B cargo van for 8 months and the past 6 have been great...The first 2 was awful and almost led to my leaving the profession...As a new owner/operator I leased my van to Panther II in Medina, OH, they seemed to be one of the larger & better know companies...Larger is not always better...They promised that they could keep me as busy as I could stand and that I would average 1750 to 2000 miles a week and that dispatch was driver friendly and that the companies main concern was the success of the owner/operator...What a "crock"...After spending 2 days in orientation at their training facility in Seville, OH (having the satellite system installed and there name plastered all over my van), I was told to wait in the area and dispatch would have a load soon...I waited in the Medina/Seville area for 4 days (along with 17 other new owner/operators who had just graduated that day, by the way they have 2 orientation classes a week, you do the math) and was not dispatched...2 of the 17 (both straight trucks)got a load in the 4 days...I was told if I would make a 312 mile reposition run (at my own expense) I should be able to get a load...I did, waited 2 days and still no dispatch...I finally got a load after 8 days of waiting (230 miles @ .78 per mile)...This is how it went for 2 months, after the first month I figured out that they were leasing everyone who could piss clean with no regard for how much freight was available...They don't care how many drivers are sitting, spending money, and away from their families without making any money...It's all numbers to them, the more trucks they have available the better it looks to customers and the faster they can have someone to pick up the freight...I now have my cargo van leased to a small regional carrier and am staying very busy and love the business...Panther II almost ruined it for me...
