Double Yellow's Company Driver to Independent Thread

Yep. You do know through Michelin's Advantage Program they guarantee the tires? As I said, after a blowout, they paid for everything. With caps, you're on your own. AFAIC, if you aren't capping your own casings, you're taking a large risk. You have no idea how that tire was previously treated.

 

Don't be so hard on yourself. The old "fool me once.." applies here. Now you know better. You're gonna get a lot more learning moments taken out of your wallet. The good news is: you're seeing it happen and apparently learning from it. So they will become less frequent.

I highlighted this mishap since it seemed to have stung a little LOL. There was no mistake by that broker. You got played. That load delivered on Friday all along. He was counting on you being eager to prove your good service and you fell for the appeal to emotion.

On the other hand, there is a bright side. You did complete the load a day sooner, potentially freeing some weekend time you could be moving to another load or doing something else besides trucking. That has substantial value, although it's often underrated because it isn't counted with currency (opportunity cost).

You're on the right track. I missed the exact date you started, but the list of loads you've done tells me you should be past the point of having to hard sell yourself to prove value. It's right there in that list. Now focus on taking control of the conversation. The correct answer to this question "why so much" is, "Because that is my rate." Or some variant, depending on how receptive the broker is to some BS. Sometimes an outrageous answer will throw them off their cadence and give you control.

Because he won't need to be babysitting your load.
Because it doesn't say Goodwill on the door of my truck.
Because you have a greedy ex-wife.
Because you have a gambling problem.

What's great is that they can't put you on punishment for turning down a bad deal. You also learn that a bad deal to you doesn't necessarily make for a bad deal for everyone. Let them know your price is the price, and if that's too much, so be it. You're clearly offering Neiman-Marcus service to a KMart customer. Be clear and confident on the value you bring, and don't second guess yourself too much if a few customers don't want or need that value. There's plenty more out there.

 

Great Thread Double Yellow. You are just far enough ahead of me in the process for this to be a perfectly timed vault of information to help me get a strong start.

 

When you buy a Bandag capped tire, the casing has been x-rayed and the cap and casing are guaranteed. There will be a little "sticker" on the sidewall that says it was non-destructivley tested.

 

Excellent thread double yellow! More than anything, I like your strong positive attitude about the whole deal.
It really does get easier the more time you spend grinding away at the brokers and various types of loads.

 

I know a guy who works there.

 

no different than any other tire bought on a national account. Michelin caps also have a guarantee.

 

That cost per mile breakdown has been bugging me for almost 3 years since I first looked at one. Always felt something was missed and it came to me tonight.

Have you seen where payroll tax is included there? Should have a line for half of self employment tax or companies contribution for social security if driver is an employee.

Disability insurance? Company = DI and owner/driver has another anachronism for hurt on the job insurance that some brokers/customers/ lease companies are beginning to require.

 

Not to hijack the OPs thread, but I don't trust caps. My experience with them is they are less reliable than virgin tires, and the bottom line in this is: I provide reliable service. The other guys can show up late with an excuse.

 

Had a continental throw a cap a week and a half ago.. no damages to the trailer.. this last summer while parked I noticed a aluminum flat bed with damage to the front of trailer.. the company he worked with used caps on the drives.. he said three tires went bad in just a few weeks.. if caps are used they should be on the trailer not the tractor in my opinion ..