BD69: The Owner Operator Chronicles

Man, I'm wishing YOU the best as well, man. This crap ain't easy. Losing my dad when I was 16 was no cakewalk.

Keep us posted, D~
Stay safe and blessed ...
Tom

 

Tom & BD I hope the best for both of you!!

 

@Broke Down 69
Been one hell off a year for you.
Be strong,you will need to be.

 

Agreed. D and I have had a helluva year.

@Broke Down 69 ... always with ya, bro. Dang on dispatch.. Reasons for everything tho, eh?

 

Closer to home, bro?!? What's up w/ ya?

 

Hopefully your dad has stabilized some and the imminent prognosis has diminished somewhat.

 

I got home yesterday morning. Last week was a good week. I pushed it a little more than I'm used to doing, considering I'm a borderline lazy, door slamming, window licking owner operator.

My week essentially will be from Sunday afternoon to Sunday afternoon (tomorrow) with 3 full days at home and a couple of additional stops in between. $7,400 revenue on about 2,650 ALL miles.

I could of done $8,000 for the week on the same miles, however, I turned down a short $600 load when I got the ratecon and it showed the pick up at Oregon Transfer in Portland. I refuse to go there, they are the absolute WORST when it comes to on time performance, besides, if I had run the load, I wouldn't have gotten home until yesterday late in the afternoon instead of early morning like I did.

No need to get too greedy I guess

It's funny to me that some brokers won't disclose pick up and delivery sites until the ratecon has been agreed to. Like it's some kind of top secret information LOL.

The week was interesting as far managing my HOS, especially like almost everyone else now, I'm running with ELOG. Planning is obviously a key to maximizing one's revenue flow.

The ability to look ahead, make adjustments and run accordingly is crucial. Of course, there's always contingencies that come into play that can blow everything up, however, for me as an owner operator, being able to control as much as I can when it comes to load planning, etc, is vital.

That's one of the main reasons I became an owner operator is the first place, I can't stand being dependent on someone planning or making decisions for me, someone who may or may not have my best interest in mind, for whatever reason.

Anyhow, this week I utilized the expanded PC guidance, did three 8/2 split berths and flipped my clock once entirely and ran all night long. I would like to thank TW in compliance at May Trucking, who years ago took me to the chalkboard privately and walked me through a lot of this stuff, him having been an owner operated himself for years was very useful.

All in all, it was a great week. The way it looks, this summer is going to be a blockbuster one for me. I plan to ride the wave into the Fall, continue to stack up the greenbacks, pay forward and prepare for some nice R&R in the winter again

 

Btw, this is what I had left on my clock when I pulled into my yard yesterday, that's cutting it close LOL.