This piece, Seven Habits of High-Earning Expediters by EO writer Sean M. Lyden is spot on and should be mandatory reading by anyone considering the trade and everyone wanting to better their lot in it.
(By the way, Lyden is grinding out an impressive body of work. He is an excellent writer, doing his homework, getting the stories right and going into topics with a mastery and depth that is truly exceptional.)
Allow me to add the following to Lyden's habit #4, "Strengthen Your Finances."
One of the unique aspects of an expediting career is that you do not make money at home, you make it on the road. If you embrace this by becoming truly at home on the road, you can strengthen your finances in ways few expediters do and most non-expediters cannot do. Indeed, by not owning a home at all, you can quickly build substantial amounts of capital.
To make tax law work in your favor and capitalize on the per diem deductions available to you, you will want to maintain a proper residence of some sort that will pass IRS muster. Such a residence may include rented space in a relative's home or an income-producing house that you rent to a trusted person while retaining the right to reside there yourself from time to time.
When Diane and I were in the business, our gross revenue ranked with those of other top producers, but our real capital-building advantage was banking the money instead of spending it to maintain a house and spending time and money to frequently deadhead to it.
In addition to getting really good at the expediting business, it pays to get really good at managing money. We saw it again and again that expediters would score a great run and follow it with a month off or a spending spree or both. Instead of keeping their shoulder to the grindstone, they kicked back and enjoyed the party, often boasting about how they had the money to do that. That lasted as long as the money did, then they'd go back to work because they were as broke then as they were before the great run.
While the impulse for immediate gratification is experienced by all human beings, financially-strong expediters let those impulses pass and find gratification in pursuing longer term goals; financial goals that enable them to run without truck payments and one day leave the business with a handsome nest egg.
One financial strength builds on another.
Not supporting a house reduces the need to go to one, which cuts deadhead expenses and increases the opportunity to run.
Increased capital enables you to run debt-free, which eliminates truck financing costs and thereby increases capital all the more.
Running debt free enables you to spend more money on your truck, making it a really nice truck that makes your home and opportunities on the road more enjoyable, and eliminates or significantly reduces the need to spend money on hotels.
Running a well-capitalized business enables you to plan ahead for truck maintenance, making it possible to be smart about your down time and to get your truck work done at competent shops and fair prices, which reduces future down time.
Having financial reserves makes it possible for you to be more proactive in your load acceptance. With thin reserves, you would likely turn down a lucrative run that takes you to a remote area. But if you combine Lyden's habit # 3, "expand your credentials," with your capital strength, you may well be willing to take the risk and take take that big-money load, knowing your credentials will help get you back into the busy freight lanes. In many cases (not all) the risks pay off.
Having financial reserves also makes it possible to better react to adverse changes. If a once-good carrier changes into a bad carrier, it is easier to move to a better carrier if you have the money to get you through the lag that a carrier change involves. If you deadhead to a slow area for a pickup, only to have the load cancel, financial reserves will enable you to cut your losses more quickly and deadhead to a better place. If you have thin reserves, you may end up waiting a long time for just a fuel-money load that gets you back into the freight lanes.
There is very little in trucking industry literature that teaches expediters how to get good with money, but that topic is well worth the time and effort to master. (Recommended books: Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey)
While it's fun to spend endless hours swapping expediter adventure stories with others and while it is tempting to get drawn into dispatch-screwed-me conversations, that use of your mind and time does not strengthen your finances. In addition to the fun conversations, give yourself a few hours a week to study how money works and develop the habits that build your wealth. Choose your close expediter friends and conversations carefully. Gravitate toward and learn from those who are actually building wealth in the business.
When Diane and I were first researching the expediting opportunity, an expediter joked that the way to make a small fortune as an expediter is to begin with a large fortune. We did not laugh. Your personal finances are nothing to joke about, and that joke in particular casts the profession in a false light.
You can indeed make a small fortune as an expediter. We knew that before we entered the trade and proved it so when we left the trade 10 years later.
Work. Keep working. Get smart. Get smarter. Make the Seven Habits of High-Earning Expediters your own and revisit them often to stay on top of your expediting game.
(By the way, Lyden is grinding out an impressive body of work. He is an excellent writer, doing his homework, getting the stories right and going into topics with a mastery and depth that is truly exceptional.)
Allow me to add the following to Lyden's habit #4, "Strengthen Your Finances."
One of the unique aspects of an expediting career is that you do not make money at home, you make it on the road. If you embrace this by becoming truly at home on the road, you can strengthen your finances in ways few expediters do and most non-expediters cannot do. Indeed, by not owning a home at all, you can quickly build substantial amounts of capital.
To make tax law work in your favor and capitalize on the per diem deductions available to you, you will want to maintain a proper residence of some sort that will pass IRS muster. Such a residence may include rented space in a relative's home or an income-producing house that you rent to a trusted person while retaining the right to reside there yourself from time to time.
When Diane and I were in the business, our gross revenue ranked with those of other top producers, but our real capital-building advantage was banking the money instead of spending it to maintain a house and spending time and money to frequently deadhead to it.
In addition to getting really good at the expediting business, it pays to get really good at managing money. We saw it again and again that expediters would score a great run and follow it with a month off or a spending spree or both. Instead of keeping their shoulder to the grindstone, they kicked back and enjoyed the party, often boasting about how they had the money to do that. That lasted as long as the money did, then they'd go back to work because they were as broke then as they were before the great run.
While the impulse for immediate gratification is experienced by all human beings, financially-strong expediters let those impulses pass and find gratification in pursuing longer term goals; financial goals that enable them to run without truck payments and one day leave the business with a handsome nest egg.
One financial strength builds on another.
Not supporting a house reduces the need to go to one, which cuts deadhead expenses and increases the opportunity to run.
Increased capital enables you to run debt-free, which eliminates truck financing costs and thereby increases capital all the more.
Running debt free enables you to spend more money on your truck, making it a really nice truck that makes your home and opportunities on the road more enjoyable, and eliminates or significantly reduces the need to spend money on hotels.
Running a well-capitalized business enables you to plan ahead for truck maintenance, making it possible to be smart about your down time and to get your truck work done at competent shops and fair prices, which reduces future down time.
Having financial reserves makes it possible for you to be more proactive in your load acceptance. With thin reserves, you would likely turn down a lucrative run that takes you to a remote area. But if you combine Lyden's habit # 3, "expand your credentials," with your capital strength, you may well be willing to take the risk and take take that big-money load, knowing your credentials will help get you back into the busy freight lanes. In many cases (not all) the risks pay off.
Having financial reserves also makes it possible to better react to adverse changes. If a once-good carrier changes into a bad carrier, it is easier to move to a better carrier if you have the money to get you through the lag that a carrier change involves. If you deadhead to a slow area for a pickup, only to have the load cancel, financial reserves will enable you to cut your losses more quickly and deadhead to a better place. If you have thin reserves, you may end up waiting a long time for just a fuel-money load that gets you back into the freight lanes.
There is very little in trucking industry literature that teaches expediters how to get good with money, but that topic is well worth the time and effort to master. (Recommended books: Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey)
While it's fun to spend endless hours swapping expediter adventure stories with others and while it is tempting to get drawn into dispatch-screwed-me conversations, that use of your mind and time does not strengthen your finances. In addition to the fun conversations, give yourself a few hours a week to study how money works and develop the habits that build your wealth. Choose your close expediter friends and conversations carefully. Gravitate toward and learn from those who are actually building wealth in the business.
When Diane and I were first researching the expediting opportunity, an expediter joked that the way to make a small fortune as an expediter is to begin with a large fortune. We did not laugh. Your personal finances are nothing to joke about, and that joke in particular casts the profession in a false light.
You can indeed make a small fortune as an expediter. We knew that before we entered the trade and proved it so when we left the trade 10 years later.
Work. Keep working. Get smart. Get smarter. Make the Seven Habits of High-Earning Expediters your own and revisit them often to stay on top of your expediting game.
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