Thanks GMAN, I always appreciate your comments. Actually I don't like being dispatched like this cause just naturally I like being in control of my own affairs. It's kind of a long story but I have a lot of respect for this guy. You know if it doesn't work out that's ok and it's ok with him too. He's told me from day one that I don't have to listen to him.

You know I was talking to some guy at the dock where he was picking up watermelons to take to New York. He starts telling me the money he's making which was a lot more than I was making. Funny thing is he commented how nice my equipment was, I mean he was looking at it like "wow". His was all torn up which doesn't mean anything, but he was also running with tags that weren't even apportioned. I mean how are you making all of this money and you can't pay for your tags. He did say he usually just runs local but nonetheless, I mean I wouldn't dream of running around without the proper tags.

That's why I am posting my numbers here. I'm going to put what I make. If I make great money (and I hope I get to that point) then I will be posting that here too and not as in "look what I'm making" but more or less, "I'm making this and this is how I go about getting it". Right now I'm not making great money (and again it's only been a week) and people are commenting and helping and advising how I should be getting it, and really not just for me but for everyone else out there. In the end this thread is not about me really.

One final thought GMAN, I did sign up for the CH Robinson board and am just waiting for my password to get finalized. Are they known to be purveyors of cheap freight? I plan on reading their SEC financials to see what I can glean from that. I'd like to know their profit margins.

I'm not sure what you mean? Honestly, and please don't take this wrong, you are right that I am second guessing everything, but I don't want to get too hung up on this. What I mean is I hope I am not coming across as these posts are how is this dispatcher doing?, I mean I don't know enough to comment on what this guy is doing. In the end I will in fact be on my own. What I am looking for here is things that I wouldn't think to point out. Things like watermelons are special for such and such reason and you should be getting this. That's just an example. There is a lot of knowledge on this board and I am just trying to get some of it. Also there are many who want to become O/O and I'm just detailing my experiences thus far so people can see what's out here. Of course Steve and Tootie and others do that too and it's been very helpful to many including myself, so I'm more or less doing the same.

I do appreciate the fact that you feel that I could do this on my own, but it's kind of a long story why I am now with this guy. There is more to it but like I said it won't be forever. He's selling the business soon anyway.

Anyway, please keep the comments coming, not to sound like a broken record but I do appreciate all comments.

I would like to add, you know I see in this business that there is the possibility that it may look like one is making a lot of money. I mean I billed in 8 days about $6,000 but expenses are high. There are a lot here who know that that $6000 is or isn't good money and the reasons why.

Also, I am running reefer, I would like to get a discussion going of the freight lanes for produce. For example I had no idea watermelons came out of Delaware. I can look on a load board and see such and such load going to some state for this amount of money. But of course that's not the whole picture. What happens when I get there? Produce is a seasonal thing obviously but if you asked me before today where do watermelons come from I would have said Publix, or Shaws or Food Lion or whatever the supermarket is called in everyone's area. As a consumer who cares where the stuff comes from but as a business person, well that's another story.

Merrick...how low in temp will your reefer go? Can you do frozen or deep frozen? Wondering if you plan to stick to produce or if you might "chill out more" :)

It's a brand new Carrier unit so I'm sure it can do everything it needs too. I have the manual but between the APU manual, the truck manual I haven't gotten to the reefer one yet.

As to whether I stick to produce, well I am new so I am not set in any one thing. I have heard that produce is good paying. Besides people are never going to stop eating. I mean maybe I'm just ignorant as I'm talking off the top of my head, but we are a service based economy now. So what does that mean to the transportation industry? People are always going to eat and they predict a sharp rise in the population of this country in the next 30 years. I have also read that with the sharp rise they will need to do a lot of infrasture work to accomodate this need so flatbedding, especially hauling heavy equipment might do well. I've read hauling office furniture for this service economy will be a good niche. Again just talking off the top of my head.(Actually read about the office furniture over on the O/O forum at OOIDA)

What are some type of loads that require deep frozen? Always open to new sources of revenue.

Some advice

buy a lojack for your new unit

or paint your name on top in big letters on top of your truck

Already have the pamphlet, and the big letters do you mean trailer? Truck has markings as per regulations.

Merrick, CH Robinson does have a reputation for only having cheap freight. However, I have hauled freight for $3/mile for them. I have also been offered freight as low as about $1.50/mile. They can pay well, depending on how badly they need to move the load and where it is located. I have met those who only haul CH Robinson freight and seem to be happy. They have a section for "hot loads" you can access when you get your password. You can post or check loads in a particular area. I don't rely totally on any broker. I don't haul a lot of loads for them. They seem to have more van and reefer loads than flat bed or step deck freight. You need to understand how CR Robinson and some other large brokers work. They commit to a certain number of loads per day or week for a specified amount of money. The less they can pay a carrier to move a load, the more money they make. If they don't move it for the lower rate, they will raise it until it moves. That is why you need good negotiating skills. I have turned loads down only to have the broker call later to pay what I asked. They are not going to pay me $3/mile to take a load someone else will take for $1.30/mile. Some brokers operate on a flat percentage off the top for all of their loads.

I am not suggesting you only rely on a single broker. Some have been able to make that work, but most find it next to impossible. I think you can make something like that work more for a van or reefer than a flat or step deck.

You need to consider subscribing to one or more load boards. Getloaded.com and internettruckstop.com are two that I subscribe and have done well with them. I pay $25/month for one and $35/month for the other. There are some private boards, such as Landstar, Jones, Schneider, etc., which don't cost anything if you are set up with them. Schneider has a lot of van freight that they broker.

It doesn't take much time to post your truck on several load boards. Once you get a load booked and know when you will be in a certain area, you simply post your truck where you will be with the date you expect to be unloaded. I would caution you about booking too far out in advance. Things happen which can delay you and there is always a possibility someone will want to use your truck more than you want to haul their load. In other words, you don't want to book a load only to find out later that you could have gotten a much better paying load had you not committed on the cheaper load.

I am not sure how much you can really learn from reading CHR's financials. They could have shippers whom they work on a flat percentage. Besides, there are a number of ways in which to hide the numbers. Some brokers who commit to move a certain number of loads for a shipper also have a penalty clause in their contracts should they fail to move a minimum number of loads within a certain time frame. That is another reason a broker may be willing to pay more to move a load. It is cheaper to pay the truck more than the penalty with the shipper.

When all is said and done, it doesn't really matter what the broker makes as long as you get what you want or need. You should know your cost of doing business. You should have a target and minimum haul rate. Sometimes it is better to deadhead out of an area rather than hauling a cheap load. It can sometimes be better to sit for a day or two for a good paying load. I will usually not sit for more than a day unless I have some assurances that I will get a good paying load the next day or if I am putting a load together.

Do these loadboards list tanker loads as well ? How does an o/o with his own authority get to haul bulk loads ?

That's what I've got on mine;-

http://www.neverstolen.com/

On top of your trailer put some kind of big ID with paint

Or a lojac for the reefer unit

thieves love reefers

and reefer trailers

only 4 bolts hold the unit to the trailer

This one post is what it's all about. This is exactly what I'm looking for. I would have never thought about that it might be cheaper to pay the truck then pay the penalty. I want to learn the system. Anyone can buy a truck and set up one's authority. I want to learn the system. Great advice GMAN, I really appreciate it.

Well I went to get the watermelons this morning and the load was cancelled. I got to talking with them in there (I'm always talking with people, my wife says I should have been a radio dj, as a matter of fact right after this I went to McDonalds to get my daily iced coffee and got to talking with the woman cleaning the counters and in the end I ended up translating the other girl who worked there her request to the manager to go home cause she felt sick [as mentioned before I speak spanish, though I'm not spanish]) and he tells me I should be getting truck ordered not used pay.

I did sign up for getloaded already to start watching things. Internet truck stop must be the one that someone mentioned above but they put ITS. I was googling ITS and couldn't find it so that's why I guess.

