I don't have any bills yet I'm deemed a failure. I guess I should use my credit card, rack up a balance then pay it off next month and maybe, just maybe I'll be on the road to success like the rest of you.

Wadda ya think?

You're no failure Steve but you don't need me to tell you that. Anway just to clarify, those credit cards weren't bills I racked up, as I've mentioned before I play the credit game and those 2 cards were ending the 0% promotion next month. The money I owed from those cards is in the bank earning interest, so I just paid those 2 cards and now that money in the bank is mine and not the banks.

That wasn't intended to be a jab at you. I'm sure you knew that, just wanted to state that.

I have not stated that SteveBooth is a failure.... I simply question the way SteveBooth runs his business.....

Merrick, Im not sure this will ever pan out to anything, but had lunch today with a good old friend and his new in-laws. The in-laws are one of the larger growers/packers/cold storage companys in the Fresno area. Real nice people. Honest, hard working and ethical. In business for 70 years.

We did not discuss transportation today, but thought of you, and the future. They ship to the east constantly, I do know that. Down the road, Ill find out more. Maybe something can work for both of you. No promises of course. :) But no sweat off my nose, and if it helps someone, thats all good.

Hey Steve, I'll let ya pay off my credit cards and get 10 people to testify that ur a success! Deal or no deal??

Hey I really appreciate that Orange Andy! Like you said, maybe it can work out and no promises but more than anything I appreciate the thought.

I tell you, I'm glad I found this place cause the information and help that has been given to me has been really priceless.

I'll say another thing too, that's why I am open about my affairs cause in a way that's the only thing I can offer in return here. I can't offer too much about trucking as I'm so new, but for instance the credit stuff, I don't write that to say "look what I have". After all this forum is a Owner Operator forum which is to say a business forum and this credit has been an unbelievable business asset.

I wonder what other country in the world you can get over $100,000 for 0% and no collateral?

Well thanks again Orange Andy, like I said I truly appreciate it. :)

You know they say the worst thing to do when you are tired is to sit down.
Been doing a lot of sitting here at home just kind of reading.

So as I mentioned I met with that shipper but that didn't seem to go so well. From the impression that I got from the original contact was that they were tired of dealing with brokers. But that was the owner. I didn't meet the owner, I met the guy who does the trucks and he said he has used the same broker for a long time and he never has trouble getting trucks.

They have trouble getting drivers for their own trucks apparently even though their are many applicants showing up. He says he has two loads sitting now waiting for the drivers to get back.

I got to talking with my neighbor. She works for an import/export company from Brazil. They used to do a lot of stuff bringing food etc here but now they are trying to send stuff from here to there.

She wants me to let her know of products that are being exported and then she can call and see if they need that stuff in Brazil. So off the top of my head I went to her computer and pulled up a website of someplace I had picked up before that makes stadium seating and they export to all over the world. She seemed to like that. Then I pulled up another who manufactures cleaning supplies for domestic use and export. (that load I actually took that stuff right to a place where they were putting it in shipping containers).

So I will keep feeding her the info and then hopefullly if she gets the deal they are going to need trucks to carry the stuff. Really it I always look into the places I am picking up or delivering too anyway, so it won't be nothing to shoot her an email. On top of that of course I was asking quesitons on how she operates and a bunch of other stuff, so if I get nothing else but that information which hopefully I can put to use, it will be worth it. I gave her a stack of my cards too.

I called another broker today that works out of a manufacturer (I know someone who works for that manufacturer) but the guy was a real jerk. I mean he pretty much told me to beat it. I didn't like that but what the hell, in sales I am going to be told "no" 99 out of 100 times anyway. I don't like it but....

I have the audit tomorrow and went to pick up my fuel receipts from that place that does my IFTA. I guess my tax for last quarter was $40 something. The only thing that I don't like is I'm averaging about 6.49 per gallon. I go slow, have an APU, so I would think it would have been better. The only thing I am thinking is that I am starting from a stop position too quickly. I try not to go so slow out of the gate cause I like to keep the flow of traffic moving but I think that is what's killing me.

I really can't recommend that place that does my IFTA tax enough. Such nice people, everything is nice and organized and I feel their fees are more than reasonable.

I'm watching the load boards to get back out, no_worries when does this Valentines day rush start? I want to get out of here next week.

I think this time home has left me more confused as to where I want to go with this. You know with my friend telling me that I need to find good freight in, while I've been thinking that I need good freight out, then I found out about the Miami Free Trade Zone. From what I understand they have transportation companies set up in that place.

