[slacker]

I got out of school on April 13th with my cdl, and I went teaming for a couple of months, and then went solo. I think I've been in 35 states. I haven't done any winter driving (except in the simulator). I've only run some small mountains (Tennessee), so I've got a lot of challenges ahead.

I've probably only run 30,000 miles, but I haven't hit anything or let anybody hit me (which I've found to be more difficult). I credit that solely to the training I received, because I've missed some good chances to wreck already.

jonboy

[big truck driver]

that cool i'm glad to see you are willing to get out there and give it a shot dont let anyone discourage you

[pepe4158]

Yeah will be kinda ironic tho when your pulling Schneider freight he-he....they to pay pretty well. and easy to set up with.
I have yet to even set-up with USX........just the thought of it nausiates me lol

[slacker]

Originally Posted by geomon

jonboy wrote:

Do you mind stating who quoted you the $10.7K for the 48 states? Thanks.[/code]

Geoman, sorry for the delayed response to your question. I had a lot of problems getting insurance, not because it is not available, but because of flaky agents. A lot of the ones in the magazines in the Texas area couldn't speak english well enough to even give a quote.

The guy that told me $10,700 for 48 states, has trouble returning calls, and I won't do business with people like that.

I met an agent at the GAT show out of OKC who reps for Progressive, and they were a "real" insurance agency.

I took the 500 mile radius, $1,000,000 liability, $100,000 cargo, $30,000 comp/collision on the truck with a $2,500 deductable.

It cost me $10,227, and I took it because I was tired of messing around. I am wasting more than what I can potentially save, by more shopping, after all, I have a truck at the dealer I can't move, and I couldn't get my Texas authority finished up, so I went for it.

The bottom line is, the four months experience is the killer and I've just got to suffer a little. I'm not really sure what the same insurance would've cost someone with more experience, but compared to what other things I'm purchasing, it is not my biggest concern.

Anyway, tomorrow is my 50th birthday and I'm picking up my truck, and I hope to have my plates, taxes paid and be ready to roll by the end of next week. It has taken me two weeks longer than I wanted, but I'm glad I learned all this the hardway, because this won't be the last time I do this hopefully.

I did meet a broker today that would get me loads for 10% commision and make sure I got paid, and 40% upfront. He actually invited me to his office and offered to show me how to use the boards and negotiate with brokers. He also encouraged me that I could find plenty of freight in Texas. I need to hear that about twice a day right now...........

I'm going to roll out power only, and see what happens dragging some vans around for other people, and then pick up a trailer after that. I'm going to go flatbedding, but will probably wait till I get a year in for insurance reasons and when I have my 48 authority.

I was tempted to make the call to "lease on" somewhere in all this frustration, but I snapped out of it when I remembered FORCED DISPATCH.

Steves posts and the responsive comments from you guys have been real encouraging, so I guess Steve has infected another and the disease is spreading. lol Mamas hide your children!

jonboy

[slacker]

I just got a call from my insurance agent, and they reduced my insurance for 500 mile radius, from $10,200 to $8,100. That is the difference between my credit and my business partners credit rating. My partner has got the highest rating I've ever heard of.

I would highly recommend this agency. They really know what they are doing.

Glenn Harris and Assoc.
Oklahoma City
michele cell 405-659-3622 office 405-842-5385

[geomon]

Jonboy...what's the latest? Are you up and operating in the great republic of Texas?

[Scottt]

Jonboy I enjoyed reading your posts. It sounds like we are doing exactly the same thing for the same reasons.

I just haven't pulled the trigger yet on buying a truck. Trying to lay all the groundwork and penciling it out on paper before I make any actual purchases.

Progressive quoted me $281 a month with a 300 mile radius. Now to find cargo insurance.

What did it cost to have your truck dyno'd and checked out before you purchased it??

Thanks Steve and GMan for the help.

[slacker]

I just finished my first week as a carrier, and this is how it went.

I did four loads from Monday afternoon till Thursday night that grossed $1800 to the truck and netted $1200 after fuel. Three were 250 milers and one was about 350. I was hoping to stay above $1.50 and I was lucky my first week. I'm learning a lot and have connected with some good companies that will pretty much offer their best rate up front. I questioned a guy that had five trucks about $500 for 250 miles, and he said I could not beat that unless I left Texas and went interstate. I picked up a long load Friday that took me through the house to deliver Monday. It was Odessa Texas to Beaumont Texas, and it grossed $850, and will probably use $300 in fuel, but it met my needs to go home. My total fixed expenses on this business is about $2600 a month, so I at least heading in the right direction.

