[GMAN]

I think that in order to get an accurate reading of costs you need to pool your fsc into your total line haul rate. When I calculate my costs, I take all revenue on a load, including fsc.

Originally Posted by mike3fan

You know that didn't sound right when I typed it,not sure what it was but I also was only getting around $1.20 a mile then pulling containers......

lol

You need the Steve Booth approach to trucking. If your bills are paid, food on the table and some money left over, your doing good.

I cringe every time Merrick posts some info. He analyzes the crap out of everything then I get depressed. Not knocking him though. He's a lot more analytical then I am about this.

Lets see.

Steve = Happy trucker riding down the road listening to Captain and Toneil.

Merrick = Mathematician analyzing every which way he can using linear algebra and calculus.

Pepe = Just plain bitch bitch bitch

Doghouse = Not a real person. 12 year old kid messing with our heads.

[merrick4]

Originally Posted by SteveBooth

lol

You need the Steve Booth approach to trucking. If your bills are paid, food on the table and some money left over, your doing good.

I cringe every time Merrick posts some info. He analyzes the crap out of everything then I get depressed. Not knocking him though. He's a lot more analytical then I am about this.

Lets see.

Steve = Happy trucker riding down the road listening to Captain and Toneil.

Merrick = Mathematician analyzing every which way he can using linear algebra and calculus.

Pepe = Just plain bitch bitch bitch

Doghouse = Not a real person. 12 year old kid messing with our heads.

I got a good laugh at this one. Seems like we have enough on this board to start a good sitcom.

Honestly though Steve, don't forget though we are each just one man with a truck we have much different goals and plans. You've got me by about 20 years, you have had a career went through all that hell with divorce and as you mentioned before are finally living for yourself. Very very few people can say that. Either the spouse they are with, the house they live in or the car they drive, half the time people are trying to live either for someone else or trying to live up to someone elses' or society's expectation or in general just not doing what they WANT to do. You are very lucky that you are where you want to be in life which is why I never agreed the term hobby trucker.

Me on the other hand am 20 years younger (and age isn't everything) and I kind of wasted a lot of time, never really had a career and never had to live for anyone else; never married til a few years ago and have been on my own since very young. Around 30 I woke up now need to get things right. I don't want to be in this truck for many years and I don't want to end up bagging groceries for my retirement. I need to watch every number cause if this isn't working then I need to either fix what's not working or move on to something else.

You know they had a program on NPR one weekend about some guy in Maine who makes furniture by hand and now has a huge company. I almost turned the dial because it was a weekend program and it sounded boring. I am so glad I didn't.

Anyway the guy had a hell of a life; ups and downs. Now his company is a multimillion dollar company. In the end he made the comment that he was always envious of those that drive the same road to the same job everyday for 40 years. As soon as he gets things right, he tears it down and starts all over. He's never satisfied I guess.

The girl doing the interview asked if he was like this in his personal life. He gave a heavy sigh and said that he is still with the same wife but they have had many rough times and that it hasn't been easy and he left it at that.

[pepe4158]

Yeah I needa see the wife soon n get laid so im less bitchy :-p

But then my negative outlook on life n trucking is accurate....whatever can go wrong CAN n WILL!

Im not bitchy! Im a cynic and a pesimist!

Oh yeah called the girl dispatching serivice today....more crap n papperwork to fill out n $ to fax upfront ;-p but it may work out as she seemed to kinda know her stuff...thks for the tip Steve :-D

Ohh yeah...n small wonder Foamy the Squirl is my hero, their is someone that can bitch n rant!!!!!!

http://www.illwillpress.com/vault.html

[Bigmon]

Hey Pepe,

I was at the Ontario TA today and saw a guy that looked like you and had a name tag that said Pepe. Was that you?

[merrick4]

Originally Posted by SteveBooth

You need the Steve Booth approach to trucking. If your bills are paid, food on the table and some money left over, your doing good.

I truly wish I could do this. I am still at home as I needed to take care of a bunch of stuff, well refinanced the truck. With some moving things around my payment is half of what it was. And so now I'm worrying about getting out.

I made one call and got a load; not the best paying but averaging with coming in not bad.

The last few days I have found many resources to locate shippers, brokers etc. I wondered why there wasn't a compilation of those things and apparently there is.

I still wonder what can a one truck operation offer with these shippers. Capacity is the key I believe. Maybe Loadit can elucidate that for us.

Me personally I don't like getting on the phone; I talk to people as I learn something. Calling up and making sales calls is totally another thing which is very very difficult for me. I am extremely self sufficient and am not used to asking people for things. Sure I come here asking a million questions and people have been nice enough to send me leads but I have never, nor would I, ask for those myself. In the end we need to do our own work and not expect others to do it for us. Sales in a way is asking for something; probably a bad way to look at it but I just don't like it.

Anyway I don't like making sales calls but I don't like this feeling of not knowing where my next load is coming from so I said f**k it and picked up the phone and called the logistics department of a large produce supplier don't here. I was going to ask for shipping but they had a prompt for logistics and so I chose that.

The guy was real cool and didn't blow me off. He told me to send over my packet and then they would contact me. As soon as I heard that I thought great there goes that but then he said I could also check back with him daily if I'd like.

I need to put together a nice packet. Not that hard really I've gotten packets from brokers so I'll just go off that. Hell I sued the state one time and had no clue what I was doing and when the State lawyers started filing motions and all that I just copied the format they used and filed counter motions that looked just as professionsal as theirs.

