As if an apology is even necessary, Geo. You old bilge-swilling crustacean. Arrggh, mate-y….. :shock: Now, where's me rum, lad?

 

Sorry. Spotty Internet access.

Well, the QC had me routed out of Seattle on I-90, then through northern Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, down through Minnesota, Wisconsin and out on I-80. That route didn’t make sense to me, given the numerous passes and hills. All I could see was $100.00 bills dancing around in my head and copious gallon-age of juice. So I took I-84 to I-80. I beat my head trying to figure where I might have calculated incorrectly, but I show BB as having gotten 8.9 mpg running, albeit, 55-ish along the Columbia River Gorge and down towards Salt Lake City.

The Baker Truck Corral in Baker City, OR is a quaint old truck stop at the eastern end of the Blue Mountains. It’s one of my favorite spots to park. Somewhat similar in feel to The Outpost in California, located at the I-15/US 395 junction. Great food, easy atmosphere and lots of parking with minimal fuss.

This is my first lumber load and boy, does my body feel it. 20 straps and two lumber tarps later, and I got me some sore muscles. This too is the first time in where I’ve had to hang out on top of a 13’ high load and throw canvas around in the breeze. It took me a little while to get over the height sensation, but I managed to do so.

This one’s going to run me right through the long weekend. I feel quite fortunate to have gotten this one. Yup. 3000 miles. Thank you.

While at a truck stop along the way in WY, I had the chance to hang out and speak with a TMC driver and his student. What cool people, and my word, what a gorgeous truck. It was an ’07 Pete with all the toys. Did I feel a tad envious? Oh yes. BUT. It was a momentary tad, none the less. My grass is just the exact shade of green I like, and this writer seeketh no further hue thereof. Plus, I’m not that neat. I’m no slob by any stretch, but it’s just a little too, well, too….. As an interminable fringe-dweller, I need edginess. I couldn’t imagine how Arnett Holdings would feel about metallic black flames with red and yellow accents fanning back-aways from the grille. <hehehe>

So that was yesterday. And Colin, sorry to leave the audience hanging. Verizon connectedness gets a bit spotty along I-80 to the east of SLC. However, thanks for the yoo-hoo just the same. Or was it a hello… Regardless… I’m still breathing, man.

Ah yes, the good life. Running through WY and into NE saw some bodacious breezes. My tarps looked like big poofy pillows. I kept checking the mirrors, thinking I would see something akin to a mammoth kite flying behind Ms. BB. But, no such thing happened.

I hit Bosselman’s in Grand Island, NE for a bite and an obligatory wander through the chrome and twaffle shop. I had a nice chat with a younger fellow while standing in front of the cattle prod selection, which was on display. I didn’t know what they were at first, but he was kind enough to fill me in on these marvelous entry-deterrent devices. While I was elaborating on the efficiency of chemical persuaders, his phone rang. His ringer was a lick of Ozzie. I nearly died. I have piles of Black Sabbath of my iPod. Nice to see that all youth is not entirely wasted on the young. <evil grin>

Yeah, this is a big trip and I am lovin’ it. 700 miles on Sunday and another 700 miles on Monday. I should be at my drop site in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. I will be in no great hurry to get off of LI either. A late night slide out of NY would be the ticket. I’d love to ditch the rig somewhere closer to NYC and jump a train into the city. Even better if I could bring my bicycle… It would do my heart a lot of good to run downtown to the east village and grab some pizza or something. There used to be a French bistro which I frequented, called Café’ Jules. It was down on 8th street (a.k.a. St Mark’s) just east of 1st Ave. Loved it.

Meanwhile, I am just dyin’ to see how the buck-o-las are doing. I’ve been knocking down some serious mileage since picking up BB and getting her few ailments rectified. We’ll know more shortly.

Yeah, Skywalker. I’m damn happy, as if you couldn’t tell. I’ve been thinking about this whole leasing business today. In so many ways, it does seem like a bit of a scam coming from some of the other companies. And I am sure that there are other companies who do mean well with their programs.

My take on the program with Swift is that it makes getting into an ownership position more within reach for the average person, such as myself. Having the opportunity to get into a W9 accomplishes several things, immediately:

1st. I got one version of “the best there is”. I could not want for anything better.

2nd. Because of #1, I have no further interest in changing companies. Zilch.

3rd. The people who run me are really good, no, excellent at keeping me moving.

4th. Because of all the above, I know and Swift knows that we will be together for a considerable length of time. I am bound by both contract and honor. And thus, one more dedicated driver has been successfully retained. Swift and myself have a two-year contract with each other. We will both profit handsomely from the association. I can say with near 100% certainty, that I will buy BB at the end of the lease and run her for another 2 years until I own her free and clear. (Ya hear that one, Smooth??? LOL)

Swift makes money off the freight I move. Interstate leasing makes money off the interest on the lease. At the $87,000 market value at the time of lease inception, the price of the tractor was certainly fair. Any dealer would have stickered BB at approximately $10,000.00 more. Any lender would have charged 17% or higher on the note. IEL charges 13% on the lease and 11% on the buyout financing. Given the reasonable pricing and interest, I am glad, if not entirely grateful to do business with Swift/IEL.

Pride of ownership goes a long way with most people. And nowhere is pride more prevalent than in the trucking industry. Everybody, and I mean everybody checks out what’s goin’ down the road. And then there’s the fatigue factor. Because of the manner in which BB glides down the highway, my energy is conserved much more so than in the Volvo. I work less to keep the truck moving more. And as odd as that may sound, I am covering more ground and feeling considerably less beat up, concurrently. And I simply cannot emphasis enough the importance of consistent road speed. Top end aside, ol’ BB doesn’t slow down much for hills. Mountain climbs are improved over Betty at 32-35 mph. A very welcomed bonus.