I tryed a couple of times to get more and they just told me forget it. I've been trying to avoid the heavy loads, but there are plenty of them that only pay about $1.20. My truck is getting about 7+ with under 10000# loads, but it goes to 6 mpg for 40000#. It looks like the idle time knocks about 1/2 mpg off the average mpg???

I've been receiving faxes in the truck via MYFAX, and as long as I'm in an area that has full broadband, it is somewhat tolerable. Outside the fast network areas, it just is not worth it. I didn't realize I would have to receive 10 or more documents every time I got set up with a new broker, so this has been a little annoying. I finally resorted to faxing from truckstops to stop wasting my time. I'm looking into using my cell for a fax modem, instead of this data card. I check the card and MYFAX, and it turned out to be the Sprint network that is the problem.

I think I'm going to work through a factor to not only help my cash flow, especially on these heavy loads, but to simplify the process of sending in the bills. One fax number and one criteria would suit me because every company seems to want it a different way and different terms to pay. I'm burning up my reserve in fuel, so I'm going to put a stop to that.

I learned from last weekend, that if you didn't have your loads booked by Friday, you might not be able to talk to anyone over the weekend, so I made sure I had something lined up for Monday and Tuesday.

The truck is running great and I bought a used Werner trailer with new tires on it and they both ride real smooth.

I'm teaching my wife map reading and logging, and how to contact brokers (as if I know how), and she is catching on.

Next week I hope to get my gross up around $2500, and try to run from one side of my 500 mile radius to the other, mostly to reduce the load and unloads per week. I have been rejecting a lot of longer loads that don't pay good though, so I don't know which is worse.

I hope to have my 48 state authority in October, so I can get out of Texas as ways on some longer loads.

Sorry for the long post, but some have asked me how it was going. I also had some guys want to know my actual expenses to get started, and I hope to post it in the future after I get a little time on the road to see what they look like.

Hopefully, next week I can relax a bit more and visit the board.

jonboy

[slacker]

Originally Posted by Scottt

Jonboy I enjoyed reading your posts. It sounds like we are doing exactly the same thing for the same reasons.

Progressive quoted me $281 a month with a 300 mile radius. Now to find cargo insurance.

What did it cost to have your truck dyno'd and checked out before you purchased it??

Thanks Steve and GMan for the help.

Scottt, what little I know, tells me 300 mile radius is not enough to be totally independent. I don't believe there is enough freight on the boards with those limits. I'm seeing mostly 250-450 mile loads in Texas. The reason being that is how far it is from major freight cities ie. Dallas, San Antonio, Odessa etc. etc. In other states this would most likely be different.

I would look for someone to broker all the loads for you if you are going to stay that close to home???? There are probably companies that specialize in this, but they wouldn't put that kind of freight on the boards for otr drivers.

Someone else would probably be better able to advise you on this.

I paid $220 to Cummins in Dallas for the dyno/blowby check.

jonboy

[Raafi]

Originally Posted by jonboy

I've never seen people treated this bad and poorly compensated in any industry. I'm really tired of being told "that's just the way it is in trucking", for an excuse for their pathetic behavior.

J

i myself am new to trucking after 30 years in construction management. and that was the first thing i noticed, PEOPLE TREAT TRUCK DRIVERS LIKE DIRT

our entire existence is meaningless, one minor example, you go to a cold storage place and they have you wait in a -20deg room for the receiver/shipper

that is plain inconsiderate, then they talk to you from a warmed room and close the window

i know this may seem pretty petty to some of you because you may be used to this, but this is not the way people treat people

so your company has rules, the shipper has rules, the receiver has rules, DOT has rules, each state has rules, and at the bottom of the food chain is the truck driver

now i must also admit, a lot of this is because truck drivers act like............. uh well............truck drivers

but we dont speak in a unified fashion, i cant believe that suzie square badge security has to look at my cdl for me to pick up or deliver freight

my god, i have a $100,000 company truck, unless the truck has been reported stolen, i think it can be reasonably assumed that i will not steal their freight

but us truckers suck it up, and thats why we get treated like dirt

i could go on, but my wife tells me to suck it up