Instant O/O and Load boards

Most trucking companies around here set up an account with Ryder or Penske for just such instances...days their tractor is in the shop...roadside breakdowns...etc etc. If you set up an account in advance....you can get some very good rates. Even if you don't have an account...they won't hose you too bad even knowing you're stranded. Fed Ex actually just plain uses Ryder tractors period for their Line hauls here as it's actually cheaper for them than owning their own fleet. If you have an account...I think a tractor with sleeper can be had for less than $100 a day on a day rental...under 2000 a month for a monthly.. and mileage can run as low as 4 cents a mile. Considering they handle the maintenance, insurance and plates.....and when you break down you can just swap it out for another nation wide...I think Rob would have been much better off at least learning in a rental...if not using one permanently.

 

I cant say I know of any owner operators who have a open account with ryder or any of the lease companys. I know were never in are game plan.

 

gotcha, so once i get my authority i should look into gettin an account with ryder jus in case my ride goes down, then i'll have a back up? i mean it makes sense.. but i dont know what the dollars and cents add up to.. so for a large company it'll be easy and worth while, but for a small owner operator starting out it'll almost seem an ......hmm having a brain fart.. it'll be justified, but the owners current finanical status may not permit it.. get what i'm sayin or am i losing ya?

 

I used to have three tractors and three reefers leased from Ryder. I had a month to month lease instead of long term. I used their older tractors, but got to pick what I wanted out of the trucks available. I ended up with three really nice speced out Petes that were mates.

Paccar Leasing is at most KW and Pete dealers for when drivers trucks break down. They have decent trucks and the rates are good also.

 

there we go, the clarification that was needed.. now i'm not too worried about my truck breaking down, now that i know i can have it towed to Kenworth for repairs and roll out in a rental. we live and we learn..

 

Just a few points here I want to make. And these are all MY OPINIONS. You don't like them good, go cry to someone who cares, because I don't. Also if you want to complain about my spelling, get lost. I'm not a student, or a teacher so I could care less.


Why all you guys are praising this guy is beyond me. But think about it like this. (Some of this I heard from another source so don't kill me if I get it wrong).

This guy had a load on was in Kentucky, truck broke down, so he dropped the load and went to Georgia only to find out that his trailer was impounded and now the customer is pissed because they don't have their load?

Why would you bounce that far if you are broke and have no money? Why would you not go somewhere closer to where your trailer sat, instead of wasting 2 days to get to a friends, or somewhere you patron? So if you're out in California and your truck don't run or breaks down, are you gonna bounce to GA again? You would have been better off going somewhere closer. This everyone knows. But it still baffles me.

The next thing I want to touch base on is pieces falling off a truck. If this guy can't walk around his truck to make sure things aren't going to fall off when he's trucking, then that to me is laziness.

Regardless if you know what you are looking for or not. That's plain old Laziness. So I'm trucking down the road, mind you it could be any one of you or me, or a family whoever, and this guys fender falls off and hits my truck or goes through the windshield of a car killing a family. What do you think will happen next? This IS NOT rocket science people. This guy is not only a safety hazard to me, but also anyone else out there driving. There are enough people out there that are already a problem. We don't need anymore. Anyone who can't see this is baffled or brain washed.

I don't know what happened to your roof, but duct taping it, is not the solution.

If you are too lazy to Get Out And Look(GOAL) when you're not sure, then you have no place in this business In My Opinion. They should have taught you to do that where you got your CDL. But then again the one place I heard does not even have you haul a loaded trailer around. Pretty stupid if you ask me.

Now I'm not telling you what to do, these are just a few things. If you would have gone with a company before buying your own truck, these things could have been addressed and you would have known what to do, instead of wrecking your own stuff, and losing your life savings. Instead you pretty much blew everyone's advice out the door, and said I'm doing it this way. Now you are paying for it. And I honestly think it's pretty comical.

Again, I'm not bashing you, or my intent is to not bash you, if it sounds that way sorry, but just stating a few things that I have seen and what I or someone else may have done in that situation. It's not right or wrong, just since everyone keeps bashing me, I was trying to state what I may have done, or an option I would have thought of. It may be the wrong time to say some of this, but you know, the world isn't perfect, and I'm not going to wait until he figures it out. If some of this helped you then fine, if not, no worries.

No matter if you know what to look for on a truck or you don't, you still need to walk around it and look at it. I'm not the best driver out there, but I sure know I have never had as many problems as some of you guys have. Makes me wonder if a lot of you even have common sense at all. Anyone I know would NOT be praising this guy regardless.

If you want to play hobby trucker that's fine, but at least have a idea on what's going on. All I can see right now if this keeps continuing is you not only losing everything you have including your family and place you live, but a lawsuit on your butt as well. I don't wish that on anyone.

Hope you have good luck from here, but it's going to be tough now with this all happening.

 

If "if's" and "but's" were candy an nuts we'd all have a merry christmas!

or as my friend liked to say if "if's" and "but's" were as big as my "nuts" i'd have bowling balls.

 

Well it's like this. If you don't think about all the costs involved in something, then you have no brain power if you ask me nor do you have a right to do whatever it is you are doing. This is something that needs to be addressed. It's pretty obvious some of you are on the bandwagon with Rob, and that's fine. That is your choice. I personally am different, and that's my opinion and choice. There is nothing wrong with that. Obviously until something happens, you will joke and make cracks at me for it, but when it does happen, I will be right there laughing at all you saying you know I guess you should have thought of that. My points are all valid to anyone who knows about trucking. Can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it.

 

Surprise Surprise I have very little to say about this. Despite what some think, I'm not against people having and giving their own opinion. At least this post wasn't as insulting and hostile.

I actually agree with some of what you said Lowest Pete and I know so does Rob. He knows he's been lazy on things. Mainly because he didn't fully comprehend the magnitude of the job at hand. He's learning and trying.

I do however disagree on somethings. (no surprise there ). I think you misinterpret support for praise.
Also you said "I don't know what happened to your roof, but duct taping it, is not the solution." What exactly was the solution? He was at a shipper and needed to get going. He was also low on funds. In that situation, I probably would have done the same thing. You have to get moving. No time for body work until you get the load delivered. I certainly wouldn't be driving around with a hole in my cab, I'd get it covered.