As far south I made it No_worries was Pocomoke City, MD and then I found the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. So by the time I was done with tolls and DH the $1.70 coming out of Mass was no longer $1.70. On top of that the broker told me he would get me right out.

I just don't understand people. I mean you gotta ruin your name and lie to move 1 load? And yet you think they would burn their bridges but there's always the next guy.

I know this guy who just did about a month or so of JB Hunt Lease program which I told him not to do. Those people ought to get a Nobel prize in economics. I mean they get these people to pay for their truck, fuel and maintenance. He ended up buying them a brand new bumper for a little dent he caused. I think in the last couple of weeks he grossed around $7,000 and saw about $400 of it. I told him not to do it. Anyway the point is you would think they would reach a point that nobody would sign on but there's always someone who is going to be different.

Now in Kentucky and going to Ohio tomorrow then I guess I better get back to Florida. If it was up to me I'd stay out til everything was paid off but the family...

By the way they changed the W-9 form. I just signed up with a broker and they wouldn't accept my W-9. They wanted the one they sent me filled out cause the form was updated in October.

 

I just calculated the numbers since I've been on my own. I've put on 8798 miles on the truck which includes every single mile driven. I have grossed $12395 for a grand total of $1.40 a mile. So I am not doing too much better than when I was with that guy except I've cut my reefer use done quite a bit.

As has been seen I have sat and waited on loads and thought the numbers would come out a little bit better. I know I have to get my own contacts but I wonder if it's as simple as that (not that it's that easy to get contacts.)

I will say one thing, I haven't touched my personal money but then again I prepaid most of everything so really don't have payments.

I don't know, but I'm doing something wrong here.

 

Well as I sit here getting unloaded and I just got a good load back to FLA I was thinking about what I was doing wrong. Here are some of the obvious ones:

1) I didn't check fuel prices and took that load to Washington state too cheap.

2) I listened to the broker when he said he would get me right out of MD.Now I see why LoadIt doesn't want to deal with the same people over and over. They get too friendly and then stuff happens. It works on both ends. On top of that they told me the lumper would be $80 and would pay that. I said "are you sure" yes. If not you'll take care of it? Yes. Well no they didn't and that cost me $30.

3)Learn the tolls. I still don't know how much the NJ turnpike cost me from NY to exit 7 (where I got off and got on 295) I have to wait until the EZ Pass statement comes in.

Other than that the rates are what they are. I did sit waiting on better but in the end I know nothing about trucking and have only been doing this a few months so I guess I'm doing ok.

 

You're doing fine. As you said, you made a change, you saw some improvement, however slight. I really wouldn't have been surprised to see a bit of a drop-off when you first went on your own. By keeping things at least level you made a nice transition. Now you're in that phase where you're dealing with EVERYTHING. There will be a steep learning curve for awhile, but it won't be long and you'll feel comfortable dealing with it all. That's the nice thing about not having to churn out the miles. When you're able to slow down a bit you can absorb all the new information and figure out how to deal with it. When you have to figure it out on the fly you'll often make a few costly mistakes simply because you've got to keep moving before having the issue tamed.

As far as I know, each state has a website with the cost of their tolls for each increment. I hardly ever run them so I'm not very familiar, but when I do I check those first.

Take any broker's promise to find you a load out with a huge grain of salt. If they won't send the rate confirmation for the SECOND load, I treat it as if it won't materialize and bid the first load accordingly.

I usually ask the broker to put their commitment to reimburse unloading fees in the rate confirmation. Sometimes I let it slide because I'm not too worried about getting stiffed, but not very often.

Plan on things picking up in FL not too long after the holidays. With a surge before Valentine's.

Just had the Chinese Buffet, not too bad as far as those go The best one I've found so far is the one next to the Pilot east of Knoxville...who woulda thunk it :shock:

Anyway, we're loading up for CA, be home for the weekend 8)

 

Ah Mr. No_Worries where would I be without you? Not to mention Sonny too.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I didn't think about it that I haven't dipped since leaving that guy. Of course staying close isn't so good either as fuel has skyrocketed. I am taking in it all. Honestly as far as dealing with EVERYTHING as you put it, I love doing that. I actually got into processing mortgages for a while cause I can get things done. Half the time when I get my own mortgages I have to process it anyway cause these bank people are something else. That's how I figured I'd make some money doing it. I just couldn't deal with being in an office.

Anyway, I got a load to Miami. 1063 miles plus 200 deadhead for $2500. About 80 miles going to get it they called and cancelled and gave me $150 for TONU. But then I got another one for a bit less miles for the same amount of money but it has two stops and takes a bit longer but still going to South Florida.

If you are talking about those all you can eat Chinese Buffet, I like those. There is one in South Florida called the Esmerald Coast that is great. Lobster tail, prime rib etc. There is another one in Palm Beach Gardens I believe.

I've never seen the one in Charlotte. Actually my brother lives a few exits up from Charlotte. I only went to Charlotte once. It seemed nice but it was so cold and I can't enjoy myself being cold or wrapped up in many layers of clothes.

A little later I am going to send you a pm with something you might find interesting. Check later it will be there.

Well thanks again. Enjoy the trip to Cali.

 

Merrick4,

Starting to run with the big dogs ... 8)
Thanks for the negatives / lessons learned as well.
From what I read, everyone seems to find their lanes and stick to them within reason. Sonny and MR NW are terrific businessmen.

Are any of you using a magellin or garmin (t) model - dashmount mapping/gps for routing around traffic and tolls. The traffic feature is a minimal monthly fee. I think they retail for $400 - 500.00.

 

Well merrick4,I am probably not the best one to give advice,because I don't run the same type of operation that you do,but I have been around trucking for my entire life and have been out here since 86'.

I have dealt with individual agents that were also brokers at Landstar and I have worked for companies and for other O'O's,and have had my own truck for 10+ years now,so I think other than the own authority part I have seen most of it out here.

I think you are off to a pretty good start.I also believe that $1.40 a mile running your own authority isn't good enough in the end,but I think you know that and are looking to get better.

One of the things in this thread that I feel got overlooked was someone suggested to not only focus on shippers,but to also talk to recievers because alot of the time they are the ones covering the shipping charges.I know in our buisness we have alot of stuff that we pickup for the place that we will be delivering to,it's called customer truck on the bill of lading,we have the contract to haul the product into their place,they call us when they have a shipment ready to pick up and tell us where and we position a truck in that area,this could work really well for you,get a couple of places that you can haul into and work it backwards,maybe even get a few of their outbound loads.

Alot of these places would love the personal attention you could give them,and if they knew how much the broker was keeping from the carrier I think they would be surprised.

Being in South Florida is always gonna be a challenge to you,but with the right contracts and maybe some nursery loads it will work out.

I for one am glad you are putting it out there with your true numbers and admiting to your mistakes as this will eventually help alot more people than just sugar coating everything and making it sound easy.

I look forward to your post and enjoy reading of your progress,with some of the other guys here that will be much more helpful than I can be you will get along faster than most out here.Atleast you seek out their help and follow it when possible.

 

Beatcha Mike... Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:49 pm :lol:
But I can't beat your reply. 8)

 

Thats because I wrote a damn novel,you gave cliff(or is it clift?) notes...... 8)

 

Lobster tail and prime rib? :shock: I never heard of such Chinese cuisine :lol: