To clear you up, funds are only purchased at the closing price of the day in which you place your buy order. So, when the index is swinging 1.5 to 3.0% a lot of days, buying on dips can put that % in your pocket. Something you cannot do when purchasing funds.

ETF's can be purchsed any time during the trading day, and with that, you have the option to buy with an open ended "limit-order". And specify the price you are willing to pay. Some days the dow will swing wildly early in the session, and you will get in very cheap.

A few days ago, the dow opened down 3.35%, or 438 points. Then within 30 minutes it rebounded sharply and was only down .75%, and closed the day down 1.2%

It is those dips that can benefit the ETF buyer, and not the fund buyer. And if you like funds for their diversity, the ETF offers TOTAL diversity in equities.

Was this directed at me? If so, thanks but I'm well versed on the mechanics on the difference between mutuals and ETFs. I was specifically asking you to clarify the quoted statements. In the first statement, you seem to imply that "black pool trading" is worse for mutual funds than it is for ETFs. In the second, you make a point of saying that "black pool trading" is especially bad for ETFs. Those seem to be contradictory statements.


Black or dark pools refers to trading that occurs out of the public eye on alternative exchanges. Most of this is done by institutional investors due to the difficulty they have executing large block trades on the public exchanges. Here's a basic example of what's involved. Say a Vanguard fund wants to buy 50,000 shares of Microsoft; they put in an order on an alternative exchange, say BIDS. A Fidelity fund wants to sell 50,000 shares and puts in a sell order. If the two sides can come together the trade is executed. Everything works essentially the same as on the public exchanges. The difference is that the details of this trade aren't publicly known. The trade isn't reflected in the price quotes you would get from the NYSE.

The arguments go both ways. Obviously, if there are trades occurring that aren't reflected in the public stock price, it calls the true accuracy of those quotes into question. Especially since the relative market share of these alternative exchanges has grown over the last 5 years. On the other hand, these exchanges only handle large block trades. Most of minimum trade limits of 40-50,000 shares. It's difficult, especially for small- or mid-cap stocks, to trade those kind of volumes on the public exchanges. So there's the matter of increased market efficiency. Personally, I doubt that these large institutions are trading at levels significantly different than public market prices...where is the incentive?

Are their trading costs lower by staying off the major exchanges?

Let me try again, with ETF's I was reminding Rosty that with the volatility, be aware that you can see swings in the trading day, and you want to be on the right side, or use that volatility to your advantage. I did not say, nor did I mean to imply you are at a dis-advantage in ETF investing, due to the volatility.

Though I can see how my comment looked like I was saying that. I was not.

Fast typing on message boards, sometimes we do not take the essential time to re-read out text and evaluate how others may interpret.

And maybe you should help Rosty C. I tried.

Many times. For instance, one of the platforms charges a flat $.02/share. That can be a significant discount when trading blocks of 50,000 shares.

Merrick, sent you a PM

I pulled up this quote by LOAD IT cause this has stuck in my head since I read it. I mean in the begining I believe even in this thread there was a spirited debate between Sonny and GMAN about whether it's better to come out with a cheap rate to "preserve the rate" or to just get great money going in and deadhead out.

I've kept that in my mind as I've been out here seeing things for myself. I just left Florida last week, I forget how much it was but it was real cheap, not too much more than a $1.00 a mile. I didn't really care as the guy got me that load, I was just coming back out and it felt good to get back in the truck. Also I was going to a good area and I had a good appointment time (I hate getting up early).

From there I went into Penn, to Altoona for $2.25 all miles and then deadheaded back to Hubbard, OH. Total miles for that with the dh was 873 which came to $1.83 all miles. That's with about 200 miles of deadhead (162 from final back to OH and there was 42 to pick up the load.)

There I sat for the weekend which was ok cause I needed to do a few things and then on Monday I got a load that picked up in Wheeling, WV which was 102 miles exactly of dh and then over to Gouldsboro, PA. Total miles on that was 367 loaded with 102 of deadhead so 469 total for $1150 wich comes to $2.45 per mile.

Actually I would have gotten more but I got confused and when he said Gouldsboro, I typed it into the GPS as it sounded and that brought up Goldsboro which unfortunatly was really a place so I lowballed what I would have asked for.

From there I posted my truck and as there is too many loads for too little trucks in the North East all I got was BS offers so I deadheaded out right back to Hubbard. Total miles on that was 330 which brought me down on the rate for total miles to $1.43 for 799 miles of which 432 were dh. And as I said I would have done better if I didn't make the mistake with the name of the town.

So for these two trips I have 1672 miles for $2750 which is $1.64 per mile and of the 1672 miles about 600 of them were dh.

Now if I add the load in from Florida that drops me but I came out way too low and didn't want to cause an issue with the guy who got me the load.

Yes I could have come out of PA with a $1.00 a mile freight and preserved the rate but I hate that feeling I get hauling that cheap sh*t. But to be honest even coming out of Florida that cheap I still did $4150 for the week which is close to my goal of $4500 a week. So there is merit in taking the cheap to a good area but I just hate doing that. It's a good feeling riding empty and not pulling on the truck hard.

I usually post my truck on the way in case someone calls. I did get one call and this guy wanted to give me $450 for 150 loaded miles. I told him no and he got mad. I told him I am not dh all the way out of PA (it was still about 50 miles into PA) to get a load for $450 and tie up the truck for the day. I wanted to get here to Hubbard tonight and be ready to go tomorrow. He was rude but then called back an hour or so later all nice asking if I changed my mind. I hadn't. I would have done it for $600.

One thing of all this deadheading is I lose a day in driving back to Ohio. Actually I might have gotten back early enough to get a load but it was an all day affair with this snow. Brutal. I hate driving in the snow. In a car I never cared but in a truck it's a scary thing for me.

Saw numerous trucks jacknifed. It's an ugly sight that is. Kind of like seeing an elephant on it's side. They are big graceful animals so it's sad to see them like that. (kind of like back in the day watching big Andre the Giant getting knocked out and having his head shaved). Trucks just aren't supposed to be on their side.

Plenty of cars too. Anyway half way back and my computer is not getting juice from the inverter. So I pull over to find out what's going on. Then all of a sudden my truck and trailer abs lights on the dash go on. So I come to a stop and turn the truck off and back on (hey it works with computers) then the mileage on the dash isn't showing. Then the volts go up to 15 so I pull into a T/A and have them check it out.

They figured when I described it that it was the alternator which was fine by me as that's still under warranty. So they check it out and the problem is now gone. No idea what happened but they charged me $89 to check the electrical system. That sucked.

By the way, I started sliding a bit so I locked the diff axel. Anyone know if I can drive with that thing locked? I did it anyway but I think I heard you weren't supposed to do that.

So anyway where I delivered to in PA was right next to a huge Sears DC. I tried to get the phone number cause I figure what the hell I'll just call them up and try and get a load. Couldn't find the number. I mean I suppose if I sat there for a while but the computer was slow. I even went onto monster.com and looked under the jobs as that place was new and I found old listings for jobs there but when I clicked the links they said the job is no longer listed.

So I called the broker I just did the load for and told him about the DC to see what he'd say. Glad I did. He said they (TQL) doesn't do too much of that high dollar freight. I was surprised but he said most carriers have only $100,000 in liability and they would be in for what's left which could add up. He said they can buy what's called "spike insurance" I think was what he said, but it's expensive.

I was pretty surprised by that. TQL in a very short time has gotten quite big ( I read the history of the owner) so I figured at the level they are they could go for the big dollar freight which would be an advantage over the 1000's of small time brokers that can't afford the spike insurance. I mean if they are that big they ought to take advantage of that.

He agreed and said they do do a bit of higher dollar freight but the claims can be huge.

It got me thinking though, it would be good to look for that hight dollar freight, cut down on the competition. I noticed a lot of Warner and Schneider trucks there. I guess they have the money but they also have these company drivers that are quitting every other day so who knows.

Of course me with one truck isn't going to snag that but something to aim for anyway.

Well that's all I guess. I made the mistake of checking in when I got to final last night. My appointment wasn't til 7:30am which means I could have parked and went to sleep. But I checked in just to see what's going on (pumped the guard for some info on the area :) He was the one who actually told me about the Sears) and then a couple of hours later (3:30AM) they called me to back in to a door so I was basically up all night. Emptied by 6AM or so then just went to the staging area and slept.

Hey ncnewbie, I got your PM I appreciate it and will get back to you in a day or so. I just want to go shower now and go to bed. Just wanted to write some of these thoughts as they were fresh in my head.

Update? what cha been doing lately?

Yes, Merrick, you can drive in slippery conditions with your inter-axle locked in, that's one of it's purposes.

Where's Merrick :?:

He's home "rasslin'" with his taxes.

Actually home I think with the flu. Bunch of stuff going on but I'll update later.

No_worries, I was going to send you a message. I called some accounting place the other day and the next thing I know I had this guy on the phone:

Bruce W. Jones, CPA - Managing Director Mr. Jones served as Chief Financial Officer for two publicly traded trucking companies, including six years as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc., the nation's largest publicly traded truckload motor carrier. There he was responsible for finance and accounting, investor relations, and information technology. For nine years he was Corporate Controller and Treasurer of Schneider National, Inc., the nations largest privately owned trucking motor carrier.


I couldn't believe it. I wish I was better prepared all I asked him was his outlook for the industry (he said you're always going to need trucking) but I was thinking if I had to ask him one question it would be what the big companies really think of the smaller carriers in this industry. That is what do they see their place as.

That's not clear I what I'm trying to say I think. I don't know I'm going to take Nyquil and then off to La La Land. Nice guy though, I could contact him again.

Sorry to hear you're under the weather. Guess it's alright we didn't make it to your side of the peninsula after all. We're headed back to Cali, I'll buzz you this weekend.

Thanks Red Clay I still was wondering about that. No_worries I'll be around all weekend so call anytime. Glad you made it out of here ok; the weather has been beautiful so at least you got that. It was nice to have to put the A/C on again instead of the heat :)

As for any update, well I was just doing what everyone else is doing; driving. I found a nice little route. The revenue wasn't what I was looking for ($4500 per week) but it was about $3500 or so. It fluctuated cause I was getting detention time on two of the runs.

What a nice run though. From South Carolina to Tenn for $725 on about 370 miles. (not including about 50 of dh) then dh over to KY and pick up a load to Illinois. That had 2 drops but only was 400 miles total. that was $1,000 even, but I had either 150 or 200 dh too depending where I finaled in Tenn. But very relaxing that one. Had plenty of time to read and sit on the computer and research stuff. Basically sat all weekend.

Then I would dh to Chicago and get a load back to Charlotte, NC which paid about $1700 to $1800 depending on pickups. I forget the miles on that but for the week it was about 2100 miles.

Fuel was about $3.50 per gallon in the areas I was running. I would have stayed doing that for a bit but the one to Tenn from South Carolina had a different time and I wouldn't be able to get the KY run for the weekend.

The good part was I ended up in charlotte like 8 miles from my brothers so I would just go there and relax, do laundry etc.

I ended up coming home. I was hesitatant to take this load cause the broker had a N/A for a credit rating. It was a dry load and it paid $1.85. They promised they would send out the check the day I finaled and true to their word I had the check in 3 days. They said they normally won't do that.

By the way their name is Kingston Transportation LLC and they are out of Charlotte. MC583238 They have paper loads to Mass, Florida and other stuff. I see they have a load posted right now to Illinois. Have to say they were good to me and paid immediately.

I did have one broker start to play with me with my money. I called the bond thing and have to say that was pretty easy. The agent basically told me that she would be shut down quick if she doesn't pay me. I guess that bond thing is pretty serious. He said he didn't think she realized what would happen if she didn't pay. I never even had to actually file on the bond; got the check in a couple of days.

So I'm home now and it's killing me to be honest. Lot of work out of here and in a perverse way I am dying to post my truck and start quoting to the brokers.

So as to my plans, I am thinking of putting a driver in the truck. I am thinking of brokering and I am even, call my crazy, thinking of getting another truck.

The exhaust smoke was choking the reefer and they couldn't turn it as it was basically melted together so I had to pay like $300 yesterday to put a new exhaust pipe and turn it completely to the side. Hope that works. Then I had to have a shock replaced; they are doing that today. I am going to have them set the speed at 68 and then something called progressive shifting which I guess limits the RPM's. I'm nervous to put a driver in the the truck.

My friend is buying or leasing new KW for $102,000 (plus FET) plus they are offering the rebates on KW right now and Peterbilt for about $1500. This leasing doesn't look like a bad deal. No money down.

Well that's all for now.

I forgot to add something; I'm still kind of out of it as I'm sick.

I have to say I like this industry. One thing I have never done is stick with something. I get bored real easy. On top of that I always make sure my bills are paid so for as long as that's done you really don't "have" to do anything. I don't "have" to get up and go to work. I'm not wealthy by any means at all, but my wants are very limited.

But I'm now 36 and now I am feeling the "have" to get things done. I'm young and healthy and can work, I don't want to be older and have to worry about money.

So I am going to stick with this industry cause as I said I like it. My trailer is paid off and the truck payment is low and I keep costs to a bare minimum so I could stay out there and do ok. Not great, cause anyone reading this that is still planning on getting into trucking, it is true what they say. You won't get rich driving a truck. But the freedom is priceless and is worth quite a bit.

But how my mind works, I need to understand how all this operates. I want to understand this industry from a better point of view of behind the wheel.

So as it is there is a guy who had a big brokerage that was sold to a much bigger company. He apparently signed a 3 year non-compete agreement which is now over. I don't know him but I know someone who does.

They have a trucking side as well with I think warehouses. In two weeks I am going up to one of those warehouses. I will stay there for a few days, then on the way back I will be stopping off at the Headquarters to see the brokerage side. Apparently they will teach me the brokerage side and I can ask as many questions as I want. In practice this is how it's supposed to go anyway.

I actually called Landstar but they never got back to me; I never followed up either. I was looking to get into one of these big brokerages but I think this smaller one will do.

I'm not sure of the splits as of yet either.

If you think your truck needs fixing now, wait until you put a driver in it.

I'm prepared Rank; but I have no choice. Btw Rank, how do your drivers fuel? I'm looking into fuel cards. I'm leaning towards T-Checks.

I know Big D lets his driver use a credit card but I'm not doing that. I'll miss the 5% cash back that's for sure.

I looked into that Truckers Advantage but they don't accept them at the Flying J. Flying J is by far the cheapest stop.

I looked into that Truckers Advantage but they don't accept them at the Flying J. Flying J is by far the cheapest stop.




Get a CSI global fleet card thru comdata. Flying J takes those.

Hey thanks DD60! I will call them Monday. Doesn't say too much about their costs on the website but I will find out and post it here.

Thanks again.

Air mile Mastercards. Almost always at Flying J's in PA or ON.

All of this getting ready to get a driver in the truck is kind of like when I started running on my own. A lot of things I wasn't aware of.

I am going to use T-check as a fuel card. I called that other one but it is not cash price at the Flying J.

Today I bought one of those GPS tracking things for the truck. I will NEVER EVER just put someone in something of mine and hope for the best. (I had a rental unit trashed once). With this thing I can know where the truck is, the speed, sudden starts, stops etc...

Someone way out of route or beating the equipment and they are out of there.

Also I don't have to have the driver fill out the trip forms like I do every trip for the IFTA. I pay $7.50 a month and all I have to do is email the T-Check statement to the GPS place and they do the IFTA report for me. I had been paying $38 per month and filling out paperwork.

People have been calling about driving, but most want to stay somewhat local. One told me all he has ever driven is Peterbilts. I will be paying withing 2 days upon receipt of the paperwork. I'll do my part, hopefully I can find someone who will do their part.

I have been helping my friend in his office this week. He is not there all day and things aren't done too efficient yet he went from like 5 trucks up to 14 in a not too long period of time. He has been letting the drivers fuel where they want etc. I have been routing the trucks to the cheapest fuel stops.

I am going to try and help him streamline some things. I've been watching his trucks getting dispatched and called on some myself and these rates are not where they should be.

I'll say one thing, after just 3 days of driving to his office; I hate being inside like this. I hate walking in and saying "Goodmorning" to the same faces everyday. I miss being out there but my goals in life right now won't be accomplished with me out there. Sometimes what's easy (being out there) isn't always the best thing.

Keep us posted. Sounds like you've got a plan, stick to it and you'll do fine. You seem to always be a step ahead, which is great. :wink:

Thanks Sideman. The real interesting thing will come in a couple of weeks if and when I start trying to broker. I have a lot of questions I feel are going to get answered. However knowing me one answer to one question usually leads me to 3 more questions. :)

BTW a while ago I mentioned that I was working on a contact for a direct shipper. I have been following up with the guy, but apparently things are going real bad. I think they are closing up shop here from the looks of things.

Oh well, nice enough guy though.

Ok,I don't want to be the one to rain on anyone's parade or anything but,I think that the warehousing/brokering/dispatching thing will be a much better oppurtunity for you than owning trucks with drivers in them.

In my opinion you will never be satisfied with the driver,they will either idle too much,break too much,hit too much,spend too much,want to be home too much,call you at 3:30am too much,not want to run the way you want them to run,not make deliveries/pickups on time like you wish,have wives/girlfriends calling you bitching about him not being home enough/too much/selling fuel etc.....

Hey I could be wrong,but in todays climate how many trucks would one have to run to make a decent size profit considering all that goes with having drivers? taxes/insurance/risk/ROI

After reading you're posts for some time now I have no doubt you are motivated and I feel like you can do this,but the problem is with drivers you put alot of you're eggs in thier baskets and personnaly I wouldn't trust most of these guys out here today to depend on them doing the extra little things that are required to make you money,they will get thiers and you will be left with scraps.

Great post Mike. Let me also add a few things I've learned along the way about employees. I might be in a different business but these things apply across the board I think.

I never had any luck hiring out of the paper. All I got was everyone elses trash. Good people that make good employees already have jobs and even in slow times employers will do everything possible to keep them busy. However the law of averages probably apply here and you might fare better with the extreme slow down merrick.

Never pay more than you have too and don't start someone too high in salary. The first part was told to me when I started hiring and it sounds harsh but it's true. If you find someone that you're happy with and he'll work for 15 an hour why pay him 20. You might know he's worth more but if he's happy that's all that matters. (numbers were used as example only) Start them low and make them earn it. So many people will BS you in interviews and tell you they're the best thing you ever seen in a truck (or in my case drywall) then they don't produce or their work is nasty looking. So don't believe a word of it, make them prove it, then reward them.

No matter how good they are they don't care about your business the way you do period. In your case fuel mileage, fluid levels, tire pressure, dealing with customers the way you would like etc....... on and on.

Remember your the rich guy, you got plenty of money. You'll see a lot of this, not only from employees but just about every one else too. For me, I get it from other company's superintendents when I'm on a job. Don't try to tell them any different they won't believe you.

I could probably go on but I have to leave soon. The above example is one reason why I'm trying to get into trucking as a business though. I'm tired of dealing with employees or subcontractors, and at 37 yrs old I need to find something that I can do myself to generate money, cause I ain't hanging a 100 sheets of drywall a day no mo.

Keep posting merrick, I really enjoy this thread. Also, I don't mean to sound like it's all bad everyday, it's not at all. I just wanted to post some of my experiences with employees and subs over the last 10 years or so.

was it something we said? what happened?

Amen Bruddah !!!!

I wish I didn't have the need for another driver, but with my business it is needed due to my shippers amount of loads.

I'm sorry mike :oops: I have been meaning to respond to what you wrote and Rosty C. too and I really appreciated your comments.

Things just need to settle a bit and I need to sit down in my rambling mood to write out some stuff. :lol:

Actually just checked in a hotel in Kentucky; going to that Mid America show tomorrow.

We didn't leave Miami til 11PM last night; I drove all night and my friend drove today. So we missed today and will be going tomorrow. Just want to crash now as I can't sleep in the day.

Hope all is well with you.

BTW, No_worries, I have been doing my taxes, man that depreciation is something else. I'm thinking I'm doing something wrong, I got like $37,000 just in depreciation. Showing a big loss on my taxes :)

Didn't realize you were heading to the show. I was planning on it but just couldn't pull my schedule together.

The maximum you should have for depreciation using straight line this year would be 1/3 of your truck price and 1/5 of the trailer. But if I remember your purchase dates correctly, you're looking at 1/6 of the truck and 1/10 of the trailer. I've been trying to wrap a few things up, I'll try and catch up to you this weekend. I'm anxious to hear about the show.

My plans were changed at the last minute also. Maybe merrick can fill us in on the latest and greatest?

Y'know.......I've been here a while, now and I gotta that Mike provides some of the best advice around.

No way you can make a profit with one truck in this market. Let's say costs are ~$2.00/loaded mile. Tack on 20% for DH and now you need $2.40/loaded mile just to get even. You need to average $2.50/loaded mile (good luck with that in this market) on 100,000 miles to make $10,000 per truck per year.

One more time for me pleeze. What is your total cost of doing the IFTA this way?

Sorry Rank I'm not clear by what you mean by total costs. To get the IFTA done, it's just the $7.50 a month. That's all. Of course the GPS equipment cost too but the equipment is for the GPS routing, it wouldn't make sense to buy it just for the IFTA.


Anyway driving home now and just wanted to answer Mike and Rosty. Basically Mike everything you said is true. I actually read what you wrote to my friend and he said it's all true. So why keep trucks? Fear.

Fear on relying on one stream of income. We had a meeting today with a brokerage. We need to hammer out the details but I will be signing on as an agent with this brokerage. The guy was even saying that once you see you can make the same without the trucks as with the trucks (and they do have a fleet as well) that I will forget about the asset part of it.

Actually in the meeting was the person in charge on the intermodal division. He apparently worked at one of the major rails for over 20 years and he said that when he was brought on he couldn't believe what kind of revenue they were generating srtictly with a computer and phone (as he was with the train, he was always an asset based person).

But I don't plan on that yet. I am fearful of one stream of income. If there is anything I've learned in life, it's that you need multi stream of incomes.

Rosty, I appreciate your comments on employees. You made some great comments and I plan on taking your advice.

I have been "interviewing" drivers and think I have one chosen. One thing I am doing that I wish I was doing before, the company that does or did my IFTA also maintains company files. Cheap too.

So for instance, when I choose a driver, they gave me a 20 page packet with my company name on it and when the driver fills out everything they will go through the process of verifying everything and maintaining the driver file. They charge $45 to set up the file, verify all previous employees (by certified mail) and then for $8 a month they maintain the driver file and do stuff like pull the driver record every month.

For another $8 per truck and tractor he will maintain those files as well. I hated doing that. When I get a receipt I just drop it in a prepaid envelope and they file and maintain it all. Also everything is scanned so there is always a copy available for when I need it.

I was so happy with that. I had my files in hand, put them on his desk, wiped my hands together and told him I don't want to see them again.

So now I am heading home, and going to put the driver in the truck and then I need to come back up from where I came from to get trained on the broker systems.

I actually had a few days to look at it. It's a good feeling to see what the loads actually pay. Plus when I go back up I will be able to sit down with the salespeople to see how that stuff works. Not to mention the rate matrix or is it rate matrices?

So a lot of things seem to be happening. I'm kind of nervous to be quite honest. I believe I have a lot of doors being opened to me and I just hope this all goes well.

Also I will be working for my friend to help him with his company. I've been with him for a couple of weeks now and it's amazing how he's grown within a system that really isn't too efficient. They weren't even getting volume discounts on fuel. I have been trying to streamline a lot of stuff. He was going to hire another office person, but I don't think that is going to be necessary.

If I end up staying with trucking or if I grow a company then all this experience I am gaining helping him run his will make it much more easier to run my own.

I'll say one thing, I've been watching him as well as another guy we went and saw that at one time at over 40 trucks, they don't believe in contracts. They like working strictly on the spot market. After so many years doing this, they seem to know where to put the trucks and where not to to capitalize on the needs of the market.

As always I appreciate the comments and feedback that I receive. A lot of negativity goes on on this board but I am very thankful that at all times I have received postive feedback and also positive criticism.

Thanks again.

Merrick,
Damn man,..throwing in the towel? that only leaves one Florida boy left!!!
Have you considered www.manufacturersnews.com to get a guide of all the shippers in the country (400,000 shippers). I Have the Florida book and it has 17,000 shippers in it.
It's very helpful in getting direct with the shippers. I would recommend the CD rom.
Good luck, and I want to know more about your GPS product,..it sounds cool.

Thanks a lot Doghouse; I appreciate that info. When I get up to get trained on the system, things like this will come in handy. I'm really very excited about it all.

That gps thing is peoplenet http://www.peoplenetonline.com/. Actually I have to have Peterbilt install mine but there is a place out of Tampa that does it too. They might be cheaper as they work with Peoplenet.

Thanks again Doghouse, and give us an update on your progress soon. It's been a bit since the transmission issue.

Got the truck fixed today. It was something actuator and was pumping fuel into turbo or something like that. There was a wait for a new part so I got a used one put in and with labor it costs I think it was $376 or so.

Had the driver with me to pick it up and then went and got the trailer. He was happy as can be. I guess he was running for some Jamaican that had like 12 trucks but they were a mess and not properly cared for. He saw I had everything nice and clean.

I'll say one thing as I've been interviewing quite a few people, they all seem to have the same concerns. That they will get paid on time, that the owner knows what he's doing and won't be out of business tomorrow.

I'm pretty cool, but I have to remember that I need to conduct an interview like a regular employer. Really considering they are calling for a job, some really have attitudes. Let them talk for a while and stuff comes out. "I hate Dac", well you just told me you have a good license and job history so what's the problem?

My friend got me a load today to Illinois for like $1.50 but I declined. It felt good to get back on the phone and start calling on loads. One lady calls me and tells me about a 650 mile trip and I was going to quote her $1400 but then she goes on to tell me that she is getting crazy quotes like $2100. Sure is crazy I tell her, I'll do it for $1800. She had to call me back but never did. I called her and she said she hadn't heard back from her boss. Oh well maybe tomorrow.

You must check out a drivers Dac. I know of at least 10 people that tried to get a job with a company I was doing business with. They all said they had a clean license and only 2 out of the 10 actually did. :shock:

Thanks Sideman. I need to figure out how to do that. Right now the process is to give the info the to insurance company and they either approve or deny. So far they have only denied one person.

