Coming home solder wants to know if it is still possible to Be an O/O

I dunno if you got enough experience there.

No ice, no traffic, no red lights.

 

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At least they could have a few lawyers with them. That would make it seem almost like fun

 

Why are we playing these reindeer games?

The man is 51 years old, knows enough about the business to own a truck,and has driven before,has all kinds of endorsements..

He knows the business.

If you wanna hear the truth. I know you've been deployed for a year now...No Sergeant, it sucks out here right now..Been sucking for a while.The only thing I can think of is to put that hood to work doing some kinda specialized work..Otherwise,welcome to the $1.00 a mile world..

We are in the begining/middle of a recession, that is well on it's way to becoming a Depression.There are mass lay offs in every industry,a horrendous credit crisis,our major industries have pulled up anchor and gone overseas, so they don't have to pay a living wage..Yet,taxpayers are bailing them out, so they can buy 50 millon dollar jets..

OK, That was Citibank, and they did cancel the order.But not until they took BILLIONS in bailout money, and gave us the finger..

I don't know ..If I were you,and had three hots and a cot..I might think of staying in a little longer..Cause it's rough out here right now..

Not rockets and mortar rough, but can we pay the light bill and what about food rough..

Good luck.Your gonna need it, no matter where you sleep.Not to pee on your parade SGT.but,I'd be full of it if I said things are banging here right now.They're not.

Keep your head low and your powder dry.Be careful over there.

 

brownstone is right. but i believe in chasing you dreams. at 51 you r no spring chicken, so go 4 it(no offence)i was a 21e as well. got out in 02, went back in in 04 and out in o6(IIR) now i am an owner opp, lovin it. but it is tough! if i were you, i would do one ov those over seas contractor jobs. for about a year, come back here and buy all my equipment cash! that way, you are free to work as you please and not a slave to your truck!

 

Thanks for your service and best of luck with your new truck!

 

Buzz, I first want to say thank you for all you have given us here at home. Second I would say that your current training already has you primed to pull your hat down tight, and get to work.... with that, that is exactly what I have had to do hear at home. It is not easy but it is doable. I have my own authority and 3 trucks. Been an O/O for 2 years and I have tried several different approaches to only come back to being independant as the tried and true money maker. Now don't misread that by thinking it is hand over fist good, it isn't, but compared to me running for another company, well lets just say I had built up 20k in the bank my first year (me only taking enough to live) and when I decided to add trucks, I also decided to sign on with a company that had plenty of freight so my trucks would stay moving. Well it was good for the first month or two then it sucked. Less than a dollar a mile loads, massive deadheads etc. I pushed through based on inexperience of owning more than 1 truck and dealing with employees etc. to finally say fuggit and go back to my brokers and booking my truck as well as my other two. Now when I did this, my20K maintenance/emergency/fuel advance fund was gone. The sad truth is I literally paid 20K to run their freight and at their pizzpoor numbers, they somehow are making huge profits..... go figure.... Now that I have been back on my own since August, I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel again and spirits are improving. My trucks are averaging 500 paid miles more a week over what that company was giving us and we have yet to haul a load for less than a dollar. In fact the only loads that I have hauled for less than my break even were loads of necesssity such as going into a real poor freight area like FL for a great paying load in but a low paying load out or taking a load that gets us near the house for the holidays etc. My drivers find their own loads and go where they want and are extremely happy now. We were not under forced dispatch with that company BUT if you turned them down, they always would follow it up with something worse. Now the guys are dealing with a couple brokers who know what we need to run and they are keeping us well covered. This is specially important at this time of year because this is naturally our slow season coming up (mid Dec thru mid March). When you can PM, drop me a line if you have any questions, I will gladly help where I can. There are a group of some really good guys here that have no problem telling you like it is and offering some sound advice. Good luck to you and Merry Christmas! It can be done.