No experience but getting Authority

Looking good Red, it's nice to see the fruits of ya'll's hard work coming together.

 

Thanks for the well wishes martini. We'll see how it works out. So far I've caught a few breaks getting started and it's all uphill from here.

Our son knows he's fortunate and the funny part was, I had to settle him down a bit with some pep talking yesterday and this morning before heading out. We were up till after midnight last night getting stuff buttoned down with the truck and getting all the business electronics tested out to make sure we could get paperwork back and forth on the road. He's run flatbeds for a couple years and had a taste of some scary, hard to handle loads. That got followed by working for another small carrier with a shot out truck who didn't study geography in school. Now that he's in a truck spec'd to haul the load and get it there without breaking down twice, he doesn't know how to behave LOL.

He also knows that if he f's up I'll be on him like my avatar on a bad day with a hangover.

 

I've definitely been in his shoes in my short 6 years so far. So I'm really pulling for you guys to make this work. It's just really good to see a family come together and make something happen.

 

I am glad to hear that things are coming along. As you have found, there are some brokers who want to see that you have been in business for a minimum amount of time before they will load you. I can think of one who won't load a new carrier until they have been in business for at least 6 months.

One other thing, I just happened to think that you need to make sure to keep a copy of your trailer title in the truck. If your son is stopped and his paperwork checked they may also want to see the trailer title. I would not keep the original, but a photo copy. Not having it could result in a ticket, if checked. I keep a copy in my permit book. Some years ago I was checked in New York. For some reason I forgot to bring a copy with me. I did get a ticket, but it was later dismissed. The funny part is that the cop found another trailer when he checked that I hadn't owned for years. It was an old Bankhead car hauler trailer and I was pulling a flat bed.

 

G/MAN you read my mind. I put together a truck binder that has copies of everything. The title hasn't been done yet, but he has a copy of the old one with the assignment to us in his book, along with a bill of sale.

So it's been an exciting day already. I may have mentioned earlier that the truck was going to need new drive tires soon. The tire dealers in Atlanta knocked my head off with their quotes on the tires I wanted, so I was planning to run for a week or so and get em one axle at a time starting with the fronts. Well that plan didn't work out. So it's been a good news / bad news / good news day LOL.

He made it to 25 miles before the delivery and popped a front drive tire. We got that handled and 30 minutes later a trailer tire popped at the consignee. With the drive I was already planning to send him into a shop for at least front drives somewhere near his next pickup. Change of plans and started dialing tire shops where he's at.

I ended up with a quote $1,000 less on some good drive tires probably due to location (not in a major metro market). Of course that got ate up a little with the $300 road service recap earlier in the day that will end up on the trailer. While he's in there, I'm getting the best drive takeoffs moved to the trailer and two in the spare rack.

Good news: He still delivered within an hour of schedule after being delayed 5 hours on load. The road service guy had him rolling in under an hour from the phone call. Broker was pleased and we probably kept a good referral.

Bad news: Tire popcorn day and a road service call right out of the gate.

Good news: Right place at the right time for a good price on the drives I should have bought last week.

Even better news: I locked in the next load and will soon have two satisfied customers on the list.

PS: The steer tires are knee deep in tread. Those would have been done at any price before loading if I had any doubts.

 

Sounds like you and I have about the same kind of luck Red. And this is the reason I decided not to lease on with a container company I was looking into. They expect the contractor to pay for trailer repairs and then reimburse you in up to two weeks. So with my luck I would have had the same kind of day you did except I would have been fixing someones else's junk on my interest free dime.

But I'm glad to hear that you were able to get it taken care of without much of a delay and are working on that second load already. Good luck bud and can't wait to hear about the next adventure.

 

Since you are only in Atlanta, you might consider Diprima Wholesale Tire. They are on the GA/TN state line. I think their physical address is Rossville, GA, but they are just off exit 1 on I-75 a block or so from the Tennessee line. I have found it hard to beat their prices. Let me know if you need their phone number. I have a guy who puts them on for me for $15/each. He charges $15 to come to you and then $15/per tire. He will go about 50 miles from Chattanooga, TN without charging mileage.

I had to buy a trailer tire in Denver a few days ago. I paid $200 for a new tire at Sapp Brothers. The nearest one is in Pennsylvania. It is much cheaper to buy tires locally rather than on the road. Some of these truck stops will charge over $200 for a worn out used tire. I can buy new tires for not much more than I would usually have to pay at some truck stops. I would also suggest that you stay away from the major brands. They charge a high price and most will not stand behind their warranty. I buy cheaper tires and have gotten as good if not better service from them and have had to warranty a couple. You may check on Double Coin. Diprima carries them as well as Love's. Love's charges a little more than Diprima, but there are a lot of locations.

 

I just got off the phone with my son as he checked in on arriving at a shipper. He topped off fuel and did the math on his first loaded trip at 6.7 mpg. Atlanta to Dallas so the terrain wan't really steep anywhere and all but a short amount on interstates. Most of the miles were loaded to 79,200. I was expecting 5.5 to 6 so I'm pleased with that.

G/MAN thanks for the pointers. I will definitely look them up for future planned work. Since I-75 is the main route for us to the Great Lakes I'm sure we'll be thru there a time or three a month.

I know the discussion on tires takes on a life of it's own. I've now bought 9 14-ply truck tires in my life so I'm no expert on those. On the other hand, my experience with cheap tires on everything from motorcycles to medium duty trucks has not been good. Not terrible mind you. They're black, usually pretty round, and get the job done. Even wear, balance, ride quality, is where the shortcomings have been. Now I don't go out of my way to find the most expensive ones either. I have done pretty good with finding deals on name brands. I'm not stuck on any one brand, but I avoid the no-names or ones that are obviously Chinese made. I don't even really hate on the Chinese manufacturers other than their quality control sucks. I will spend a bit more to put something on that I believe is better quality, but I will give you that nails and curbs don't check price tags before they jump into a tire. For example, if I was hauling on construction sites or a lot of rough 2-lane I'd probably be less picky.

 

From an earlier post on trying to get a load with an agent working for a broker that wanted to a certain amount of time on authority. I started this whole O/O thing in December. So I have been there. An agent that jumps you through hoops to try and get you approved is new. They are wasting your time because these bigger companies have these policies as part of their sales pitch on why they are better. They make it sound good because they are desperate. Just accept that it will take a little time. And it is just that, a little time. Just keep fighting the good fight.

And I am not so sure that you are doing your son any favors. A REFFER!?! Do you not like him or something? All that time he is going to be spending on grocery deliveries must be some kind of pay back for his teenage years.

OK, gotta move my truck now. Lady next to me has a ROOSTER in her truck. Yes, you read that right. An rooster. Let the appendage jokes fly.

 

If you have a PDCA card from TAB (Flying J), they do offer some discounts on tires. I have done better on my own, but any discounts can help. Some of the fuel cards may also offer some discounts on tires. Bridgestone makes a good tire, but you will pay a very high price over quality tires of another brand. I know a guy who only runs Yokohama tires on his car haulers. He has 16 rigs. I prefer not buying Chinese, but some of their tires are made in partnership with major manufacturers. You might want to experiment as I have and see what works best for you. As I stated previously, most of the domestic manufacturers won't stand behind their tires so it doesn't make sense to spend double the price for a product that they won't support.