I called my friend this morning to let him know about the load. I feel like there is some slack between the kingpin and the 5th wheel and I wasn't sure how to handle that. He said the 5th wheel might need to be adjusted or replaced, but that I should call the salesman I bought the truck from.

GMAN, what do you do when you post your truck? I mean how much of a concern for you is it not being paid? I know I read from Steve that I can check their MC# and of course go over to OOIDA and check the Check's in the mail thing they have. Are you very select in the brokers you accept work from?

I really don't want to haul cheap freight either. It's like you said, a broker isn't going to pay $2.00 if someone will do it for $1.30. And to be honest I know that there is always going to be someone to haul if for cheap, but I do have my principals and I never lived by "well someone else is going to do it, why not me".

It's like working for a company, I was making good money driving local. A lot of hours but I had it real good. Well they started hiring temps so they could cut back on our overtime. I refused to train the temp, they want to take money out of my pocket I wasn't about to help. Well they came back with "Everyone else is doing it" and it was true everyone else was doing it. But I wasn't going to and I don't care what everyone else did. Everyman has to do what they feel comfortable with so I didin't judge my co-workers I just wasn't going to do it myself.

The point of all this is I put myself in a position that my bills will always be paid, I won't be hauling cheap frieght so I don't lose my truck. Sometimes I think this is a reason I will never be a goodbusiness man. I think most business men, successful ones at least need to be a bit unscrupulous; cutthroat even.

Sorry the iced coffee is kicking in again. Besides that I like to type.

The guy who did my lettering offered to do my trailer too for $400 more. I didn't want the added expense but I do think it will be more of a necesity than a luxury. The guy that was admiring my trailer yesterday did ask where I was going to be staying last night and right there alarms went off in my head.

Actually cause I've been running non stop for the last couple of days and ending up not near a truck stop, I couldn't live with myself anymore. I mean babywipes only cut it so far so I got a room last night. In 6 months with the company I only did that once as I always had ample time to stop. So I parked the truck and put a gladhand lock on too. I have a kingpin lock but obviously the truck is connected to the trailer.

You know when I was asking the salesman about the lojack, (Freightliner salesman) he made some comment like a lot of people don't want them cause they want their stuff stolen. You have to remember that this is Miami and a lot of people are driving beat up stuff. Remember South Florida is really North South America in a lot of aspects.

Yeah but you need a good supply of mannila envelopes tho lol...n I like to do priorty mail sometimes lol

I prefer frozen
btw Walmart is over the top picky on their refridgeratred recieving

I try to avoid them
They won't take you early and they take too long to check in
and they check and they check.........

If you want to survive you must find some frozen brokers ASAP
so they can know and rely on you
so you can work all winter
then in the winter
plan your summer work
you can definately book your own reefer loads using getloaded and ITS

Go home and sign up with
TQL
Allen Lund
Sargent
Trinity
CHR
RMX
RFX
HM Bay
it will probably take you all day to do this
These are some of the basic frozen brokers
If you want to run your ltl butt off and make $$$$$$$$$$$$$
kiss H/M bays butt

your friend did good getting you in and out of Laurel
but the load board are full of Laurel loads right now
so there must be a good rate down there

note to self
Laurel del,
Melon loads end of July

Merrick, I never do business with a new broker unless I check them out first. There are times when I will ask for their MC# and address so that I can check them out before I even start to negotiate with them. I want to know that I will get my money. If everything checks out and we agree on terms and rates, then I take the load. It is worth taking the extra time to check them out. If a broker has marginal or poor credit, then I usually won't do business with them. There have been a couple of times when I have taken a marginal load, but got my money before I allowed the truck to be unloaded. I usually won't hassle with it if they have bad credit. Brokers want to check a carrier out, but it is only good business to make sure the broker is legitimate and pays their bills.

