Kivi Bro's Open Deck done Right

I see KIVI hauling cans all the time, in MN. Specifically the University Ave rail yard. They may not being doing a intermodal division. But they sure haul a lot of cans there.

 

Form their website:

INTERMODAL
Kivi Brothers Trucking now services the most popular ramps for Intermodal containers. The Kivi Team has yards in Duluth, Blaine, and Harrodsburg, KY that allows us to be efficient and responsive to container pulls. Our facilities are gated and secure and they have the capability to cross dock freight. We’d love to help coordinate your Intermodal shipments.,

Our Services - Kivi Bros Trucking

 

Yeah we do a lot of intermodal out of Blaine,MN, but as was said above a lot of open freight (good pay) comes with cans.

I’ve even hauled a nice ladies personal belongings which were packed into a container from CA to TN. I’ve also done some military loads that paid very well. The chassis specific stuff is mostly MN though.

 

I guess since I run out of KY terminal I haven't gotten a view of the Blaine yard yet. That's one thing I like about Kivi is thier handle on diverse freight. In my short time here I have hauled some crazy loads

 

How was the 2019 recap?

 

I'm not really prepared to do a recap as I started late October 2019. Freight is still down and I am still feeling this place out. Just changed Driver Managers. I really want to see a change in freight here by spring or I will have to reevaluate. I hustle, on time and safe. At some point either Kivi has to open up and give me more percentage or rates go up. I do trucking by choice and have other sought after skillsets that pay more.

 

The data is complete, had a technical glitch with my MacBook. I will have the summary posted by mid week.

 

Blaine is like Harrodsburg, we have completely outgrown the yard lol. Dave who manages there is awesome though, and it’s nice to be able to drop your trailer and bobtail around the twin cities.

 

My apologies for the delay in putting together my 2019 recap, but here’s what I found after looking back at my first full year at Kivi Bro’s, as always there are a few things to keep in mind as you look at this data.

The goal for me in 2019 was to have a bit more time at home and less in the truck, I actively worked to go home every month for hometime, something that I didn’t always do in my past. I didn’t track my hometime last year formally, but I estimate I totaled 11 weeks off during the year. Also, I typically don’t work the full weekend frequently taking at least a 34 hr break – I’m fortunate to have many friends/family around the country to visit with. These are important factors when you look at my numbers as I was not trying to maximize my earnings and rather I was pursuing a balance of hometime vs. driving.

So here are my numbers

2019 Gross Linehaul Miles 104K

2019 Gross Linehaul Earnings $240K

2019 Gross Taxable Earnings $64K

2019 Bonuses/Stop Pay $3K

So my W2 earnings totaled $67K last year, not bad and definitely in line with what I projected so I was happy. Keep in mind I know several drivers who made between $75K and $82K, they ran a bit harder and have been here longer and work at a higher percentage. At Kivi, each 6 month period that you don’t have an injury or serious accident gives you a .25% increase, I started at 26% pay and I’m now at 26.75% - this tops out at 31%.

Yeah I know there are other places where you can make more, and yes I could work a bit harder, but for me this is fine and I’m enjoying my time at home and I absolutely love pulling a step deck around the country. Throw in the fact that I drive an owner operator spec’d truck and don’t deal with forced dispatch and I’m a fairly happy driver.

Feel free to ask questions – and again thanks for being patient!

Cheers

 

So here's an update to how things went in Jan, it was interesting as Jan 2019 was a great month $28K to start the year in gross revenue! This year has not been nearly as good, but it's more in line with the realities of winter freight in skateboard

Gross Rev $16.8K
Linehaul $4488
Extras $754
Miles 8462

To put things in perspective I was able to stop at home in Jan for an night and I was off for super bowl weekend so all in all things went OK. I definitely know of drivers who did much better for the month so I'll have to keep an eye on things in March as Feb will be taken up with time off to get medical check-ups and some time at home...

Overall things are going well here, still hooked to a step deck and enjoying the balance between time at home and with friends and working. I've been spoiled this year with no real super cold running as I've spent most of my time out west or in the south. Only really driven through difficult snow twice so far and I'm good with that lol. I've also only had to throw a single tarp once this year - definitely not something to expect and this may be why my numbers are off lol.

I'm going to try and do a better job of keeping the thread up to date for those who are interested in how things are going at Kivi so please feel free to comment or ask questions and to all of you lurkers out there, I hope all is well and the new year is off to a good one!

Cheers