On the other hand I keep thinking about that person on this board who did the trucking thing for about 10 years and had bought 8 houses since then. I mean the money isn't so great from this trucking but there is temendous cash flow, and this is only building up my credit liines etc.

You should start seeing some flow next week, although to be honest I thought we'd be seeing more loads out of FL already with produce. I think we've got a lot more trucks chasing freight this year and therefore fewer loads even hitting the boards. A bunch of the trucking companies released earning this week and they all pretty much reiterated the same thing. All I know is things are BRUTAL out here on the left coast :shock: At least the sun's shining :lol:

Merrik4 I have a couple of questions for you but, can't PM. Could you shoot me an email at [email protected] when you have some free time.

Merrick

Did you get that PM from me the other day about credit ??? If not shoot me a email at [email protected] please ???

Had the audit today. It was much longer than I anticipated but of course I was asking a million questions. I pretty much had everything in order except a couple of things in the drivers file.

He had never seen the Drivers Daily Log program but he LOVED it. As he was going through it he kept saying how nice it was and he wished more would use it.

The only other thing of note I would add is he said there is a private company that the Florida DOT uses to conduct some of the audits as they can't handle all of them. He said that company starting laying off people and went from like 9,000 audits down to 2500.

He also said he calls to set up audits and more and more there are people giving up their own authority and just leasing on.

Seems to confirm what I've been finding out,that this industry seems headed for massive consolidation. Like that old man from Tenn. told me, those that can hang on for a couple of years will be doing well.

Glad you got the sun back no_worries. It has been nice here but in truth only in the 70's though today it got into the 80's. I hate to complain but I don't like it even in the 70's. High 80's to the 90's is what I'm looking for.

So the audit is done and then this weekend I have a family function and then it's back on the road.

I brought my 91 year old grandmother an iced coffee today from McDonalds and she loved it. Drank it all in like 2 minutes. I should be getting paid for marketing for them.


Oh I forgot another thing the DOT guy told me. There was one guy he was doing that had 5 trucks. One was parked and while the DOT guy was there the guy turned down two loads from New York as the pay was too low.

The DOT guy said he recently saw the guy's stepson and asked how it was going. He said the guy sold 3 trucks and was now down to 2 and now making money with a lot less stress.

BOOM, I'll PM you and then you should be able to respond.

I tried to PM you back but, it isn't showing in my sent items. Not sure if something went to you or not.

Boom, it's probably in your out box. It takes a while sometimes to move pm's here. Im not sure why but it's no biggie and he will get it ok. Just blame it on technology. Sometimes the cyberdog eats it :lol:

PM's stay in your outbox until the other person reads it then it goes to your sent box

Thanks Steve. 8)

Well living out of a truck again. Everything was kind of rushed with me heading out the door and it was so nice out I forgot to grab a jacket. I'm in Ohio now on the border with PA.

Anyway, I forgot to mention something from the audit. The guy said that an O/O does not have to fill out the drivers inspections sheet. I mean we have to do it and log it but apparently we don't have to fill out a sheet.

I'm not so sure though, doesn't seem like they (DOT) knew so much. He even was complaining that they were the last ones to find out stuff. He said his boss was giving a presentation once and some guy interrupted him and said he was wrong. To make a long story short the guy pulled out some paper that he got from Headquarters in Tallahassee and was right.

He also told me he was doing an audit once and was going to write the guy up but the guy pulled out a letter from like 2 years ago and apparently the new info never filtered down to the DOT officers on the ground.

That's why it's good to verify things. You'd be surprised how much bad information is out there on just about everything. I just wish people would say that they don't know instead of just guessing.

Not to digress but last week I bought into a mutual fund in this new Roth Ira I set up (I think I should have set up a SEP Roth IRA) and TWO different stockbrokers at Fidelity told me I couldn't buy into a fund. So I asked to speak to a supervisor and after a while on hold the last stockbroker came back and apologized and said they were wrong.

That's why when I find someone who knows what they are talking about I hold on to them. That insurance agent I recommended to Deep Dixie Blue was one of them. Even when I hit two years (Next month!) unless the price is outrageously lower, I'll stick to that agent. Too hard to find people that actually know what they are talking about.

Anyway, so apparently I misunderstood the guy I was working with. I spoke to him again and he says to find freight coming out of Florida. I know what he said the first time but I'll leave it at that. I wish I would have known that cause I would have put more effort when I was at home. He had me so confused that I ended up doing nothing.

He actually called me and had a load for me out of Florida. The rate was pathetic but I didn't want to cause an issue so I took it. He had like 3 of them that day for the same place. I wouldn't have taken it but I guess you can't leave drivers sitting around.