And I don't think successful business people need to be cutthroat or unscrupulous to be successful. Those people may appear to be doing well for a while, but sooner or later their behavior catches up with them. Remember Enron? Truly successful people deal with others honestly and above board. We pick on brokers a lot, but there are a lot of dishonest truckers around. Some will commit to a load and cancel at the last minute or not show up at all. They will commit to the load, find something which pays more and cancel the previous load. That is not an honest way in which to deal with people. On the other hand, there are brokers who will give a load to a owner operator or carrier, then turn around and give it to one of their regular runners or someone who will do the load for less money.

I do want to ask a queston, how do you send your bills out? I don't see any mailboxes at these truck stops?[/quote]----yeah pain in the butt, I find a post office in the dinky towns, that I can park close to, always ask anywhere i can park that monster close enough to walk over :-p
p[/quote]

The Post Office has a program where you can schedule the mailman or woman to come to you. I don't have all the details, but USPS.com has the info.

Hotels and office buildings normally have mail drops too.

Thank you very much Sonny. One quick question though, when I sign up with these people, do they each have their own load boards like CH Robinson or do they post them on getloaded etc?

Thanks again I really appreciate it.

[quote="GMAN"]

Merrick, I never do business with a new broker unless I check them out first. quote]

Gman when you say check them out, what do you mean. I mean besides the obvious of looking up their MC#. I do you check their credit worthiness?

C.H. Robinson has there own load board but they still post all there loads on the general load boards.

You can mail out your invoice at most truck stops. They usually have a mail box outside or close by. If not, they usually have a bin behind the counter for outgoing mail.

As far as credit checks go, you can pretty much see on the load boards what there rating is and days to pay. When you get there carrier package and rate agreement you should make sure the phone and fax number match up to the real company on the FMCSA site.

As far as pulling a credit report or Dun and Bradstreet report, that's not needed and I doubt that anyone on here does that at $29.95 a pop. From what I've read and seen first hand a broker goes out with a bang. One second they have an A+ rating then for 2 months they don't pay and go out the door with $50,000+ in no pays.

No they do not have their own load boards

But they have a lot of freight on GL/ITS etc

you will see them over and over on the boards

and you will save time by signing with them now.

btw you don't have to check the ones I gave you

write them down because I will be deleting them in a few days

[quote="merrick4"]
Merrick, I check their references and if I have any doubts about their credit worthiness I have a factor I can call who keeps current credit information on most brokers. If they are willing to take them, they are usually OK. You can also subscribe to one of the credit reporting companies. So far I have only lost money on one account during the last few years. Barn Hill Nurseries out of Florida still owes me money from a load which I hauled for them about 2 or 3 years ago. Fortunately it is only about $800. They were supposed to have paid within about a week. I didn't really check them out prior to hauling for them. I only took the word of a owner operator who had done business with them. They told me that they have never had a problem with them. In retrospect I should have taken a closer look. Now, I do.

Trinity's board http://www.tticarriers.com/?pid=20

England http://crengland.com/logistics/index...sub=Load%20Map

This might be a dumb ?? but i have to ask.

With all of the on line billing, credit card pmts, paperless fund transfers,
Why don't brokers pay you by debit cards with google check out or paypal? Then you would have your money quicker, easier and more efficient. You can create an invoice in paypal, email it and the brokers could pay immediatley. Paypal charges 2 or 3 % but if you add it into your fee it's covered. One less trip to the Post office and Bank, one less thing to mail etc. $3000,00 x ,02% = 60.00 - Time,errands,fuel =$$

Is anyone trying this in any way with willing customers or brokers?

The thing is, alot of brokers are on terms with the shippers they deal with. They cannot pay out all that is owed because they don't have it. They must wait for it just like us. Those who can't wait pay the extra % out of their pay. Brokers do this because they make more money then, for that they are willing to dish it out. Most places are net 30 days.

Thanks Sidman, for explaining that. Makes sense.

To make the world smaller, I used to have a house in Ormond by the Sea.
Sold it right before the market went up. Damm :x Bought it for $47,000.
My parents stay down there from Dec. till May. (Snowbirds)

Nice area up there. those little beach houses are going for over 100k now.
But it's expensive to buy homeowners Ins.

