Amazon contract with carriers....see Yourself

You're exactly right. That's why I've been hesitant to jump over. All the extra overhead will eat any extra money and then some.
I really &^%^*ed me off about how they dictate how the truck needs to be. If you want to do that, then buy your own *&#*&ed trucks!! This has been the main driving force about leaving Fedex.

 

I encourage you to use your time at FedEx to build a plan and customer base then. Be smart, no body is going to look after you like you. It's not as bad or hard as you think. If you've got some business sense then it will work. Have a plan, I always have a plan.

 

Thank you very much.
It begs the question though, Customer base for what? I pull trailers from terminal to terminal. The people I talk to are all company drivers, so they don't have any knowledge useful to me.
I would have to determine what I want to do. Being in the NE(NYC) I would have to know what is the best area to get into. Van, flat, bulk. I won't do reefer again, sorry. I did it when I first got my cdl-A and its a nightmare. Of course I also dealt with Hunt's point here in NYC and it's a ZOO. I have experience with bulk pneumatic, van, doubles and reefer.
I can't develop customers while I'm working here. there are none. When I was pulling Bulk Pneumatic in the south I told a friend , who worked there, that we could start our own company and rule the SE. The company we worked for had horrible drivers that would be 6 HOURS late for their appointment!! He and I were always early because we would do the night run to ensure that we there there first thing in the morning. I left, but he's still there. I could have built as customer base by telling those customers we were going to do that. But being here I don't have any and I would start out in the dark any where I went.
FYI, I WILL NOT go back to the SE. The attitude and the horrible driving of the area turned me off forever!
We talk on the phone and he's miserable, but can't leave. I want to go out on my own and if I wanted to get a second truck, he would be the guy I would put in it. I read threads are all the time about guys going out on their own and such. I applaud them all. I do want to get out from under the Fedex yoke. It's finding that niche that people need filled that I have to find.

 

This is where being business savvy can help. You know the area you live and drive there. You know the types of freight around. Find a need and fill that void. Don't over complicate things.

 

Yeah. The need is the key. Hence, this forum and I have NO problem asking guys I meet about anything such as sectors and whats hot/not.

 

After reading your posts could probably guest that you work as a FedEx ground contractor. FedEx custom critical works on a load board. You may be able to take time off. Another thing, is that carriers also have a confidentiality contract, so before you approach the customer offering your services make sure your contract with FedEx is OFF completely.

From my experience, I could share that ruthlessness, disregard for health and/or disregard for driver fatigue are rampant. Dispatch must be getting commission payments to do what they do. There is a driver seniority order for dispatch to follow, which is not followed, and arranged depending on which productive driver is chosen to get burned in order to maximize their dispatch commission, cover up their own mistakes, cover up the lack of productivity of other drivers or to conveniently pamper their favored drivers based on looks, personality, race, age or nationality. Don't really know what it is.

 

Yes! Leave them or go back to being a company driver. Right now, you're getting screwed. Sounds more like you're an indentured servant than a small business owner.

 

I'd rather stuff a rabid bagger down my shorts than go back to being a company driver.
I'm gonna stay to build up funds, look for that niche I can fill and network. Then look for my exit strategy

 

But you are a company driver when you have to "ask" for time off and do whatever else they TELL you to do.

 

Not quite. I do have a difference that hasn't been made known. It's also a stepping stone to being a O/O. It would be incredibly irresponsible to jump in without doing some research, learning and gaining experience.
It's those exact reasons you mention that is fueling my desire to move on to my own.