That place was insane. I guess Armellini does all of their flower work but for the holiday they rented this warehouse for the extra work. That was insane.

It was a load of flowers for Sam's club with a delivery to Walmart DC in Olney, Il. I personally never verify the loading and unloading times as everyone on here says to and I never have an issue. Well this one said a delivery time of 12PM. It was kind of too good to be true as those Walmarts usually seem to have early morning appointments and I had to rush up there. I hate early morning appointments.

Anyway I got there in Olney at about 1AM and parked and went to sleep. Well I wake up and call to see if I can come in early and they tell me I missed the appointment which was at 4AM. I told them I was right up the road and they said to come right over. Amazing really as Walmart is a real PITA. But they took me right in and got in right to a door.

The other guy that came up from the same place apparently got his load rejected for the temp being over. I was a little nervous when I heard that cause when I opened the door I heard beeping which I never heard before. But I was OK. Actually they were real nice there. The people in the receiving office got a big kick out of my accent and they had me repeating things. They said they wanted me to stay there all day and enteratain them as one put it.

Then I got a load right away to Altoona, PA with a stop in Cleveland, OH (man that city is ghetto). All miles came to like $2.25. I told him no at first as I never heard of them, but I checked their credit and called him back.

A couple of weeks ago I had to use the Ohio Turnpike which I usually avoid and I used a credit card. But on this load (I had to take it again as the delivery times were rushed but I charged extra for that. I mean the $2.25 was not what he wanted to pay) Well this time this exit had no credit card thing so I had to write out a check.

Anyway I unloaded and posted my truck. Well I got a couple of calls but nothing really concrete. So after a bit I decided to head out and posted my truck in Pittsburgh and also in Youngstown, OH as I was heading that way.

When in Altoona I saw a CH Robinson load near me but I figure never call them; just wait for them to call. Well I'm just about in Ohio and I checked the board. They must have gotten desperate and posted the load for close to $2.00 a mile to Michigan. I was pissed I didn't call. I don't understand why they didn't call me as I was posted close to the load.

There was a load to Virginia too that called me. I proabably should have taken it, but I got very little sleep the day before and really hadn't even unpacked my stuff. Besides I don't think it's so easy to get out of the Richmond area.

I was going to go back to Perrysburg ( I had already planned on DH there and would have come out with a total rate of $1.50 with the last load) but am going to try this area.

I'm just wondering if this is a bad area like Georgia is bad when all the Florida trucks dh to there. So I don't know if Eastern Ohio is bad because of the trucks out of PA. Seems like there isn't too many trucks on the board. So we will see.

Hey no_worries, how much is a reefer PM cost? I had one done at home and I think this guy charged me too much. I had the reefer done, the APU done, and I had him try and move the smoke stack (it's choking the reefer) and a bill came to the house for $462. I don't mind charging me a bit more as I left the truck there for 3 weeks but I just want to know how much I should be paying.

This parking is a pain in the ass, I might just pay the $200 a month and pay for a spot. I pulled the truck outside my developemnt so I could run in and get my stuff and within 10 minutes the police are calling me. I pay over $4,000 a year in property taxes and these jerks can't leave me alone for 10 minutes. So I might just pay for a spot.

Anyone know how long an APU should be depreciated? This thing with the accountant isn't going so well. I told her to send my stuff back but she said she was going to fix everything. I had everything broken down and she mixed a lot together. How am I supposed to monitor costs if it's all together?

She also put the insurance as a regular costs. I mean I thought it was supposed to be split up and the prepaid part would be considered an asset or something like that. I like it better like she did it as it helped me with my taxes this year but I just want to make sure it's right. No_worries does this sound ok to you?

I'm telling you good help is hard to find. Like I said to find someone who knows what they are talking about is hard as hell.

At the family function I attended before I left I was talking with a freind of the family from Scottsdale, AZ (real nice guy too) and he's got a lot of money. He's a lawyer and I asked him if he has partners. He said he doesn't beleive in them; if somebody could do what he does they'd already be doing it.

I kind of always believed in working with people because we all can't do it all but half the times I find I end up doing things myself because I can't find the right people.

Back at it, eh? I've been keeping an eye on FL; flowers started moving but not much else. Maybe my memory is bad on when the rest of produce starts up there, or maybe there are a lot more trucks looking for loads :roll: Oh well, what did that flower load pay? Northstar, which is Armellini's broker division (I think I mentioned them to you before) had a couple of loads in Miami for around $2/mile earlier this week. I'm seeing some different names down there this year...I think there's been some changes in the flower business.

