THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE - DFO gets a truck and hops on Schneider's IC Choice Program

amen to what Moose and DFO said.....

sometimes, I guess we make it sound easy and big money, but the truth of the matter is, it's tough sometimes and if you don't have your head screwed on straight and a game plan coming in the door, you're gonna struggle.

the deal is, you still gotta work and you gotta work every day (mostly). There are more responsibilities and less support.....man, you're pretty much on your own to make decisions that heretofore you never knew people were making for you. You have to suck up a lot of the same struggles that company drivers have, (hunting empties, detention, delays, cancelled loads) but now, you're not getting paid for it (mostly) and you have to shoulder the cost as well.

I made a plan going in, and am working my plan. In the big scheme of things, my plan is coming together and I expect to be quite successful. By June of this year, I will OWN a very well maintained 2009 Cascadia with about 650k on the clock and I will know who put the last 300k on it and how it was driven and cared for. I will fall out of $850 a week in truck and maintenance payments ($45,000 drops to the bottom line), and I plan on running a Monday thru Friday schedule out of Atlanta. But, the difference between me and some other guys is, I started with a solid, written down, business plan.
If your plan is, "I won't have to take no more crap from dispatchers and I will only have to work every other week", you will very likely fail. To everyone who reads this and is considering Choice, a couple of things. First, have a written plan. Second, only do the 1 year walk away going in. After that first year, you'll have the experience and the knowledge to know if this is what you really want to do. Finally, re-read what Moose and DFO said.

Last tip.......If you currently can not manage your time and money with someone telling you how hard to run and when you get to go home, it is unlikely that you will be successful in the Choice program. This ain't a game, it's a for real business and you'd better bring your best.

Good luck

 

You on the road yet dfo? I was pulling out of Indy oc and I saw a white kenworth at the industrial park next door

 

Last I heard they removed O/Os off the rail system. Nothing but company drivers.

 

Last time I check we still got o/o rails. It's mileage paid and Schneider finance doesn't lease truck for rail. Gotta bring your own truck.

 

Ok, my mistake. I talked to a couple of O/Os that were doing containers and they were taken off them, only company guys. May be a location or certain area deal.

 

Yep..as soon as Obama signs the bill into law which should be in another day or two...

 

when did that go into effect?

 

do you know if that also rescinds that 30 min break??

 

But remember, SNI can keep it the same so they don't have to reprogram the E-Log system. just sayin. Just because it's federal law doesn't mean it's SNI law. case in point, Handsfree devices.