Newbie Team Driver Wannabees - Can We Do This?

Hi Jarhed, I found their blog a few weeks ago and read it all, saw all the pictures. Yes, they do look like they're having a great time out there! Thanks for the links. We are seriously considering USX ourselves. However, I am kind of disappointed in the lack of enthusiasm shown by the recruiter we talked to from that company. I used to be in sales, and I know that following up with a potential client is the best way to get a sale. So if we are the "client" and the "sale" is getting us signed up for orientation so the recruiter can make his money for recruiting us, I would think he'd be all over us like flies on poo. But he never did one more thing after talking to us a few weeks ago after I made the call to them, other than send us an email with the company insurance info and other benefits in pdf form. No other contact at all. No phone call to say, "hey, how's it going?" or "do you have any questions that I can answer for you?". So my first contact with that company, this recruiter, has not been a good one. But then, I base all customer relationships on how I used to work and the bar is set pretty high due to that. I was top salesperson at every single company that I worked for from my first week forward. (I sold newly built homes.) If this guy gets paid for every person he signs up for orientation, that's the easiest sales job ever! But he does need to follow up with people who show an interest in the company in order to do that. So I guess I'll call them again and not ask for him and see if I get a different recruiter because I do have questions.

 

My husband is reading Bumper to Bumper. We bought a little toy truck and had fun with that for about 15 minutes before it got old and we put our toy away. It's much easier to park a real truck and trailer than to try to park that toy. But it does give us a good aerial-view perspective of things.

http://www.amazon.com/Bumper-Complete-Guide-Tractor-Trailer-Operations/dp/0962168750

We learned how to tell if a truck is a reefer by finding that box between the tractor and trailer. Chaching! While on the road home from Michigan this past weekend, we looked at all the trucks on the highway, really looked this time. Noticed the names of the companies on them, noticed those that said "now hiring" on the back. We saw different company's trucks driving after dark than the ones driving during the daylight. We paid attention to the flatbed trucks with the tarps and straps, saw that some have shiny silver lockers on the back of the tractor to keep things in, some that had tarps rolled up and strapped to the tractor, out in the open. Saw the HUGE things that they were hauling and figured we are not the right type of people to be able to do that kind of hauling. I don't think either of us could throw a 100 lb tarp over a load that is as tall as a one-story building, and then tighten up those straps to keep it all safely on there! I have a new admiration for the people who do this, it's daunting to me to even think about it. And, as a driver of a Dodge truck, not a BIG truck, I have to say that whenever we are on the highway and come upon one of those huge loads it strikes fear in me. If I'm driving I get around them quickly, and drive about a half mile in front of them before getting in front of them; I give them a big space. I don't want those BIG things rolling off that truck on me and I don't want to cause that driver to have to do anything other than just sit there and drive safely. But then, that's how we were trained to drive a car back in the 60s. I'm not so sure anyone even takes driver's training anymore to drive a car, from the way I've seen people drive around here. That's why I've always owned a truck, I feel a little safer up there with all those awful drivers buzzing around me.

He also bought the Rand McNally road atlas at the local TA truck stop for $30 and has read it cover to cover already. http://www.amazon.com/McNally-Deluxe-Motor-Carriers-Atlas/dp/0528006363

We're still moving things to the storage unit, took two trailer loads yesterday again. Where did we get all this stuff!

 

I think you're right about the driver training. Sad, isn't it?

Well, it's still kind of up in the air as to when we'll be leaving for CDL training. Thinking either Sept 24th or Oct 8th, but it will most likely be in Oct. Classes at the school down near Louisville, KY start every two weeks so we can choose when to start. We still need to find out from USX if they will allow my husband to train me, and if so, how long he has to drive for them before they'll allow him to do that. Then we'll know for sure what to do, and if we'll be taking CDL classes together or if he'll start first and then I go later. Everything would be so much easier if they had more female trainers, then we'd just go together and all would be fine.

He's gone on another trip, flying for 4 days again. We spent today taking yet another load of things from our house to the storage place. When he gets back in town next Saturday night, he'll be home for 11 days straight and we'll be able to get all the calls made and hopefully get our questions answered about training.

 

THE BUSINESS OF LEASING

What I learned about the business of leasing ... so far. I'm still learning, but this was a good lesson to remember.

It's a business and needs to be treated as such. Most anyone can drive, but just because you passed your truck driving training, it doesn't mean you can run a business. Most people who are not successful with leasing, failed because they didn't treat it as a business.

In order to run your business of leasing a truck, you need to be willing to do what it takes to gain knowledge of the business of trucking and get training and education in the following things .... and MASTER them. If we master the following list in our business, then we will INCREASE revenue and DECREASE costs. (And have fun working.)

1. Customer Service - treat others as you would like to be treated. With respect. You get back what you give out. Your appearance counts so look good all the time.

2. Goal Setting - how can you get anywhere if you don't have someplace in mind to go? Set goals so you have something to celebrate at the end of the day/week/month/quarter/year/3 yrs/5 years.

3. Accounting - know the numbers, how are we going to handle this aspect of the business?

4. Profit and Loss - need to understand this and know each day if you have made a profit or a loss or if you're working toward accomplishing your weekly profit goal. You must have a profit plan! Plan for profit, not a paycheck! Understand the business ... how many miles to break even ... then after you hit your break-even mark, you can relax and take a day off or ... if you have not timed out yet, get another load and make MORE $$ at the end of the week.

5. Fuel Mileage and Maintenance Costs - learn how to control these. We can control these costs by paying attention to them and knowing how everything works. Simple. Learn the many ways to DECREASE costs, write them down and follow them.

6. Rates and Lanes - understand getting loads and where to live so you can get loads going OUT to make money. Some of the bad cities to live for OUT-going loads are Denver, Seattle, Miami (not all-inclusive, by any means). Subscribe to one or two load boards and study the rates so you are familiar with how it all works and how much cost is involved.

7. Freight Trends - Know which weeks of the month are slowest and which are busiest. Know which days of the week are slower and which are busiest. (ask the fleet mgr)


You must have a profit plan! Plan for profit, not a paycheck! Understand the business.

Choose a carrier with a high CSA score to lease with. A poor score will result in lost revenue.

OK. Got it... sort of.

 

Taken the way you meant it ......

Yes, absolutely! This is all part of "walking before we can run". We're studying everything we can ahead of time, making a plan for our experiences. We plan to drive for a company for at least 1-2 yrs before we even consider leasing. We're going to treat those years as if it is company-paid O/O training; we're going to try to note the costs of everything, treat the experience as if we were paying for it all (but thankfully won't be), take notes and learn as much as we can. This way we'll have "real time" experience of our own so we'll go into leasing with our eyes wide open ... or if it doesn't seem like it's something we want to do, then at least we'll have good reasons why not to do it, from our own experiences. And after saving our money for a couple of years, we'll know if we can afford to buy a truck with cash or if we need to get company paychecks for another year in order to have enough saved up for a truck.

I think we're thinking right ... ?