The journey begins - purchased a truck.

Yes, I did - and it probably would have come in handy that day. I remember our conversation about the agent and the freight now.

Yes, that's the key. Unless you have another pair of eyes on the board 10 hours a day, 5 days a week - it's easier to have an agent call you or vice versa. So far I've got the boats available when needed, but they only pay well enough to position myself somewhere better - a few phone calls and emails, and delivering them without damage or customer complaints, and the agent will hand them over before they get to the board.

I like it so far. It's come in handy twice, and on 48' loads, gives me the other 5 feet to have dunnage on the deck, and tarps. The step vs. flat debate is a long one covered elsewhere, I can see the benefit of step being closer to the ground, and allowing to haul taller freight when needed.

Yes, I think I owe at least a couple of Ribeye dinners at this stage. The tag along on the oversize will help, for the reasons Old Man stated - routing and rules are easier if you're shown in tandem with another experienced driver, rather than cold turkey.

It has been greatly appreciated. Even if it's just a quick call to bounce an idea or thought off, or tip or trick - it's a big help.

Couldn't see the attachment. I've been through biometrics no less than 6 times in 11 years - you'd think they know me pretty well by now, but each time seems to take longer. For a guy with zero on the police record bar a few tickets - it's annoying. It's been 29 days since I applied . . . no TWIC in mail as yet.

I'll definitely stick with it. I've just done the figures for the first full revenue month, and there's room for improvement, therefore the challenge still exists. I don't think I managed to look like an idiot so far this last month, though I've had a few odd looks when wearing my high vis vest and safety glasses in places that don't require them !!

 

Thursday

Totally forgot about Easter. Need to pay attention. The forklifts fell through, and after a couple more failed loads, I rang the office manager to vent. We were both looking at the board, and she saw it the same time I did, light load out of SE of Dallas - to Tulsa. Rang on it, got it - agent rang back and said they didn't want it till Monday, I said I don't care - I'm outta here! Arrived in time to load it, took 54 minutes from arrival to departure - pleasant helpful folks - and came home with it.

Friday

Slept like a log. Entered end of month in profit gauges. A little disappointing, but the key is 'all miles'. You can quote 'per mile' or 'TTT' or gross figures all day long, but every mile that truck does has to be accounted for, and the breakdown is sobering. Picked up tarps from the repair shop, $207 for 3 repaired good to go. 2 still there, an 8 foot lumber tarp and a steel tarp in poor condition - I'll just take the 3 out with me, will allow for 6 foot drop on 53', or 8 foot drop on 40 or so feet. Got the pool pump in order and vacuuming again.

Saturday

Mowed lawns, made a mulch pile, raked garden plots, set auto timer in greenhouse, did several 12 oz curls, dinner, movie, bed.

Sunday

Here we are. I'll head back to Tulsa tonight, so I can have a fresh start at the day. I booked the load from Tulsa to Ohio on Thursday night as I drove back. Nice agent, direct freight, old school guy. He talked to me for about 45 minutes when I told him I was new to LS, filled me in on a few things. He has a background in rail and heavy haul freight, knows what equipment is needed, sent me pictures of what I will be picking up, directions to a lumber yard for dunnage to be left with the receiver, sent the load confirmation, went way over on the fuel surcharge - compared to the agent last week, night and day.

Profit gauges.

Here's the key points for March.

Days worked - 14.75

Gross income $10,300 - $1.37/mile

Fixed Costs - 11.5% of revenue

Fuel - 21.6% of revenue

Maintenance ran 11 cpm.

Expenses total 45.7% of revenue

$5,600 left over.

Fuel discounts totaled $475 in the month.

The 'Business' is still technically in the hole. That's because I started the accounting Jan 1st, and included ALL expenses from start up. Oil was bought in bulk, flatbed equipment purchased, every nut and bolt accounted for. The deadhead and bobtailing has killed the 'per mile' figure - $1.37 is not anything to get excited about, but just last week I ran 200 miles back and forth from Joplin for repairs.

So, there you go. Oh - there was a settlement lag in there, one load I haven't been paid for yet, but have included the miles - so obviously the figures will even out over time to form averages. I was fairly keen to get the figures in for March just to get an idea of how things were going, as my week to week/load to load figures weren't telling the whole story.