No experience but getting Authority

Thanks again G/MAN. Somehow I've managed to stay with it despite it seeming sometimes everyone that has a hand in things is conspiring against me. Yesterday went pretty well. I lined up a service shop near me that seems like a win. He's an independent that I was referred to. We'll see how that goes when the truck can be moved. I also got some tire quotes and other things. Drug test program for the driver. Mostly phone and fax work. Today was an adventure with getting plates. Always something.

I have to give props to the Georgia motor carrier registration folks. My wife went in this morning and got sent back with a checklist and samples to make sure it could be knocked out with one return visit. I took the missing items back over there myself this afternoon sue to my schedule being more flexible and did three laps around the office to get it almost done. Those women at that office went out of their way to be helpful. I've never been to a government office and gotten good service like that. I'll feel a lot better writing that big check tomorrow LOL.

The snag was ad valorem tax, which must be collected by the county. In their office. No over the phone payment possible. I could probably cuss my dealer about that, but it will take less effort to just handle it myself. I know that the the county tax office is the exact opposite of the state office, customer service-wise. The good news is my wife will get to deal with them LOL. Despite this, we did get a 30-day IRP permit so we can move the truck as soon as I get the numbers on it. The other sorta lucky break was our company name put our annual due date in May. That gave me a more affordable prorated fee today and delays the full swipe two months when I have better cash flow to fund it.

I found a sign guy a mile away and got the truck labeling squared away. He's probably going to have it done by Friday morning or maybe late tomorrow. Another good find there. I brought in my artwork on a usb stick and it took all of five minutes to hash out the details. They had computer templates for the truck, leaving no mystery to sizing things up. If that works out, Friday we'll put the stickers on the truck, get a trailer, and move it into service a little later than I wanted. Better now than at the mercy of road service. Pending all that coming together, we might get it loaded and out Tuesday or Wednesday.

I think it important to note that even though my posts seem spaced apart and not have a lot of content, it's been a footrace from about a week after I filed the MC application. Both of us have full time jobs so all the legwork gets done when we can fit it in. It's turned into some long days and a struggle to stay organized. The good news is that things are coming together and it's getting easier. Or maybe we're just getting used to the pace LOL.

 

Are you and your wife driving this truck or did you hire a driver? From some posts sounds like you have a driver but others you talk about getting insurance rates based on wifes record/credit.

 

Don't forget your IFTA. That usually doesn't take long once you have things set up with your IRP. They are in the same office in my state. Your UCR also needs to be paid. I don't know about Georgia, but it had to be paid before I could get my base plate. The UCR is due by the end of the calender year, I believe. In any case, I paid mine as soon as the bill came in so that I would not need to worry about it.

I forgot about the ad valorem tax in Georgia. All the little (and not so little) taxes really mount up. It is amazing how many extra taxes we have in this industry.

It only takes a time or two for you to get a hang of this. When it comes time for renewal, you can do it through the mail if you want. It usually takes a few more days to get things done, but you don't need to worry about spending the day at the IRP office. I still prefer to go in person. I did submit my miles and application for my renewal, but made the trip to Nashville to pick up my base plate. I was planning on being on the road and didn't want to take a chance on being out when my tags expired. It sounds like you live in or near Atlanta, so it would probably be a little easier for you.

You may want to check out some of the trucking specific software, such as Trucknpro or one of the other software packages specific to this industry. It will help keep you organized and make it easier to do your quarterly IFTA reports. You can do it with a spreadsheet, but it is easier when you have software specific to the industry. You need to be very careful to keep good records. New carriers are scheduled for audit within the first 18 months of operations.

 

BigBadBill: The driver is our 28 yr old son. Of course his driving record is the main thing the insurance rate is driven by. However, our personal credit rating drives the rate down and dictates payment options. I had a class 5 DL back before the CDL days but don't carry one now. I got a DOT physical a couple weeks ago and plan to get my CDL. I don't plan to drive OTR, but it would come in handy for moving the truck for service and whatnot.

G/MAN: I was able to do the IFTA and UCR online. I already got the IFTA decals in the mail. I filled out that state form online late in the day and thought I had filled out more than I did, resulting in my wife getting sent back with the checklist yesterday morning. I am about 40 miles north of the IRP office near the ATL airport so it's not far, but also happens to be one of the worst traffic routes between here and there. My trip down was easy and I managed to get on my way back home just ahead of rush hour so it wasn't bad.

OOIDA supplied us an excellent checklist for the new entrant audit. We're using that to guide us along with a lot of the stuff we need to get in place. I will end up using one of the software packages to do record keeping, but I am not rushing into any of them. My day job is i/t project management and I know first hand what a hassle it is to transport data between applications. Even if we have to keep paper records at first, I'd rather key those in after-the-fact than have to back up and figure out how to move off a system I find out I don't like. Either way, what we'll end up with will be a system with some built in redundancy to insure we keep everything squared away with taxes and FMCSA audits.

 

OOIDA is an excellent resource. I have always found them to be helpful. You can get an occupational accident policy through them in lieu of workers comp. Your son should have one or the other. It runs about $140/month.

 

Ooida is a great resource. The drug program is the best. I did find much better occupational insurance for the same price as OOida. PM me and I'll get you a contact number.

 

Yes I will agree that OOIDA is a great resource. I'd even go so far to say that the cost of the membership has been one of the best values I've purchased along the way. For anyone that has only browsed their website, that's just the half of it. When I've needed to work with them by phone for business support and drug program, they have been awesome.

Yesterday was an adventure. I thought I had things planned out and ended up changing everything around despite that. My wife had gotten the county tax paid and picked up the IRP plate. My idea of getting decals, then a trailer, then out to service took a twist. Realizing that wasn't going to happen, I did things differently and it worked to our benefit. I finally got a break from my regular work around 1pm and picked up the truck, stopping at my wife's car on the way for the plate and paperwork.

Of course coming from a dealer the fuel tanks were dry so directly to the nearest truck stop for a little fuel. From there we went directly to the trailer dealer I had visited a while back. We're getting a 53x102 air ride reefer. After some back and forth, it came down to three choices. The best value choice was a 2000 trailmaster with a 2004 Carrier reefer on it. As "luck" would have it, it had a leaking air bag that happened to be the only one of the four that wasn't brand new. We also found a leaking pop-off valve on one of the air tanks. The dealer agreed to have that stuff fixed and ready to pick up Monday afternoon at the offered price. The rest of the box was in excellent shape, all the frame ribs looked good, and decent tires/brakes. We ran the reefer a while and it was running quiet and proper, cooling down fast - just shy of 2 degrees a minute. So we left it there and the dealer prepped an invoice for us. We'll bring a cashiers check next week when we pick it up.

By this time it was 4:30pm and I wanted to get the tractor into the service shop for PM and a couple minor things. I called ahead, as the shop closes at 6. After getting past the panic that he thought I wanted service same day, he reluctantly agreed to hang out if we were a few minutes late to drop off for Monday service. When I mentioned I'd be showing up with a 12-pack of cold beer, he sounded a lot more enthusiastic LOL. Traffic was not quite a c/f yet so we managed to make it up there only about 10 minutes after 6. This place turned out to be very similar to the shops I worked in back when I was turning wrenches on cars. So far so good.

When we get the tractor done at the shop, it'll get bobtailed back to the trailer dealer via the sign shop that offered to install the lettering for us if we could get it by there. That was another thing I wasn't too keen on doing. I can apply decals as good as anyone, but it takes time to do right when you don't do it all the time. I'm satisfied with what we got accomplished yesterday and still on track toward being ready to load next week some time.

 

This post unexpectedly turned into quite a novel. It's been a hell of a run the last week and it hadn't really dawned on me until I had a minute to tap some of it out. After 5 weeks of getting ready, we're finally hauling freight today.

The truck spent an extra day in the shop due to the discovery of a rotten muffler (parts delivery). Regardless, I'm pleased with my choice on the shop. They did everything I asked and then some. In a good way that is LOL. I was an auto mechanic for years and know this guy had the opportunity to bag me for at least a couple hundred more dollars on the bill and he didn't. I'll definitely be back.