Seems like there are a ton of people that don't want to (or can't maybe) run for the big companies.

Anyway my truck is on a load right now heading to Missouri. I have to say, there was so much stress to get this one. I got up early which I usually don't do. Finding a load for another driver entails a whole different perspective than when finding one for yourself.

For instance today is Thursday. There where decent loads to the Midwest but a lot of them didn't deliver til Monday. That means I had to send the guy out and have him get there Saturday or even late Friday and then sit til Monday. I know how it is to be sitting there and don't want to do that to someone. Better send him out tomorrow and let him sit in his own house for today.

Finally got a load to Missouri which finals on Saturday and I will hopefully get him a load on Saturday. So before I had to basically just try and get a good rate, now I need to try and get a good rate and try and not leave a guy sitting in a truck stop for a couple of days.

I'll say one thing though, when all was said and done I got to thinking that man my truck is on a load rolling down the road and I am home. Pretty good feeling that is. Yes I know, wait unitl the 3AM phone call and all the other things that can and will go wrong, but let me enjoy this brief moment :)

I like being able to sit here and track him with my computer too. It helps soothe the nervers a bit.

I got quoted $1.10 a mile today from Miami to Chicago. I asked him if that's the rate with $4.00+ fuel, what was it before at $2.50. I was honestly asking him too, but he got mad. I also found a good load to North Dakota, paid decent and all but he didn't have his broker authority. He was a trucking company that was allowed to post his excess freight. Decent money but I couldn't take that.

Listen to ppl when they tell you that making money running one truck is hard to do! Im not trying to rain on your parade as Mike calls it, but you are really gonna need a lot of luck on your side to make this worth your effort. Times are hard enough for the drivers who are actually driving. Your profits are gonna be very slim. If you had another couple of trucks that were leased on with you it might be worth the hassle. Otherwise, i think you would be better off hanging sheetrock and trying ur best to get this brokerage of yours running. One source of good income is a lot better than having two with increased risk. You might need to evaluate your risk/reward with this one truck operation. Also, what is so good about this peoplenet gps fleet management tool? I couldn't justify the cost of having this on one truck. I cant really see how its going too boost the efficiency of a one truck fleet. That along with the fact that u like to sub out all of your paperwork and record keeping really makes me wonder why you keep wanting to increase your expenses? Yeah....i admit that it can be time consuming and troublesome, but you talk about being an agent and all..... do you think paperwork and record keeping is going to be nonexistent with that? Sorry to sound like im bustin ur balls, but I dont think ur seeing things in the same context as some that have been through ur adventure.

Thank you hamboner for your comments. I have always said and will say, that I appreciate all comments both positive and negative.

Just a couple of things, yes the Peoplenet was relatively expensive but as I may have mentioned, I have experienced the cost of not staying on top of an investment before. If I can catch a problem early enough, then this device will be well worth the money. Going out of route a few times with fuel the way it is will cost plenty.

Also I do sub out some of the stuff I don't like, but I don't feel it's that expensive. All that taking care of paper work probably costs me like $50 a month. On the other hand I save hundreds a month in interest expense by doing the things I like doing. So I spend about $50 or so a month on stuff I hate, and save hundreds on stuff I like. I started this business last June I think and on just 1 card alone I have received over $1500 cash back, just by buying fuel and purchasing the equipment on the card. I enjoy paying attention to stuff like that.

I really don't mean to sound like "yeah but" which drives me crazy when people do that. I have hopes of maybe getting more trucks, and I would like to set the groundwork up real good before I expand.

You know this guy I'm friends with has 14 trucks and has no idea really of his cost per mile and many other things that are going on. He was literally throwing money right out the window in poor money management. He hates that stuff, so I have been helping out. Conversely I hate mechanical stuff and he helps out with that.

I don't want to even have 2 trucks without understanding everything.

Anyway thanks again for your comments; I mean that too, as I want to be challenged on things, and forced to explain what I am doing.