I have been to expedite sites and looked around for info on it. Really what I am looking to find out is what the difference is in expediting vs hauling for a regular van company. Has anyone here done both? Maybe you can tell me about how different or similar it is compared to driving a van.

 

From my understanding.

Expedited: wait around at house for a hot load. Hot load comes in and then you drive your fanny off to get it there on time no questions asked.

Company Driver: You are OTR for a specified amount of time. A dispatcher sets up your loads according to your availability and location. So if you are coming out of the house you may pick up a load 1 mile to 300 miles away from your house. You make the delivery to say Florida 1200 miles away. Then the dispathcer or planner will see where you are at and set up another pick up time in say Georgia. Then they allot you a time frame to go from Georgia to say Mississippi. may be 1 day or 2 days depending if its a live unload or D and H. Thne the cycle continues.

Hopefully that made sense. You expedited guys can probably explain the expedited part a little better.

 

Thanks. Thats what I am looking for maybe someone that did expditing before. I have done OTR and am either going back or do ing expediting for an owner.

 

here is a web site for expediters it is the bible so to speak fpr them,it has real good forums and very knowledgeable people with the industry.

www.expeditersonline.com hope this helps

 

I used to do expediting...brrrr- never again!

 

Could I ask why? I am either doing that or driving T/T again.

 

I've done both and could easily come up with a pretty exhaustive list of the differences - but for the sake of keeping it short, some of the main differences are:

1)The per mile rate is higher in expediting.
2) Less miles per week (in most instances).
3) More sitting.
4) More dead heading.
5) Most expedite shipments are dispatched at 45mph - 50 mph non-stop.
6) Expedite shipments are rarely scheduled, in other words, most of the time, you never know when you'll be dispatched - or where the load will originate.
(Items 2, 3 and 4 are sometimes the result of item #1)

Unlike hauling truckload freight where shipments are generally scheduled days or even months in advance, being an expedite driver has been likend to being an ambulance driver because you just never know when or where the accident (load) will happen.

Most expedite carriers, especially the larger expedite carriers, have fleets made up entirely of Owner Operators.

GENERALLY SPEAKING, drivers without a truck who want to sign on with a carrier will drive for an O/O for % pay, not a company truck.

Unlike Taglio, if I were to go back behind the wheel, I would not even consider truckload. Driving a T/T in Expedite can bring in well over $1.20 / mile pretty much regardless who you drive for as far as I know.

For what it's worth, our T/T solos averages about 2850 miles per week @ about $1.48/mile (includes fuel surcharge) with about 8% unpaid dead head.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for that input. As it sits I may well be going back to T/T. I am just really uncertain if expedite is for me. Seems too unpredictable.

 

Expedite is extremely unpredictable.

Expedite is just a very small niche market of the overall trucking industry and it is not for everyone - same as driving a tanker, or a flat bed - or whatever is not for everyone - same thing.

Best of luck!

 

Noproblem hits every nail on the head. I am an O/O expediter. I make a decent living, but the expediting market is very volatile and unpredictable. You have to DH a lot to find a good place to sit for a load, and you have to be prepared to sit for (sometimes) long periods of time. I do like that it is all non-forced dispatch. We work when we want to. We take ten days off a month and still pull about 5,000 a month after fuel.