I made it back to the states and once again spent over an hour at the U.S. border at the drive up window talking to the officer. I crossed about 3am and he hadn't had a truck in 4 hours. Funny how when you spend time talking to the guy he never asks you all the questions he's suppose to. I always get this big smile on my face once I'm back in the U.S. like wow, I made it and this big calm comes over me.
I dead headed down to Great Falls, MT to the Flying J and shutdown there. My truck is still covered with a type of mud that sticks like glue. The only truck washes in Canada was a do it yourself and when I was done I was covered in mud myself. I can't wait to get to a real truck wash and will still probably have to pay extra to get the truck and trailer washed.
I woke up the next day and did laundry and this and that and figured I would start the truck up and turn the A/C on to get a head start before the Rigmaster came up to speed. Something seemed a little different like the engine was shaking. I put my foot to the floor and it came up to 2,000 RPM's. I knew that before it would go to 2,200.
I decided to take a little spin and right away it coughed and sputtered. I got onto the highway and came up to speed but it was running rough. Back to the Flying J and I was like, heck, no problem, I'm a whiz at fuel filters now and changed them out in 5 minutes. Still no change. When I changed the filters I dumped the fuel out into a plastic pail I carry and no water and no dirt and the fuel looked clean. I just changed them about 2 weeks ago and now realize it was the start of a new problem, injector.
I then get on the web and phone and start calling all the dealers and Detroit Diesel shops. They all advertise 24/7 but they are all closed for the whole weekend. The only place I found that could take me on Monday was a Detroit shop almost 500 miles away. I ended up driving to within 100 miles and will show up tomorrow morning. It's not that bad but I definitely cannot pull a load and can barley maintain 60 going up a small grade.
I'll probably have them fix my oil leak if they have time and change the oil pan gasket. May as well take advantage of the opportunity.
I also noticed that one of my steers is wearing real bad on the inside like the whole tire is cocked to one side. Something must have knocked the front end out of alignment so there's another thing to have done. I need t two new trailer tires which cost about the same as two steers so I'll probably get the front end aligned, two new steers and put the old ones on the trailer.
Know I know why people take advantage of places like Danny's Oasis truckstop and the specialized front end alignment shop there. I'm learning that you can't just wait until you get home and take it to your local shop and there are times you need to seize the moment when your in the right place at the right time.
I'm running out of money this time out and have over $35,000 in outstanding invoices but most of that should be waiting for me at home. I left home with about $12,000 in my pocket and the rest of my money in my personal account which I can't get too. I should be able to make it home with what I have left but I'm not taking a chance. This is one time being friends with the local police are paying off. The bank is letting one of my buddies do the transfer for me.
I'm realizing that even though rates have gone up in the past few months and so has fuel that I'm pulling in a lot more money but I'm also paying out a lot more money in fuel. There is a lag in catching up with what I'm paying out for fuel and having to wait 44 days for a check to come in.
What I mean about 44 days in case new people are wondering.
Leave home on Monday with a load 0 Days
Deliver following Monday 8 days
Mail invoice and time to deliver 3 days
30 day clock starts running when broker receives invoice 30 days
Mail check to you and deliver 3 days
Total time from leaving to receiving check 44 days
Keep in mind you are doing lets say 3,000 miles a week at 6mpg and
a cost of $4.60 per gallon. That's $2,300 per week in fuel.
Now, for that 44 days before the first check comes in you will need a
minimum of $14,457 just for fuel.
This increase in fuel is causing me to have much more in working capitol to run for 4 to 6 weeks. I myself am not having to pay anything more then I was a year ago because I'm getting more to pull a load. It just means I need more working capital to keep going due to the delay in a check coming in that reflects new fuel prices.
When I started almost 2 years ago I could have stopped driving a truck and within 30 days or so I would have all my $20,000 back in my pocket free and clear. Sort of like a savings account. Now, today doing that same thing I will have about $35,000 back in my pocket.
I'm not sure if everyone gets my drift what's going on but to become a motor carrier today requires everyone to have much much more working capitol. Your going to get it back and it will always be there but that working capitol amount just keeps going up and up with the rising fuel prices.
I just find it interesting that fuel prices are increasing at a far more rapid rate then the cost of living. If it keeps going and fuel is doubled in 2 years I could stop driving a truck and walk away with $70,000 or $80,000 in cash.
What I'm getting at is that people are going to be prohibited from getting there own authority and starting up just for the shear fact that they just can't afford the fuel for that initial startup which lasts for at least 6 months before your into the cycle. People who are already doing this I'm guessing are going to be caught off guard by thinking wow, look at all this money I have and not realizing they need to keep it to run. I'm guessing that many could be one breakdown away from throwing in the towel.
It's the same with all the local down towns going out of business. Old Mr. Fini who owned the local shoe shop was ready to retire. He put the place up for sale for $750,000 because he owned the building but who the hell could afford to buy it and make the payments selling shoes? NOBODY. Back in the old days Mr. Fini bought the place for next to nothing and it was the only game in town to buy shoes. No malls and no chains so he had a thriving business. Sorry about the sidetrack. I'll bet many of you didn't know that back in the 60's we use to go to Tom McCanns shoe store and put on a pair of shows then they X-Rayed our feet to make sure it was the correct fit?!?!?!?! We didn't know a lot about radiation back then!!
I also can't stress the importance of replacing parts before they break. The theory of don't fix it if it's not broken does not apply to trucking. You need to replace all those belts and hoses and may other things before they become a problem. You need to become one with your volt or amp meter on the dash and have that alternator rebuilt when the gauge just doesn't react like it use too.
|
