It's a Team's Life
We are attending the Expedite Expo 2017!!
Time was spent figuring out the Pre-Trip Challenge and the defects we would put on the truck and also finding some of the defects. It is not as easy as we thought to come up with defects. While something stuck in a tire is a great defect we do not want something actually in a tire. This required Terry O’Connell to use his machine shop skills and saw off a bolt so all we would actually have is the head. There are many other defects that took planning but you will have to find them yourself on the truck.
This year we are talking about the pros and cons of hauling DoD freight and I have to admit this was a challenge. As I was preparing for this I kept concentrating on the cons and I began to wonder why in the world do we enjoy DoD freight? I had to dig a little deeper and think long and hard on why many of the cons are actually pros of why we like this freight. It all depends on how we look at a situation and the time the situation occurs. In the day time, we think nothing of hopping out of the truck to have it searched. At one in the morning when I have to wake up and get dressed it is a little more frustrating.
There are also several workshops I would like to attend and this year they are scheduled before the show opens and I am very excited that I finally get to go to a workshop. We are considering becoming fleet owners and some successful fleet owners will be speaking. I really like the idea of having the workshops early in the day and I hope this works out for everyone as well as it is for me.
It can be a hardship to attend the Expo and it is up to each individual to decide if it is worth it or not. In this past week, we have turned down two loads that paid over $5000 as we could not get back to Lexington in time. Did it hurt to say no to these loads? YES, but we feel as if the Expo over time pays us back more than we would have made on that one load. Networking pays off for us in many ways and it is not always monetary.
This will be our 14th Expo and we look forward to spending time with friends, putting faces to people we correspond with, and making new friends. We always learn a lot at the Expo and leave exhausted and with good memories of time spent with colleagues.
Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.