It's a Team's Life

Expedite Expo – 2018

By Linda Caffee
Posted Jul 14th 2018 6:40AM

Fifteen years ago, we debated on attending the Expedite Expo as we were considering expediting but did not really want to spend the money on flying to Detroit. What a bad decision that would have been for us as that money we spent on attending that Expo has been paid back over and over again.

First, we met expediters from all of the companies, we were able to talk to recruiters, and also talk to truck dealers who specialized in building these straight trucks. We talked to drivers who had been driving for years, newer drivers, and then lots of people like us who were considering expediting. We spent two days running back and forth talking to recruiters and talking to drivers for the same company so we could compare apples to apples.

That first night we sat down with all of my notes and thought up even more questions for the next day. I am sure some people wanted to hide when they saw us coming BUT it was going to be a huge life change for us and we wanted to make sure we got it right the first time.

Our first company was FedEx Custom Critical where we stayed for ten years so I think we really got that right. Our first truck was an M2 Freightliner that we kept almost eight years and I know we got that right. There were very few surprises once we actually got our truck and pulled our first load.

The biggest surprise was personal and that was learning to sleep while the other person drove, this was something we did not think we would have any problem with. Not being able to sleep was almost a deal breaker but we owned our truck and we knew we were just going to have to learn how to sleep while the truck was moving. Now we make sure and talk to people about ways to get to sleep and also when they need to stop and take a break.

Many of the people we met at the first Expo we are still friends with and still use as mentors. Since that time, we have gone on to mentor others and have watched them help new people in this industry. It is all about paying it forward and it happens over and over again in Expediting.

Now attending our fifteenth Expedite Expo in Lexington, Kentucky we look back at the changes and how far our career has advanced. We are now with Landstar Express America, driving our third Freightliner, and spec’ing out our fourth truck.

What an amazing adventure this has been! See you at the Expedite Expo 2018 and I hope that you attend our workshop “Behind the Scenes with Successful Expediters” that we will be co-hosting with Mary and Rodney Dodds.