Yeah I am beggining to see the advantages of being set-up ahead of times with these major and trusted brokers. Steve had mentiioned that he didnt, cuz there are just so many, and for flatbed I can see his point. But for us van haulers, (both dry n Refer) things are just sooo competitive and cut-throat, that being set-up with these major ones can be quite an advantage and give you the little extra edge you need.
I am ust curious off hand if these carriers are all good for dry van too....I know of course Robinson, trinty and Lund are.....I am geting set-up with them hopefully as we speak.

I was wondering about the paypal too. So far I like the Quickpay from CH Robinson. 1.5% and the money is in my account within 48 hours.

I've only been out just under two weeks and I think what Pepe said about feeling like a small fish in a big pond sums it up. You know you go through all this big rigamorole setting up everything, I mean I set up a company, with credit cards bank account and tax ID and of course when you are buying equipment they all treat you so nice and then you realize you are just one tiny fish out here. Everyone talks so fast (I'm from the North too and talk very fast myself) and they are saying things that I don't understand. I ask as many questions as possible without showing too much of my ignorance.

In just under two weeks I've billed $6568.40. About $100 was lumper fees. I've spent $2287.07 on truck fuel and $168.77 on reefer fuel. The truck fuel is based on starting out empty and now ready for a next load with 3/4 of a tank full. I've put for mileage on the truck 5159 actual miles. This includes deadhead and driving up the road to get to a Walmart or any other stop I've made. Actually with what I figure it cost to run this truck, I've only made abut $1100. This is bad, but I've made a couple of mistakes, had a load cancelled at the last minute. I'm learning every minute out here and am keeping track of the numbers. This is a business after all and I don't expect to be making a ton in my first a couple of weeks. I need to improve; I will improve. By the way, I'm in Wisconsin right now and this is a good paying area right now so as I'm already figuring my whole two weeks expenses in the above numbers, anything I pull with a load tomorrow will increase the profit numbers.

I should add that the fuel figure is paying with a credit card with cash back so it's small amount less. That cash back is something else. As I put the trailer on a card, I got about $400 back.

Anyway so revenue/miles and I come to $1.27 not good I know I'm working on it. Also I'm wondering when people are quoting their per mile rate as they are in the above O/O vs leasing thread, are they including their deadhead? If I took out deadhead and small personal trips it would be higher of course.

I can't say that in the last two weeks I haven't thought "man what did I go and do" by buying all of this. There is somethig to be said of working for a company and not having too worry about much, but in truth I can't truly be happy like that. I was making $1,000 a week local (after taxes) but I'm seeking something else in life besides a good paycheck. The thing with an O/O is you can go home when you want but in truth if you are a valuable employee you can go home when you want too at least that's how I found it to be. That can be for anything really. Local we were supposed to wear uniforms. I wouldn't but they let me be (I showed up in one and changed in the truck that's all they asked of me) cause the customers I had were happy with my work. They actually said don't send anyone there but me. So if you are a good worker they let you be.

I do have one question, a stupid one, but what the hell. How do you guys fill the air in your tires? If you don't park at a truck stop by the time you get there the air is warm. I bought one of those things that hook up to a gladhand last night but I heard it is a slow process. Also the company truck I had, had these caps on the stem where you could still fill up the air without removing the cap. I need to buy somethig like that cause these stem caps are a pain.

I have Cross Fire fittings on all my tandems so I can see at a glance if they need air or not. The one good thing about them is that they connect both filler tubes together with one nice stem sticking out in the front to fill up. I then went to Walmart and bought a air nozzle that has a clip so you can attach it to the tire and it stays on without having to kneel down and hold the air hose on. It fits right onto my hose that hooks up to the glad hand connection.

Thanks Steve. Cross fire fittings, never heard of them, man you sound like you've been doing this forever :D . I have a lot to learn.

merrick4 wrote:

was wondering about the paypal too.