[solo379]

Originally Posted by merrick4

I need to watch every number cause if this isn't working then I need to either fix what's not working or move on to something else.

Very good Merrick! 8)
That's how it's done by "professionals"!

[gbtrucker]

Originally Posted by merrick4

I truly wish I could do this. I am still at home as I needed to take care of a bunch of stuff, well refinanced the truck. With some moving things around my payment is half of what it was. And so now I'm worrying about getting out.

I made one call and got a load; not the best paying but averaging with coming in not bad.

The last few days I have found many resources to locate shippers, brokers etc. I wondered why there wasn't a compilation of those things and apparently there is.

I still wonder what can a one truck operation offer with these shippers. Capacity is the key I believe. Maybe Loadit can elucidate that for us.

Me personally I don't like getting on the phone; I talk to people as I learn something. Calling up and making sales calls is totally another thing which is very very difficult for me. I am extremely self sufficient and am not used to asking people for things. Sure I come here asking a million questions and people have been nice enough to send me leads but I have never, nor would I, ask for those myself. In the end we need to do our own work and not expect others to do it for us. Sales in a way is asking for something; probably a bad way to look at it but I just don't like it.

Anyway I don't like making sales calls but I don't like this feeling of not knowing where my next load is coming from so I said f**k it and picked up the phone and called the logistics department of a large produce supplier don't here. I was going to ask for shipping but they had a prompt for logistics and so I chose that.

The guy was real cool and didn't blow me off. He told me to send over my packet and then they would contact me. As soon as I heard that I thought great there goes that but then he said I could also check back with him daily if I'd like.

I need to put together a nice packet. Not that hard really I've gotten packets from brokers so I'll just go off that. Hell I sued the state one time and had no clue what I was doing and when the State lawyers started filing motions and all that I just copied the format they used and filed counter motions that looked just as professionsal as theirs.

Sounds like you are getting a handle on it now. I still find it hard to locate shippers to call, where are some of the resources in locating them on the internet. You should make more cpm going direct with a shipper. What is your comfort feeling for cpm?

I am working on couple web sites as we speak. One I hope to find shippers to sign up and place their loads on it. Not Brokers but Shippers. I need to advertise that when it is completed but am having a time getting the program the way I want it. I don't like Cold Calling either, I am like you, it is like begging for work but they call it sales.

BTW I am a new Transportation Agent with Regal Inc, working under their MC Lic 580320 and don't know what I am doing yet as you and steve jumped out to be O/O's so I have that same feeing.
I learned yesterday I am not to get loads from other Brokers, they say that is not good and a bad thing to do, Double Brokering. I didn't know as my Boss Marty didn't spell it out so I understude it. I had 4 loads working where I could of got the truck 1.75 to 1.90 pm and still made a few bucks. I pulled them back when I found out I was doing wrong. OOPS
One had to move today from Bakersfield and be in FL monday, Needed a Team I think to make it. Four others were Cotton Pickers from AZ to TX

Heck I even posted the load on a board I belong to.

It's a learning curve as Load It told me on another thread I started
about Brokers.

Well hopefully in the future I can even find a load for you and Steve that pays OK.

[Orangetxguy]

GB....Dude...You got a long row to hoe there!!!

If you are a former driver...what type trailer did you pull most? I suggest you stick with that type of freight.


Then..you need to start cold calling Manufacturers of that freight.

Flatbed...Stone Quarry's, Steel Mills, Lumber Companies, Sheet rock Mills..so on.

Dry van....Proctor & Gamble...Dow Chemical..DuPont..Johns Manville...

Reefer...Farmer brown...Sunkist..Farmer Jones...Dole..Farmer Jackson...Fresh Express.... you get my drift, right??

Long list...lots of calling to do! You gonna have to introduce yerself Dude!!!

[Kurbski]

gbtrucker wrote: I don't like Cold Calling either, I am like you, it is like begging for work but they call it sales.

I have worked in sales and don't consider cold calling " begging" and understand nobody likes rejection. BUT... How the heck are shippers suppose to find you if you don't let them know that you exist? So what if some jagoff blows you off over the phone. He can't see you and who cares what he thinks anyways. Move on to the next number. You might be surprised how many say YES because they are unhappy with their triple brokering broker who uses some yahoo that doesn't maintain his equipment or conduct business on a level that is expected.Be proud of your accompishments and build new bridges. I keep an index card with key terms and positive comments to help me during a brain fart to keep me on track. No need to trash the competetion..since some do a good job of it themselves. Stay Positive, Sell Quality, Service and Reliability.

As far as driving traffic to personal websites:
Traffic is driven to websites by paying google for key search words which you list in adwords.adsense is you posting google ads on your site and get paid for visitors who click and go visit the advertisers site. After a while your adwords will pay for your keywords so you should break even with the google expenses. BTW..Google is very knowledgable with click fraud and tracks the visitors ISP address which greatly reduces the chances of you getting screwed. Sometimes you end up advertising your competetion unless you specify who to omit.You can also advertise geographically to grab loads in your region only.

I look at the internet like it's a big fishnet..Some customers swim through..Some get caught. The main thing is to have alot of information listed in an easy to navigate format with dropdown windows,lists and neat gimmicks to keep them coming back to visit. Again reminding them that you exist. 8)


Cold Calling is a must...even if you attend a conference where numerous shippers gather.. you must call them and again to stay fresh in their minds due to the number of people they speak with. I also use my quickbooks ledger of past sales to remind me who to re call. :wink:

Manage your free time. Market yourselves accordingly and prosper from it. Now get calling........