Driver retention, despite the cynicism, appears to be very important, due to the costs associated with high turnover figures. So in Swift’s actions regarding the leasing of tractors, I feel that they really are doing their best to keep their more valuable runners in house.

Leasing only works for those who can actually run their rigs on a consistent basis. Were I to have a family, say, and a house to maintain, then the lease wouldn’t work as well for me. I run my rig 600 miles per day, without fail. The exception to this rule would be load/unload days, restarts and scheduled/surprise visits to the hallowed halls of Kenworth/Cummins.

A simple ballpark formula looks like this:

$100.00/day fixed costs (Payment, Insurance, Plates, Etc.)
$289.00 100 gallons of fuel (@ 6 mpg)
$389.00 total
$50.00 For anything else I may have missed
$439.00

600 miles per day (loaded/flatbed) @ .94CPM
$564.00
Fuel Surcharge @ .26CPM (@ 6 mpg)
$156.00
$720.00 Total
<$439.00> Expenses/fuel
$281.00 Gross profit/day @ 600 miles

Now, if we kick the mpg up to 6.5, look what happens:
600 miles divided by 6.5 = 92.30 gallons burned.
We conserved 7.70 gallons @ $2.89/gal (current avg. price) which equals $22.25. Not huge by itself (breakfast and dinner) but factor the savings over one month’s time, say 12000 miles and we have a savings of $445.06, times 10 months of actual running, and that’s almost five grand in my pocket.

I came into this business primarily to make enough money to fund my addiction for the sea. It’s a bonus that I love what I am doing in flatbed. It’s an even bigger bonus that Melton sent me to Swift and that Swift’s flatbed division and I fit like two proverbial peas. And I just saw a brand-spankin’ new Melton Freightliner Columbia headin’ the other way. Oh well… there goes the T-600 neighborhood. <eek!>

‘Scuse me, but I’m still gushing over all of this…..

 

No comment :twisted:

 

Is this the place?

And thanks for the update.

 

Hey clint....Looks like you are doing really good!! I enjoy reading your posts. Those numbers are really good!!

tootie

 

tootie brings up a question.

Is the FSC variable? How does it function?

 

To be continued.... 8)

 

Indeed it 'tis...

Way back in the NYC days (circa 1998) I worked in a salon near Union Square on 13th shtreet (as it is pronounced). I was the lead massage therapist, working on 8-10 5'9" skinnys/day. Models from Ford, Calvin, Lauren, name it, they were on my table. Quite an experience, but it eventually ended my career. Too much angst, nervousness, client dependecy issues and psychical overload.

I hung out at Jules almost nightly just to burn the edge off from the day. Even then, I couldn't shut off the telepathic conductivity. I was so open back then, it literally took years to shut down that function of my brain. I could read people from across the room, and I hated it after a while.

One of my more powerful "afterworld" channelings ocurred in Jules with a man whose mother had recently died. He was sitting next to me at the bar. I was in my usual seat. We had not yet acknowledged each other, but a chill came over me. "Oh no, not again" I thought to myself. What could it be this time?

As much as I tried to fend off the interruption to an otherwise peaceful repast, his mother would not desist. Sh*t, ok what do you want?, I inquired.

It was her final request, before fully departing for the earth's energy field, to make her son aware of her feelings of regret for being so emphatic about the completion of his education in medicine. She was a tyrant with him. But, he finished his studies and became an MD.

When I asked her if she really, really wanted me to spoil this man's evening with her request, she replied with a yes. I told her I wasn't going to do it, and she nagged me until it was too much for me to handle. I was nearing convulsions at her insistence.

So, I looked over at the fellow to my left. I humbly appologized for disturbing him and told him that I had a message for him. He looked rather amused and said "Oh? And what could that be?"

I told him that his mother wanted him to know that she was very sorry for being so hard on him during his time in Med school, but she wanted him to know how proud she was that he made it through to become a doctor.

The man was in shock (a look I've seen a thousand times). He fell apart in tears at the bar. When asked how I knew of this, I just told him that it was my curse. When he finally regained his composure, he went on to tell me all the details of what the message meant to him, and how its receipt cleared him of some very deeply-seated emotions with regard to his relationship with his mother. Closure had come to him in areas he assumed would never be resolved. He thanked me repeatedly for my work and proceeded to pick up the tab for my meal.

Just another enchanted evening in NYC. :shock:

Thanks for finding the link, Colin. Perhaps I'll get to rekindle some of my more ghostly connections......

 

Yes. The fuel surcharge is calculated and factored each Monday and varies according to a fuel price chart furnished by Swift. The specific amount is then multiplied by the number of dispatched miles for a given trip and then reimbursed to the driver on the weekly settlement for said trip.

The dollar amounts kicked back are rather impressive.

I will furnish the audience with actual settlement data at some point in the near future in the interest of showing everyone how the game works and can be played.

Make no mistake. The "getting going" part is expensive, and to a person who does not fully comprehend the program, the first few weeks will either make you ill or sharpen your pencil in short order. The true value of my decision will unfold in the months, not weeks ahead.

But rest assured, Da' Man is off to a very, very good start. 8)

Wind is Cheap :lol:

 

The spiritual realm indeed is alive and real. :!: