Driver Lifestyles

25 Years and Counting

Expediter Steve Gilbert knows horsepower.

Not just the horsepower that propels his 2004 Freightliner Coronado, but the kind of horsepower that eats hay and will kick you if you're not careful.

Originally from Akron and currently based in Kent, OH, Gilbert's pre-trucking work history includes many years of employment as a horse-trainer.

He explains, "I had horses when I was growing up and I've been around them since I was 13 years old. Training a horse is nothing but trial and error; what won't work today, may work tomorrow. That's because horses are really stupid, everything they learn is from habit."

"I trained Tennessee Walking Horses, Morgan Horses and other btreeds. Each breed of horse has it's own gait and I would teach it to accentuate that gait."


Gilbert, a tractor-trailer owner-operator leased with FedEx Custom Critical, is also a true veteran of the fast freight business with almost 25 years in expediting.

After a divorce in 1977, Gilbert entered trucking by driving tractor-trailers for truckload and private carriers. He says, "I got my first truck in '81, and in '82 I went into hauling produce."

"In '84 I heard about Roberts Express from a friend who told me "he was stealing money" in expediting. At the time, I was running coast to coast and barely making it. He told me to ride with him for two weeks to see what the business was like. We hooked my trailer up to his tractor and for two weeks we hauled nothing but auto parts. I was grossing more money in truckload than he did, but he got to keep all of his money."

Gilbert continues, "It took me six months to get on with Roberts Express and except for a couple of breaks, I've been running ever since. When I started, Roberts had their office in a garage on Arlington Rd. I would drive my truck over to the office and wait there for a load. They would find freight for me just to get me out of the office."

He reflects on the beginnings of the industry: "Back in the old days, the freight area was bigger. I say that because Roberts was the only company in the business and the fleet was so small. All of the big cities were using expedite, but not like today. It was not unheard of to deadhead 2,000 miles to a pickup for a run that was only going 500 miles."

He adds, "Roberts would make it worth your while to take those loads and there were many times that I made more money on a load than the company did. One time, I ran empty to Philadelphia for a load that picked up at a Post Office and delivered one block away. It paid 1,100 dollars."

"Those runs don't happen anymore."

Gilbert says that one of the major changes in the expedite business is the amount of competition today: "There are a lot of expedited companies out there. There's also competition within a company, but because I run a tractor, I don't notice it as much. There's only 300 of us in the big trucks at FedEx."

"I've thought about owning a straight truck,"says Gilbert, "but with a tractor-trailer, there's nothing I can't haul. I've even hauled "A"-sized freight."

"I still enjoy this business. One thing I like is when I'm loaded, I don't sit around waiting for someone to unload me. I know that if I take a load, say, 900 miles, I know that someone's going to be waiting at a dock for it and in a half hour I'll be empty."

Gilbert comments on the idea of expedited carriers going to a flat rate compensation:
"In 2002, I went with Con-way Now and ran for a flat rate of $1.05 per mile. When I was there, fuel prices went crazy and because most of their loads were Internet broker loads, there was no fuel surcharge. At least, that's what they told us. I was running 200,000 miles a year but I was going in the hole."

"There are people in the business who make a good living at it, and there are others who just complain about how slow things are. For the first quarter of this year, I'm $10,000 dollars ahead of '07. So far, we're running well."

Gilbert says that he has owned a parade of trucks in his over two decades in the emergency freight business: "I've owned (in model years) a '79, two '86's, a '93, a '95, a '96, a '98, a '99 and my current truck, a 2004 Coronado. It's got a 500 HP Detroit Diesel with a 10-speed SmartShift transmission."

"It has a 70" integral sleeper with double bunks and fridge, but we don't do TV or a microwave. If the truck stops, we're going to a motel. If I have to get 12 hours of sleep, it will be in a motel."

"My co-driver and I are not going to sit in an idling truck over a weekend because even 24 hours of idling will pay for the whole weekend. I've done the figures on an APU and a motel is still cheaper. I've got friends with those huge sleepers and they've still got to make the beds themselves. We have a maid that does ours!"

"I like to stay out on the road for 11-12 days at a stretch, then go home for 4-5 days. It averages out to one weekend in a motel when we're on the road. We stay busy enough so we're always moving."

Gilbert tells us that he has been running team for most of his time in expedite, running solo when he's between co-drivers. The drivers are typically fresh from driving school, but Gilbert says,
"I've had pretty good luck with co-drivers over the years."

"I've had two or three who couldn't read or write, but most of them have turned out to be good drivers. I think I'm a pretty easy-going trainer, but the co-driver I have now calls me an S.O.B., so I don't know. He's been with me on and off since '92; he'll get mad at me, quit for awhile, then come back."

"I've found that most co-drivers want to run on their own. Once they feel they have enough experience, they find other jobs, so I might run by myself to two or three weeks."

"The truck driving schools don't teach these drivers to shift gears so that's why I got the SmartShift in this Freightliner. I had a female driver in one of my other trucks and she couldn't shift its 15-speed to save her life. I don't know how she ever made it out of school."

"As far as relaxation, I like to race NASCAR online. I compete with around 18,000 other racers from around the world. And I have a TransAm that I occassionally take to the local drag strip."

"Retirement? No, I've got some bills to pay and until I do, I'm stuck. Maybe another five years and I'm out of debt. I accrued this debt because of my three years at Con-way Now."