This could have been a good thread too... thanks a lot.

Idiots

Yeah, can we steer this ship back in the right direction, I enjoy reading about peoples stories on their new ventures, I would like TerryLamar to keep this thread going and let us know about his travels, try not to get this one locked down.

I'm still posting my experiences, I'm, just, sitting at the TA in Mount Vernon, IL, until Monday morning and I'm dispatached on a load and I can find out what happened with the one that was taken away.

Nice to meet you. How many of you out there?

What are the minimum requirements at ATS theire website dowsnt say. Thanks

I don't know, like you say, their website doesn't say.

I had 20 months driving experience, all flatbed.
I had a break of 8 months.
I have one ticket, it is not and will not be on my record. I did tell them about it, nevertheless.
I have no accidents.
I have no felonies.
I have no misdemeanors.
I am 52 years old.
I live in Austin, TX. I was told this is ,normally. outside of their hiring area, they made an exception for me.

Other than that I can't help you. It doesn't cost anything to give them a call.

they want 12 mo OTR..min.

Terrylamar, What happened to you? To busy making money or to poor to get on the net?

some people are just lost!! And when they open their mouth they must let the world know how they feel:roll:

Still running, I'm trying to think of a better way to post the information.

There is a 30 day warranty with the L/O Program. I stopped by ATS Gary, IN to have my truck fixed under this warranty. The shop had more than 24 hours notice, more like a day and a half.

After about 12 hours I was told my truck was ready. They fixed only one thing and couldn't do the rest. The mirror they fixed fell off later that week.

I was told they had made arrangements with Rush Peterbilt in Austin, TX to get me fixed over Easter Weekend. Nope, no one had called.

The next weekend arrangements were made. I put it in the shop. They fixed most of the problems. I have a water leak into the cab whenever it rains. I put the truck into the shop on Thursday. They wouldn't get to the leak until Monday, and then it might take two days after that. I said no and took the truck.

I had a coolant leak. The replace the water pump, hoses and clamps. It is still leaking.

My warranty expires tomorrow. I am still covered because I put it in the shop and had a work order openned.

I'll put it in again.

It sounds like you are really having a time with the truck, Terry. I hope that you can get things taken care of shortly.

Thanks guys for the replys to my question. Hopefully they can fix youre truck when you take it in againg this time terry.

Maybe the water leak was just a loose clamp. I tightened it down this morning and it doesn't seem to be leaking now. I'll keep a close eye on it for a while.

I'm trying to get everthing fixed under warranty, because it is free and perhaps at the end of my lease I will buy this truck. I should be able to put away enough money to buy it outright.

It may be too early to make definate plans, but it is a thought. I could run it for a couple of more years then trade up into a new or newer truck.

There are a lot of things you can repair yourself on your truck. Belts, hoses, lights are simple things you can easily do yourself with a screwdriver, pliers and a couple of wrenches. Not only will you save hundreds of dollars on labor costs you will also not lose time waiting on repairs to be performed on your truck. Most truck stops now charge $80/hour or more to do simple repairs with a minimum labor charge. That can really eat into your profits. If you keep spare lights and belts with you then you can also save on the cost of parts. At one time I kept a spare headlight, market lights, tail lights, belts, hoses and fuel filter. Keeping a spare fuel filter can save a road service call. That in itself could save you a lot of money. It seems that a road call will cost at least $300.

I'm a minority and I can tell you I'm definetly not lazy. Seem to me, you need to think before you type.

I just had to rub it in! So sorry, so very, very sorry.


I must say that's a shipload of deductions and bottom of the barrel pay to draw it from. What will you be left with after the IRS gets theirs?

Don't even consider buying that truck at the high prices they charge. Plenty of other used junk out there for less than $10k.

Might be an interesting thread like some say, but so is a train wreck. Why some free-born Americans willingly enter into indentured servitude is beyond me in this day and age.

Again:Thick skull?

couldnt you have found a crappier place to park? probably not.

Carney Point was full up and so was Jessup, Maryland.

What about the Vince Lombardi service plaza?

So what is up Terry??

Did this fall apart for you?

All ready starved out? or to busy to post?

Hardly, they have been running me ragged. I, easily, average over 3,500 miles per week, usually, it is over 4,000.

Even in this economy, I gross over $4K and net over $2K each week.

I'm happy, just getting tired.

Actually, while all that is true, Verizon started screwing around with me. I was on an unlimited plan, I guess they didn't like that, so when I used my wireless card in Canada they told me I ran up a bill of $902.00. This was for just a few hours, I was there overnight. Of course, they had the perfect plan for me that cost $129.00 only when I use my plan in Canada otherwise it would be $59.99. That wasn't true, so I changed it back after going over my limit and running up a bill of $400.00. I tried to change back and my unlimited plan was no longer available. I told them to cancel the plan, they told me I would owe another $80.00 for early termination, so I told them to take a hike. I haven't been online that much lately.

keep us posted terry, i think a lot of us enjoy reading your posts.

I'm stuck at the TA in Santa Nella right now. I'm out of hours. Even with a day off today and this coming Saturday, I will gross $5426.43. That is unusual to gross that high. I'm hoping to make it common, but to tell the truth it is above normal. Sometimes, things fall into place. Unfortunatelly, I deliver to Central Texas and there is no TranFlo close by. Getting my paperwork in for this week will be a challenge.

Just to make sure everyone understands, though I may claim high grosses, a ton of money comes out in truck payments, fuel cost, maintence fees, escrow account and tire account. When I gross this high even more comes out. I'm still happy. I need to work on getting my personal spending under control and reducing my cost. I still average 7 mph or higher, I don't idle and while my out of route is low, I try to find the most fuel efficient routes available, not just the shortest route.

I have to go into the ports at San Pedro, Ca tomorrow. I'm sure my attitude will change for the worse after that. Though, this time I have my clean air tag I can activate online.

Get a scanner and you can transflo from the truck.

Do you need any special software to transflo from your truck?

Someone else told me the same thing. I went to their website and didn't find and downloads for software. I would be interested in finding out, maybe having this capability at home.

Someone mentioned to me a while back that Landstar BCO's have the capability of doing transflo from their computers. It would be great if one could do it from their truck and save the fee charged at the truck stops. Plus it would be more convenient when you are in an area where there aren't any truck stops that have transflo.

yeah at landstar we can use transflo from the truck if you have the capability, if im not mistaken you would have to download the transflo from company your leased to, if im wrong someone please correct me, another friend at landstar does his from his truck, but i dont know where he downloaded the transflo from......i will find out...

Let us know what you find out, marcel. Many members could benefit from being able to transflow from their trucks rather than trying to find a transflow location.

Just stopped in to get caught up and read tonight .This one was posted on the bco forum. If you sign in and search for transflo the thread will pop right up. As mentioned, you probably need your companies info and numbers but it has this transflo link - https://transflonow.pegasustranstech...LONowSetup.exe

The thread is bcoforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=11.0

Gman...

You'll probably have to contact the TransFlo folks to find out...I'm going to guess YOU (as an O/O w/authority) would have to pay them for the service.

You know SOMEWHERE along the way SOMEONE is going to want to get in your pocket.

You are the exception to most ATS drivers I have talked to lately. I saw 2 in Illinois parked next to us, Both Lease Operators. They had quad axle trucks and were pulling legal loads that werent paying hardly anything. These guys said it has been becoming more common.

There are more and more carriers who offer transflo as an alternative to using Trippak. Many owner operators take a laptop and printer/scanner with them in their truck. It would be much easier to just scan in their bills and transflo directly from the truck than a truck stop. I am not sure if the fee charged goes to the truck stop or to the trippak people whom I believe own trippak. While I agree that it would be great to eliminate or reduce the fee for those who lease to a carrier who offer the service, I think it would be worth paying something for the convenience. I agree, Dave that someone must pay for the service. I have to wonder whether some carriers are actually making money on offering the service. I have a friend who is leased to a carrier who uses tranflo. He not only pays for transflo but also for trippak, even though he never uses Trippak. I think he pays $4/week in addition to the Transflo charge. Transflo charges about $2.50 per transaction. If you transflow 2 loads per week in addition to the weekly charge for Trippak then the owner operator is paying $9/week. That is a lot of money over the course of a year. I don't see how a carrier can force an owner operator to pay for Trippak even though he never uses it. The carrier whom he is leased has several thousand trucks leased to them. That is some serious money.

Flying J has their own version for Transflo. Many smaller carriers use their service rather than Transflo. I believe the fees are comparable.

I am not the exception with all the drivers I am talking to. You have to get at their story to find out the truth. Do they have TWIC, a Passport, Pets, have to be home, run hard, etc. So far, I will have to say your success at ATS, entirely, depends on you. I guess it all depends on your frame of reference. Those drivers were probably Class 1A, the highest class. Maybe they are used to very high paying loads. I'm not, but the loads I am getting are paying me well enough. That is not to say, I do not want to move up in class. I do, and I am working hard at it. Also, I'm sure their expenses are considerably more than mine. I work hard a keeping mine down. I am getting a couple of miles per gallon better mileage than they are or more.

Been following your thread and figure it was time I added my 0.02. I have a friend that is currently there doing their Lease and he has been doing very well and is very happy.

Although I am not a big fan of ANYONES L/P deal, the bottom line is that if a driver is happy and making a living while doing it, then so be it.

With that said, for as long as I've "known you on here" you have seemed to be smart enough to know what you're getting into and I have no doubt you will succeed. :thumbsup:

Good luck and be safe out there!!

Thanks, DevilDice. I, too, aspire to the day when I complain about a $5,000.00 plus week not being enough.

At the time I went with the lease, I would have preferred to be a company driver, I just wanted a job, now, not tomorrow. I think that has changed now, I don't want to go back to being a mere company driver. I have way too much freedom. Of course, things seem to be going my way right now. Leases, to my thinking are a gamble. If you don't have any catostrophic problems with your truck you will do fine, even excell.

My goal is to become an O/O at the end of this lease. Still trying to decide about remaining a truck driver or give the Martial Arts School another shot with better funding.

Just a quick updat. Nothing new to report. Still doing good, better than most drivers at Anderson, including O/O, L/O and company drivers. I'm not even close to the Heavy Haul Class 1A drivers, that will come as I move up in classification. I have completed the requirements for Class 3, we have submitted the paperwork and are waiting on approval.

I'm still running hard, not sitting much. We have a new mileage pay structure, it is a little less. I've been looking at it to figure out it's impact on me and it will be minimul the way I run.

I'm sitting in Fargo, ND waiting to deliver into Bienfait, SK on Tuesday. Sitting, I know, but I am out of hours and need a restart. All may paperwork is done and I can cross whenever I want. I'll wait until Monday night and cross when traffic is down, if there is traffick in the middle of nowhere North Portal, ND/SK.

I already have a reload in Calgary, AB, delivers to Port Arthur, TX the following Monday. I'll see how it goes on Tue and Wed to see if it is possible to deliver on that Friday. That will be, really, pushing it. If not, it goes through the house.

Someone asked/commented in another thread about all the good threads started by O/O and L/O and die a slow death. Speaking for myself, I am working my butt off and have little time to post.

I am glad to hear things are working out for you, Terry. Keep us posted as you can.

that is one thing I learned at TMC back when... work hard, and you'll be rewarded... I was the only 23 year old in the history of TMC to make it to 32% in 4 months... lol good old days.

I also bought my own truck the past week or two, lined up a gig in port newark, and start hauling hopefully this week. I hope we can catch up sometime, i remember you as a smart and polite guy who loes his starbucks... we had lunch if I remember correctly in orientation @ TMC... Anyways, good luck to you sir, and wish me luck as well..

Attila "The Hun" Nagy ;)