Instant O/O and Load boards

yeah that's the place I copied the specs from. It does ride good.

 

You were right, no wetline needed for hopper. I think I'm going to go that route. With the extra down payment and trailer payment I'm just about out of funds to get the kit at this point anyway.

 

3am and that's a good day? lol... sounds like you got a nice long weekend though!

Well let's say that we're moving forward AS IF I'm going ahead with the Pete. They put it in for brakes today, meanwhile my authority arrived officially in the mail, so I took care of some paperwork, faxed the carrier packet over to the broker's, made changes to the insurance to reflect the hopper instead of end dump.

There's something else in the works that I haven't discussed yet. While looking for financing, I sort of blitzed the market and ended up with more than one pre-approval. One thing started leading to the other, and there's a chance I will end up with 2 new trucks with the dealer forgoing a down payment on the second one. He has a driver that needs work and keeping him underemployed on the lot. He also has a lot of trucks he needs to get off the books, some they still owe the bank on and would like to remove from the lot, even at a theoretical loss. They'll make it up renting me 2 trailers they own outright.

It's an exciting and nerve-wracking time! I'm still proving to be a much better businessman than a trucker lol. I know that's nothing to admit in polite company.

 

Lots of reasons to be speechless... not all of 'em good!

I'm not counting any chickens in the egg phase. Though they are having a hell of a time getting willing buyers approved no matter what they try. The banks are killing them just as much as the freight slow down is. They can't win, so they can only lessen the losing. It truly is a good time to accrue equipment if you can build up some relationships with dealers. If you're in and out in a couple days, they're going to win. I've been up there at least 4 days a week for the last 4 weeks. You learn a lot, they open up a lot, you get a much better feel for their situation as well as your own. Opportunities happen. Get an idea, float it, try to work it out. Come up with a lot of what-ifs and see what flies.

If nothing else I can promise this venture will be informative and entertaining either way lol.

 

I can't claim that I've always been into trucking, though I guess I'm technically a second-generation.

Dad was a major metro area cop for a little over a decade, got involved in something deliciously scandalous, lost his job, and out of depression and possessiveness with women ended up a felon as well. Not your fairy tale story, but he turned to trucking eventually and did that the last 15 years of his life before dying of colon cancer 2 years ago at 53. He had a lot of pride though and would prefer to break rocks into little ones for a dollar an hour out of the way than make a million handing fries over a counter. So in that respect it was perfect for him. Not a trucker's trucker I don't think, and not really able to see the pride in his work. At one point he had 2 dogs AND 2 cats with him in the truck. Though he wouldn't say it, I think he enjoyed it for the most part. I went out with him for 2 weeks once and we had a blast. It's one of my most cherished memories.

Once he died I did become very curious about his life and how it was. Me, I don't know how much of the thread you've read but I don't have experience. I was in sales, then in the IT and computer hardware business, then had a rock band in Tampa area, then got my doctorate in pharmacy and did that. I've left it to do this now. I am excited if that means anything, I really needed the change. I don't know if this is something that will run it's course and I will go back to pharmacy, or if I can do as well doing this eventually, in which case I will stick with it and see where it can go. Either way I'm on the hook for truck(s) for at least 2 years, so I probably won't re-assess until at least then.

I doubt that's the best story you were looking for but it's the truth.