Paypal is very simple to setup and use. Most business transactions still seem to be in the paper check mode. The CH Robinson transfers will help you stay a float for sure. Maybe it will catch on in future with other brokers for you as you establish your business relationships.

Anyway so revenue/miles and I come to $1.27 not good

Actually, I think thats looking pretty good because 1.27 is 3 times more than a company driver maiking 42+ cents per mile. Can you do better? Heck ya and your learning as you go like you have already said. I wouldn't worry about it. The $$ will catch up. Focus on all of your accomplishments so they say. Having too much time on hand and running your brain at mach 5 is our own worst enemy sometimes. Stop and eat ice cream..ice cream is good. Seriousley, making time to exercise, getting out of the cab / sleeper and not work too much is a must. Just don't beat yourself up or push too hard.

I have a ?? As far as your rolling office (which most intellegent folks pull over to do the bulk of), with invoices and trucking software? Does truckers helper or truck miles pro perform well? Trip routing, tracking income, expenses , taxes, creating, then sending invoices via the fax modem etc.

Be alert out there.The other day I saw this idiot swerving all over the road in a car. Phone attached to ear, calculator or blackberry in one hand, mouse pad with the other, literally driving w knee, crap all over dash including a printer. Can’t imagine what’s so important that it couldn’t wait. Waddadouchebag. Too bad he didn’t have to stop and have his logs checked, vehicle inspected and run a goverened lexus.

Some do list all miles,most however do not and some don't even care.I like to list all my miles that I put on my truck as when the truck rolls it is costing me money and therefor I think that it gives a better idea to drivers considering being an O/O.

I don't think it is fair to give misleading info that could affect someone else's future by claiming to be making $1.80-$2.50 a mile when it doesn't include all miles used to operate your truck.JMO

That right there sums up why so many people want to become O/O's. I'd be willing to bet that at $1.27/mile he's not doing near as well as the company driver making $.42/mile.

Merrick, you know I'm not bashing you, just trying point out misconceptions. You've picked a good time to get started because this is a slow time of year for reefers. July and August are usually pretty dead, so you make it through this and you'll have some experience under your belt when things pick up again into September.

1.27/mile isn't going to keep you rolling for long, even all miles included. The costs plus driver pay plus insurance plus maintenance and repairs won't be covered unless you run over 1.50 on all miles.
See, not trying to bash neither, but I hear that so often, that O/O make so much more as company drivers, but these people don't consider all the extra costs involved in keeping the whole operation going.
That's why I don't take cheap freight, because it's just not gonna pay off what you'll need in the end.
Does it help? No, I say no to cheap freight and ever since, the rates not going up. You have to figure what you need to pay for all the costs to pay. And to my experience that's over 1.50/mile.
So , let the brokers know what YOU need for the run!!!

Kurbski these guys are right that making 42 cents a mile is a lot more than me making $1.27 a mile as I figure it costs about $1.00 a mile to run the truck. So that leaves me 27 cents for me which is a lot less than 42 cents. I would never see $.42 right now though as I only have 6 months otr experience. I still wish I did flatbedding like I wanted to, but kind of just went with this guy.

And by the way, I do not take critical comments as bashing. I more than welcome all reality check comments. But I'll say one thing, I hope I don't become the posterboy for why someone shouldn't become an O/O. But that of course is entirely up to me, I just hope I succeed in this.

As for the rolling office, I don't use those trucker programs mentioned. I have been using Drivers Daily log to keep track of the fuel expense, but I'm using Quickbooks overall for my stuff. I printed out a trip sheet that I'm using to monitor trip expenses but in the end it all goes into quickbooks. I pay with just about everything with credit cards, so I just simply need to download the transactions into Quickbooks.

As for trip routing, I have my map of course, Delorme Street Atlas and Mapquest. For some reason Mapquest isn't working like it use to. I use to rely on that thing. Of course common sense plays a big role here. Truck height and weight plays into what route you are going to take.