I've been told the same thing about vehicle inspections by guys here. It's true if you're hauling intrastate in CA. I wouldn't try it interstate though :lol:

Reefer PM's will vary depending on what you have done. If it's just a basic PM; change fluids, check belts, etc., it shouldn't be more than $120-150. You had some other stuff done so it's hard to know how it's broken down. Make sure you're getting a detailed invoice. You can get basic PM's done at TS's and Speedco.

You're fine on your insurance deduction. A prepaid expense can be deducted in the year paid...provided it was not prepaid solely for the purpose of tax avoidance :wink:

An APU should be depreciated over 5 years.

Trying to put me out there no_worries :D . I didn't put the rate in the first place cause it was bad but since you asked I'll have to do it. :)

Actual miles were, 1193 and it paid $1400 which means it was real bad.

For me I wouldn't have taken that and would have just waited. But I know he took two others and I have no idea how he does this. Actually while I was waiting I was talking to one of the drivers. I told him I wait even a few days if I have to to get my rate and he said he doesn't get paid to wait.

Where were the $2.00 ones going to? The only good thing was this put me in Illinois.

Sorry :lol: Like I said, the rates haven't come up much there from what I'm seeing, especially for solos. One of those loads went to St. Louis the other went to Bolingbrook...I think. I almost called you (I think they loaded Wednesday) but figured you were on the road already.

If you get bored give me a call, I'm just lounging in the sun in the backyard...then you can keep everything a secret 8) :lol:

Is that Northstar In Mich?

FL

They have alot of locations. But since it's race week here they are probably real busy. And bike week is right around the corner.
http://www.northstarfoodservice.com/locations.html

merrick, what Cramer book did you get and how do you like it?

You can do both the SEP and IRA, in fact I would recommend having both, it's saved me a couple times. You're only allowed to put so much in an IRA that's tax deductible, I think it's 2000.00 per year,but don't quote me.If you have an IRA and a SEP you can put 2000.00 in each account giving you a 4000.00 deduction. I think there was two or three years where I didn't pay in enough taxes, so at tax time my accountant told me to make the max contribution to each account. So, instead of owing money to Uncle Sam I got a refund.
:D

Also, just a bit of a heads up, watch your mutual fund carefully, you might be disappointed. I've had a mutual fund for 10 years give or take, and it hasn't impressed me in the least. The only time it goes up in value is when I make a contribution,so this week I'm moving it to index funds or ETF's. Do some research on them and see what you think. You can read up on them at investopedia. You can also reseach the different kinds of ETF's at Yahoo finance and see the the average return for each fund over a one year, five year, and ten year period.
I'm certainly not qualified to give financial advice, only you know what's best for you, but for me I'm done with mutual funds.

I opened up an account with TD Ameritrade about a month ago, and spoke with a financial advisor yesterday about moving my funds over to them and then putting it in some index funds. I hopefully will get that moving this coming week or the following week. With something like this I'll be much closer to my money and be able to move around to other funds if I want, with the mutual fund, I felt too far away from my own money, I grew tired of that.

uh oh!
:shock: :shock: :wink: :lol:

The last people they are going to rake over the coals is truck drivers. They would have to audit 10,000 truckers to reclaim what they could with just one upper middle class person.

I BEG YOUR PARDON!!! I'm in construction, I make less than all you guys put together. I'LL be the last one raked over any coals. GOOD DAY SIR!!!!!!! :lol: :lol:

lol.....I thought you were OTR Rusty?

not yet, I'm putting it together slowly. It won't be OTR though, more of a regional operation for a while. I was trying to get started in the spring but with the slow down in housing and now commercial construction I might have to back it off some.

I was thinking of Northland Express Transport in Mich
btw huge big time nursery shipper and they will send you sample rates
http://www.northlandexpresstransport.com/

I got the new one Stay Mad For Life and I like it a lot. As for the mutual fund, the thing is with me I can't learn unless I'm actually doing something. So I bought into that Fidelity fund that they just opened back up and is being managed by Harry Lange I think his name is. And this will give me something to learn from.

I had an account at Ameritrade a few years ago but I didn't know what I was doing. I don't play with a lot of money.

And actually if I went with my instinct on some things I would have made a lot of money. I actually was in a Schwab office by chance and wanted to open an account and buy XM when it was like $1.00 a share. But I felt stupid cause I didn't know what I was talking about and the guy was looking at me like I was an idiot so I left. Within a year it went up to over $40.

It's like when I bought the rental I had in Central Florida. Everyone told me not to do it and even though I did do it eventually I could have gotten it much cheaper when I initially wanted to buy it.

