No experience but getting Authority

I appreciate all the advice.

I asked my boss if I could get a nice long load to Texas to make up for the low miles I got last week, and he said sure. So he got me this load out of Toledo going to over by Longview, which I'm sitting at now at the 599 (it's a mud bog, btw). He said make sure you deliver as early as you can - the earlier you deliver, the better chance there is of getting you a load out of Texas without sitting for a while.

I guess out this way decent paying loads are harder to come by, huh? Especially when they pay their drivers well.

When I drove for PAM, I never had trouble getting in and out of Texas, but then again they did do a lot of automotive freight, and also had a couple of customers here (Trane). I guess when you're a smaller company (40 - 50 trucks), it becomes difficult to be profitable relying on brokers when you have a driver sitting 600 miles from any customer freight.

I guess I must have a pretty good boss then for keeping his word, huh?

Thoughts on Texas?

I guess it's back to Ohio for me.

 

For the most part, freight coming out of Texas heading east, especially, will be cheaper than you can usually get elsewhere. I have gotten some very good rates out of Texas, but generally speaking, you can expect lower rates. It has been that way for several years.

 

Red, BBBill, G/man,... you guys are a wealth of knowledge. Thank You for your posts, I've been lurking a while, learning a LOT. I'm considering getting back into the business, your experiences are so very valuable. I'll keep lurking, and when I make it happen, I hope I can be as forthcoming as Red, man, you are an inspiration! thanks again!

 

You are welcome, Duteman. Feel free to ask any questions you may have and we will do our best to answer. Good luck if you decide to jump back into the business.

 

Thanks, guys. I'll give you a bit of background then ask a few questions. I drove as a young man, for about ten years, in Alaska. Construction, mostly, all types of dirt and rock trucks, (loved hi-ballin' bellydumps!) flats, gin-pole (winch) trucks, mixers, even a brief stint with steerable 80' pipe trailers. I see the "Ice Road Trucker" show and cringe at the memories. Those hills didn't seem so big or the canyons so deep when I was 20 years old! I also have lots of experience with mechanical aspects, I worked in parts rooms and re-build shops, and since we were in remote locations, I've seen every part of trucks, trailers and heavy equipment in pieces and put back together again. Worked for some amazing master mechanics, and I'm pretty observant, so, I learned a lot. Was a maintenance mechanic (greaser/tireman) for SeaLand at the terminal in Fairbanks for the better part of a year. When I left Alaska I worked for a while in a P&H crane dealership as parts manager. I do all aspects of vehicle repair when I want to, except automatic trannys, etc.

I did haul the equivalent of LTL with semi boxes from time to time but that is my biggest question. Hauling freight OTR is a different animal than any of the experiences I had before. I have read lots of these posts, do feel confident I can run the business aspects, as I've owned both an "S" corp (Computer consulting) and now have an LLC set up, but it seems like this business is just filled with, for lack of a better word, "administrivia" that can trip you up and get very expensive if you don't get it right.

My plan is to get my (lapsed) CDL class A "refreshed" and go work for a company for a while. I accept that nobody is going to care how much driving I did so long ago. I'll probably buy a good used truck or two, pre-EGR, and re-build it. I'm very computer savvy, love sales, making the deal, do have some legal training, am pretty good at juggling things and keeping all the balls in the air... but "a Man's got to know his limitations", and I feel I know myself pretty well. Red said it right, though, in a previous post that I don't even know what I don't know yet, or something to that effect.

OK now to the questions: I see on these threads that drivers of flats, hauling steel and such, tend to make more per mile than other freight. I see trucks hauling heavy, odd loads all the time, like pre-stressed concrete parts and the like, but those trucks seem to me to often be company rigs. Does that pay more? Are there opportunities for O/O's in that business? I'd think that trying to budget fuel, permits and insurance with loads like that would be hell.

Can I buy a used truck a few states away and just put a temporary plate on it to transport it home? There seems to be no shortage of good iron out there right now and I'd hate to let the right truck go by. If I do get one home, can I just let it sit for a year while I rebuild it, get experience, etc, or do I have to pay taxes on it even when it sits?

I've read a few threads about these topic and am still a bit unclear. Hundreds of other questions but many get answered in other posts, and I'm patient.

Thanks in advance for reading my yarn. Any advise is sincerely appreciated. Cheers, Duteman.

 

Thanks for the good words. Keep in mind that my life experience is not in the trucking industry, as most others that have come in as company drivers for some years then moved on to ownership, either leasing on to a carrier or getting their own authority. It's been both good and bad on many fronts. For what it's worth, it's not been more right or wrong, just different I guess. That said, in my vast 9 months of operation, I've seen some attributes that make the biggest difference between people that do well and that do not. Take it with a grain of salt if you wish..

- Focus on a positive outcome versus fighting trivial details. In other words, are you a problem solver or a problem finder? I could write a book on this one topic. Everyone is usually good at bringing problems to the table, but very few are adept at bringing solutions. You have to pay attention to finding the way out of a stressful situation instead of worrying over all that's wrong with it. Two very different examples:

1. Detained on a live load for hours. It sucks. What do you do? Call the broker and whine? That usually doesn't accomplish anything. Get mad and climb in your bunk with a laptop or play station and kill time? ok.. that helps pass the time. Or what if you take advantage of the down time and hit some grease fittings, check tire pressures, tie down loose bodywork, etc. An employee driver will often stop with "that's not my job" mentality and miss the bigger picture that keeping that equipment operating will keep that driving job in play more consistently. As the truck owner, that's now critical to you. Find the positive way out and manage the things you have control over. Don't stress over the things you can't control.

2. Negotiating accessorial charges. I don't like advancing lumpers or pallet charges. Whether you factor or not, there's a cost of money and I'm as deep as I want to be, having already advanced the equipment, fuel, and driver pay. I just don't do broker/shipper cash advances. I have many customers that are happy as a clam thinking they've stuffed those charges on me. What they don't know (or choose not to acknowledge) is that my minimum line haul for them is higher. I could fight them for days over a 5% uplift on lumper advances to offset my money costs and have an unwilling customer. Slide that bump into my rate and they can take it or leave it. We're back to deciding on what the load pays versus who's picking up a $1.50 Comchek fee.​

- Do you have what it takes to put in the effort that it takes to be successful? Seriously, this business ownership gig will suck the life out of you. Until your operation is big enough that you have hired help that handles all the little details that come up 24x7, it's all you. Every time I feel like I'm making headway on my to-do list, twice as many new items have appeared at the end of it. This one fits the doing truck maintenance while sitting detained, as well as it does being in your office on the last night of the month filing taxes and cutting invoices. There are breaks, but not like you get as an employee. Your break comes when you shut the truck own or push the keyboard away and take one, recognizing that some work will just get done later and accepting that you will deal with any consequence. No matter what you do, there is always more work waiting for you to get right on it.

- Have you got sales game? Some brokers are natural a-holes and deserve a dose of their own medicine. Don't be the guy that gives it out. You really don't win anything for it and the satisfaction doesn't last long. Be a pro and make an effort to make a deal work. If it's clear you're not going to find middle ground, wrap it up and move on. It's not personal. You're clearly a higher quality carrier than that customer wants to hire. Macy's doesn't care that you can buy the same thing at Dollar General for a buck. They just aren't chasing that discount customer. If you run a Macy's-like quality trucking outfit, don't chase Dollar General-like brokers or shippers as customers.

- Are you funded well enough and willing to put the money in that's required to get a little more back out? This trucking stuff is expensive. The price of your equipment and start-up costs are the first stop in a very long road of money spending, and half a year into it will be pretty much forgotten. Plenty will say yeah I'll save by doing my own work, etc. and in some cases that's true. Others will say you don't have a brand k or p truck or a feline under a long hood and that's the answer. That's just BS. The owners of those nicer trucks generally take more pride in ownership and view the costs as an enhancement versus "throwing money at a company truck." Regardless, the money gets spent, one way or another. The truth is that all of them will break, sooner or later. If you aren't willing or able to bite the bullet and get it right, you will suffer more unscheduled breakdowns and your customers will conclude you're not reliable. My best customers know what I've put into our truck and it's reflected in our perfect record with them. Year to date, I've booked 86 loads and have not dropped a single one. I've paid one freight claim on 2 missing cases of product ($52) on a truckload with over 600 pieces (it was a lesson learned on our 2nd load ever, about noting "shipper load and count" on bills where appropriate). I attribute our record to 80% being prepared and 20% luck. It throw in that 20% for luck because I know that eventually, circumstances beyond our control will conspire to cause unavoidable trouble. There's been a few close calls, but disaster was avoided by quick decisions and spending money. One thing I've taken from my project management experience is this gem: Every problem has three areas you can control (aka the "triple constraint"), but only two at a time: money, quality, and time. You can only focus resources on any two at once, at the expense of the third. Never all three. What you choose as the third one (that slips) is determined by circumstances.

Now I'll get off my strategy soapbox a while LOL. RedForeman's been a busy boy the past month and not been posting much in the form of ground-level updates. I've got some more urgent work to get done right now, but will be back in a few hours to post some news.

 

Hi Red, seems our posts crossed...

