Pepe,

Don't give up. I agree with LOAD_IT, if you don't like the backoffice work and can afford to hire someone to do the paperwork for you, do it. What I have notice is that company drivers jump into being an O/O or Motor Carrier without understanding that it's a business, no matter which option you choose. You are going from employee to business person then they get so frustrated with operating the business. Being an O/O or Motor Carrier is more than just driving the truck.

Pepe, even if you run for Landstar, it is still a business. You still have to get to know their system in order to do well. Hang in there! You have plenty of support here.

 

A couple thoughts Pepe. Hire a girl in the Philipines for cheap money to do the paperwork or a retired Walmart greeter. Worst case. Don't do any DOT paperwork and let them figure it out for you. :lol:

Glad you're still out there Pepe.

 

I don't understand this calling shipper thing. Excuse my ignorance as I'm really on two weeks on my own after cutting ties with other guy, but what type of commitment can I offer a shipper with one truck and when I'm all over the country? It makes sense to make contacts with them for when I am in a certain area is that basically the gist of this?

 

I would say it might work if you were in his neck of the woods fairly often. You woudl need to offer a better rate than teh broker he is currently dealing with....which you might be able to do if the broker is gouging him.

Other than that youe are better off staying at home and doing local work for local shippers than going OTR is this market. I'm thinking short trips of 1-500 miles. Sleep in your own bed and be on call 24-7 for them. That is a service that a broker can't really offer them.

 

Merrick- Rank makes an excellent point here. Since you are from Florida you could do this with produce, nursery steel or other products drayed from containers in the ports. Shorthaul/regional is really where the money is. You may touch 6-9 loads and make $4500 on 2200 miles versus running OTR to make $4500 on 3000 miles in a week. Dust off your old company driver notebook and call some of those Florida shippers. What made you cut ties with the other guy?

 

Load It,
In a nutshell, he was being sent on low paying runs, and being fed the "your a newbie ,..thats how it is line"
I commend merrick for going out on his own,.....maybe someday I will :lol: :lol: (I mean actually go out,..but my truck is so clean,...I don't want it to get dirty)

 

I think my Jeep Liberty does more trucking than your truck Doghouse LOL. Things take time, I understand your situation.

 

My Jeep Wrangler does more trucking than my truck does :roll: :lol: :lol:

It's funny,..but at a certain point you just have to throw your fate into the wind,.... :roll: and now my girl is telling me that my "Fensui" (spelling???)is all wrong, and I have to change my TV to a smaller unit, and get a diff. shower curtain :roll: ,......if I couldn't lift her over my head,.......she'd be gone for sure :!:

 

You tell her real sleepers have a pillow, matress and blanket, leave the showers at home, bathe in a stream LOL. I ran into a guy taking a sponge bath in a Flying J bathroom once bragging about 14 days hard running. I said 14 days hard running would earn you shower credit or enough money to pay for a shower. Hr must have thought I was driving my Liberty. hahaha

 

Doghouse summed it up why I cut ties LoadIt but it was more than that. This guy has 11 trucks but he has a day job. He is on the phone all day micromanaging his trucks because from what I could tell his brother-in-law dispatcher was not too bright. He was always complaining to me that he's just an employee and doesn't care.

Well I read something one time that at first I was a little shocked but I have come to think is true. Namely that the world is a mirror and the faults we see in others are those that we have ourself. Well this guy was always complaining that his brother in law didn't care because in the end he got a salary no matter what.

Well I paid this guy $600 and he took that and never bothered to watch my truck like it was one of his own like he was supposed to. I know nothing of this industry and needed his help.

Also I began to realize that he has limitations that I don't have. He has to haul for CH Robinson cause they pay fast. (He didn't know anything about factoring) and he doesn't have that kind of cash to keep all those trucks running and waiting forever for his money.

Further, he has drivers and needs to keep getting them back to Florida for there hometime. I don't need to get back to Florida all the time.

When I told him I was going on my own, he made the comment that I have the ability to sit but he has to keep his trucks rolling.

He runs his business his way but I want to run mine my way.

For me big deal he has year round freight in Florida if I have to go on these 5 day trips to bad places with the reefer running for $1.30 a mile. I'd rather deadhead out with the reefer off and and then choose where I want to go.

Well that about sums it up LoadIT