The IRA's are now up to $4000 a year I think and even more this year. The SEP ones are up to like $45,000.

I have a hard time parting with my money though :) I'm glad the wife works in this industry cause at least we can do this together and she understands a lot of this stuff better than me.

Rosty, are you and independant contractor? And do you do more residential or commercial?

Kurbski, I don't know if you tried to send me a PM but my mailbox was apparently full but I empited it now :wink:

Hey Sonny where you been? Do you do nursery stuff too? I always avoided that because I don't understand it. I mean it's like produce frozen food, it's on pallets, set the reefer at the desired temp and you are off. I have no idea what's involved in nursery stock.

When I worked for a company I did haul some seedlings so I guess that was nursery stock. I took some seedlings from Florida (the company I was with had a contract) to California.

I thought I had another leak in a tire. I had like 3 last month. But I just checked and the air held last night. These cross fire tire things are well worth the money.

Wrong company kurbski...Northstar Transportation...flowers.

Yes, I'm an independent contractor, I do the interior walls (metal stud) for Pulte Homes, I have another general contractor that uses me exclusively for his commercial construction, and he also does some residential work, and I sub-contract some work from a fairly large commercial drywall company. The large commercial company kinda compares to a freight broker.
Then every now and then I'll do some home improvement work (finished basements, additions, remodels etc.) I'm not crazy about home improvement work because most home owners expect it done too cheap. I won't do that. Over the last few years I've seen the results of cheap work, and it can be very bad. I had to tell one guy that the only way to fix his basement was to rip it all out and start over. He had paid out about 18k at that point and got ripped off by two different unlicensed contractors. It was so bad that I couldn't wait to get out of there because I didn't want his neighbors to associate my truck, which has my company name on the side, with his basement. But he got it cheap!

The last two years most of my work has been commercial, especially the last year with housing slowing down. Now commercial is slowing down real fast.

I've heard of Pulte. I don't think they are in Florida but I've seen them. I hope you socked away during the good times; without a doubt you must have done well the last few years.

Probably though same as in trucking, you have the illegals undercutting your work (well in trucking not illegals but people hauling cheap). My friend is a framer in Mass and he's been ranting about the illegals (not against them per se but just the fact that they will work for much less)

Big problems with contractors doing shoddy work down in South Florida since hurrican Wilma. I have no idea why someone would pay up front all the money to get their roof done. These people have no incentive to finish the job. There was an article in the local paper the other day about it.

Oh, Ok NW. Big difference. I do see alot of reefers at the north star foods terminal in port orange lining up to unload real early. most look like owner operators with a few shaffer's in the mix now and then.

Yeah, all those food service companies; Sysco, American, etc., are popular destinations for reefers.

Rosty, I share your preference of ETF's over mutual funds, especially lately since the SEC is allowing this black-pool trading among institutions.

My only concern for you, and you probably already know to do this is that because of the volatility, be sure and buy in 3's or 4's. Divide the allotted money by 3 or 4, and buy in increments over a few months. This is a dicey equity market, and an election year, so lot more uncertainty than normal.

Best regards.

What is black pool trading? I googled it but got nothing pertaining to the market.

You know, my worst habit is waiting till tax time to invest, but it all goes back to being to far from my account. I have to go to the bank, sit down with the investment guy, tell him what I want to deposit etc. That's the main reason why I opened an account with an online broker, to make it easier to invest smaller amounts through the year or dollar cost averaging. :wink:

Rosty, I cannot accurately give you the mechanics of how it works, but it greatly increases open market volatility, shakes confidence in investors, and large institutional wholesale traders benefit from it. I understand the turbulence it causes, but not exactly how they do it.

Roughly, institutions want to make their transactions before they show on the tape, for the world to see. This is why the term "black-pool" was coined, because it is done in secrecy, in the dark, and in a pool that only they know about, a pool seperate from the public or open market pool.

If you really want to know just how it works, the only guy I've ever heard mention it is Bob Brinker, on Money Talk. It isn't something market analysts want to announce for obvious reasons. :?

But I suggest anyone who is considering investing in today's market, especially in ETF's, understand how this can effect them and their hard-earned money.

Call his talk show on the weekend. He's on Saturday & Sunday mid-day out west. Or here is a link to his site, and the radio schedule is on there.

http://www.bobbrinker.com/index.asp

This implies that this "black pool trading" affects mutual funds much more than ETFs.
This seems to imply that this activity significantly affects ETFs...which is it?


If you're putting money into your retirement account, I wouldn't be terribly concerned about month-to-month or quarter-to-quarter volatility. You're dealing with such a long time-horizon that the effects will be relatively insignificant.