I am more the "problem solver" type. When I ran my computer business, I stuck to my quotes, always tried to deliver my product early and better than promised. I insisted that my employees be professional, prompt, service oriented. I worked hard to be a communicator, helped customers identify problems that we could solve. We made a lot of money providing a level of service that the competition just wouldn't do, like nights and weekend work. My customers (Law Firms mostly) discovered we were very good at completely up grading their entire office systems in a weekend so that they had no down time. We were very good at that and I did what it took to get the job done. Paying double our normal rate was cheaper that paying their office staff to sit through a transition. Anyway, I agree that I will carve out my niche being a high-value carrier. GTG, more later

 

You have had some good experience, but unfortunately, most carriers will only consider the last 3 years. No matter how much experience you have had unless they can see 6-12 months in the last 3 years it is like you have never driven. You may need to get a refresher course or find a smaller carrier to make it work without going through a refresher. If you had kept up your CDL and not allowed it to expire it would be much less of a problem. Insurance companies primarily look at how long you have held your CDL. Leasing to a carrier will present the same problems as it will as a company driver when it comes to insurance. There have been those who have been able to get insurance and their authority without too much difficulty. I am sure that I am not telling you anything that you don't already know.

Any time you get involved in more specialized freight the rates tend to be better. Flats will usually do better than vans. Dealing with over sized freight is usually not all that difficult, but it can present some challenges. Several months ago I took an over sized load into New York. It took me almost a week to get through some of their BS. But, that is all part of the business. Each state has their own rules and you will need to familiarize yourself with all of them. Insurance is not that big of a deal most of the time. A few months ago I had to cover a piece of machinery that required $1 million in cargo, but that is not the norm. For the most part, once you have your insurance in place that is all you need to do unless you get a load that requires higher coverage. There is more paperwork running your own authority, but there are companies that will do that for you for a fee. The biggest continuous stream of paperwork is for your IFTA. You will need to track that whether you lease to a carrier or run your own authority. There are a few other things you will need if you run your authority, such as joining a drug consortium. It can be overwhelming for some, but it really isn't that bad once you get used to it and have done it for a while.

You can always lease to a carrier and haul their freight. Many do better leasing than running their own authority. I have friends who have been successful on both sides of the equation. If you enjoy running a business then you may prefer running your authority. Personally, I think there is less stress running my own business than working for someone else, but I have been in business for most of my life.

Whether you are in trucking or any other type of business you will need to budget and plan. This is a very capital intensive industry. The start up costs are high if you run your own authority. You will need to pay your 2290, UCR, base plates and permits before you can even leave the house. Those costs can easily run $2,200-3,000. If you want to run your authority you need to add in the cost of buying a trailer. Leasing to a carrier you can rent or use theirs.

If you buy a truck from a dealer they should be able to give you a temporary tag to get you home. I know one owner operator who managed to get his home without any type of tag on the truck. I would check with the states that you plan on driving and see what they might require. You will need some temporary liability insurance to get home. You don't need to pay the 2290 until the truck is put on the road. You will need a receipt that the 2290 has been paid before you can buy your base plate and permits. Some states don't charge sales tax on class 8 equipment if you have a mc number. In any case, you should not have to pay sales tax until you apply for the title. If it is going to be a year before putting it on the road, I don't know if I would pay the tax. That will be your decision.

 

When I drove I was always very equipment oriented. I kept my rigs clean and, when possible, shiny. Lemon Pledge looks great on Imron! I am a quick learner and, after a few stupid mistakes when I was a real greenhorn, I never broke things. I "see" the gears in my head, spinning, meshing, meeting each other at speed and just sliding into place... I understand brakes and weight. I dunno, that's part of why I want to get back into it, I suppose. But I can't see not taking advantage of down time to inspect/maintain my rig, and I can't imagine any professional driver not doing that. I learned from old timers, on the job, in a place that would kill you if you were not on top of your game. I always travel with basic tools and parts, can't see myself hiring a driver (for the second truck, someday) who was not as conscientious as I am.

I'm presently a tech-ed teacher, near "retirement", so the point about "not blowing smoke up the rear of one who deserves it" is something we Teachers quickly become masters at. Gone are the days when you could just jack a kid up against a locker and give him what-for! Diplomacy is the key to success in this business... and patience... and dealing with "administrivia".

 

G/Man, thanks for your reply. When I moved from Alaska to Connecticut in the 80's the CT DMV had this big reciprocal license binder, nothing for Alaska, they were clueless. So, I had to give up my Alaska class A to get a Connecticut drivers license. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do. I understand and accept the experience and insurance consequences, I'll just have to chalk it up as a cost of doing business. I do understand the budgeting and planning process, it will be a big line item, for sure.

I like the idea of a higher rate for "difficult" loads. I suppose that's what people like Red do specializing in reefers. I understand that there are specific downfalls, but that's the name of the game I guess.

You gents are a real help. I've read a lot of threads on this forum and you guys are, hands down, the best. I will keep the thread updated but I'll not bore you with useless banter or "starry-eyed dream-job" stuff. Thanks again, Cheers, Duteman