I tried the Penn Turnpike, man that is costly. Won't be doing that again. Somebody said that the Penn turnpike charges by weight or something. I didn't understand what he was saying and I don't see how they know how heavy you are. I must have heard him wrong.

I'm on my next load. Started in Plover, WI and deadheaded to Harvard, Il or Hahvid as I say in this accent I have that is making it tough for people to understand me out here. It was cute at first but it's getting annoying, but I digress.

I'm supposed to pick up corn and take it to Abingdon, Va but I pulped it going on the truck and it's temp was high. I called the broker and they called the buyer and they have to put it under ice for a while.

I don't know what acutal mileage will be yet of course but it pays $1,500. When I say acutal mileage, I'm doing like Mike3 and counting every single mileage. It comes to roughly $1.70 a mile.

This broker I dealt with for the last load, really liked the way I worked. I mean I got the load late, and believe me I did what I could to get it there on time. He wanted to load me right out to Buffalo, but the dispatcher said freight will be hard to come by out of there. I'm not taking what the dispatcher says for gold either, that's why I put things here.

I'm curious about one thing though, I asked for an invoice for the guy I'm working with to see how he bills so I could see how he did it so I could do the same. I saw that he had a fuel surcharge on there. I spoke to him today and asked about that and how to go about charging that. He stated that I don't need to worry about that as I don't have employees. He pays his drivers 25% of the load. He told me before he factors that after a fuel surcharge. I guess that's what he meant but I'm still curious about that, but it was a good rate he was getting. From Ga to Philly he was getting about $2.44 a mile though I don't know what the deadhead was.

This is what's killing me. I HATE not understanding things. By that I mean I have no clue what these freight lanes are supposed to be paying. They say start as a company driver and learn first, and that is true, I learned quite a bit in my 6 months out there but you never see the money side of the business. How do you learn that if you are not born and raised in this business like a lot are unless you just get out here?

Honestly though, I went in a couple of times to see the operations manager of the company I worked for, cause I didn't understand the way they were running me and they (one quit and the replacement after)
showed me quite a bit. The first one actually wanted to give me a job in the office there if I lived near the home terminal. So those couple of conversations I had were beneficial but normally you will never see that side of the business as a company driver.

I'm going to stay with this guy for a little bit and watch how they work. Already like I said one broker is now calling me direct which means I'm doing good or hauling too cheap.

A quick question, when you call a broker and he tells you the rate, is that always just the starting point? I mean do they always tell you low knowing you are going to ask for more? Is every load a negotiation?

Also a question for No_worries: I was trying to find something you said the other day on the OOIDA board but with this freaking slow Cingular service I lost patience. On that audit you had and the folder you had for the maintenance, with the statement, did you get that from OOIDA? I did buy the employee packet for $8 (which was a waste of money as the insurance company mailed me one for free) so I was wondering if got it from them?

Sorry double post

Try truckloadrate.com subscription for awhile. You can put in any two places and get the average rate per mile for that run, - based on what rate carriers got the month before.

Re first inspection, Getloaded.com sells on their site a "New Entrant Workbook." It comes with a CD that has all the forms you need now and some for later I think. If it doesn't talk about the CD coming with the workbook on the site, ask them on the phone about that, because I believe it is attached to the book. Like a college paperback book that includes a cd.

I'm thinking that that would be one of the reasons that might be listed on a contract for detention money...a long with others like standard wait for a hole to open.

Since he pays his drivers (no O/O's) a percentage of the load, the fsc allows him to keep that charge separate and be applied to his truck rather than mixing in with the % that is paid to the driver.

If fuel is $2.80/gal I'm guessing fsc's are running around $0.28/mi so, to me, without knowing deadhead and tolls, that is a good load.

merrick4 wrote:

Kurbski these guys are right that making 42 cents a mile is a lot more than me making $1.27 a mile

merrick4 and No Worries, you are are right. One more reason for me to be a newbie company driver after school. learning the ropes and all. But you are going to do just fine. I want to check on more routing do everything software Like Person mentioned and then decide and set it up now so I know whats going on with it. Thanks for the advice.