The trailer dealer also came through and replaced the one air bag that wasn't new and replaced a leaking pop-off valve and had us ready to go. I had run down there Tuesday and closed out the paperwork, so all that was left was to go find something to go in it.

Then the adventure started (getting loaded) and here I am, as promised, sharing with others who may be considering the topic of this thread.

Lesson learned: If you thought your lack of experience and shiny new MC number created obstacles with getting financing or insurance, that's just the start. Brokers will look at you the same way as the bankers and insurance agents. I worked all afternoon and into the night last night with a broker for one of the bigger freight brokers. Four calls to the insurance agent with questions, policy requests, and quotes. Faxing in and out to the point I was having trouble keeping the paper in order. Back at it this morning for another couple of hours with all the agreements in place, the right insurance on the certificate, a signed rate sheet returned, and -bam-. The load got yanked. After I hit the mute on my phone, the audio track was definitely not family friendly LOL. Policy was minimum one month in operation or no dispatch. The broker had offered a fair deal and definitely had done his best to get it done. It sucked, but rules is rules. I will definitely be calling on him again in a few weeks. I know he felt a little bad about how that worked out, so I'll be back in three weeks or more to lay a guilt trip on him to push his rates up LOL.

Back to the alligator pit to find something else. I called on a couple that were low-balling and never got to the Q&A part. I found one that was a hair low (7¢/mi off my plan and definitely fatter than my bare bones cpm), but definitely doable, and ended up getting played a little myself. That'll learn me LOL. This was at noon and my son had already hooked up and checked out the trailer, and had scaled the rig empty. Standing by at the truck stop waiting for the 15 mile run for the load that got yanked. The new load was 50 mi up the road and had a 2pm deadline. She waffled around on my zero references. I told her I had the driver ready to roll, full of fuel with a fresh PM on the truck, just say go. Long story short, I took a $20 gamble and put him on the road toward the shipper while she worked the exception. The load was into an area with a couple dozen prospective loads for a weekend haul so I said WTF let's go. 10 min later my son called saying he'd gotten the dispatch. Woohoo! We're now in business! He got there with 30 minutes to spare and I thought, "this is great. We're on time and getting a start on a good reputation."

I started shopping for the next load but held off booking a Friday pickup. Turns out that was a wise decision. After showing up 30 min before the pickup deadline, he waited 5 hours to get loaded. Long enough to pretty much mean we would run out of time to do a Friday afternoon pickup. Just when it looked like our driver would be getting a reset whether he needed it or not, I decided to call on a load I'd seen back toward home but had held off, wanting to run a little further and keep him rolling all weekend. Turns out it was just what we needed. Saturday pickup, a decent rate, and back to population thick with outbound loads. Sometimes even a blind squirrel gets a nut. I got it late this afternoon so, like the load we're on now, it could fall through. If so, I've already got a plan B in mind and will play it by ear in the morning.

To recap:

1. Take enough time to get started right. I could have rushed things and got loaded a day or three sooner. Believe me, with some really huge insurance, registration, and tire bills around the corner it was tempting. Getting the truck and trailer right took a couple extra days. Today I am nearly certain my driver will make it to the consignee tomorrow morning safely, and as a result - profitably.

2. Build realistic assumptions into your business plan and stick to it. I did and it payed off. Before I dialed the brokers I already had my high/low rate figured out, route expenses estimated, and was ready to counter whatever the starting offer was with either a sensible counter-offer or a "thank you but no."

3. You better be on your A-game when you start dialing for dollars. It's your dollars after all. Being prepared for the dance and knowing what you want goes a long way toward establishing credibility. Every broker I spoke with did not discover I was a brand new business with no experience until they looked up my MC authority and saw it was issued last week. I can only imagine if I had been stumbling around with my responses that the brokers with integrity would have dumped me in less than 60 seconds and the bad ones would have zeroed in for the kill on a cheap rate.

 

Red, I'm not looking to run my own authority or anything but I am trying to find a company to lease a truck to. So even though our situations are much different I gotta tell you that I have been looking forward to your update.

You definitely have made some very sound business decisions leading up to this point so it doesn't surprise me at all that you did the right thing and waited the few extra days for things to be done on the truck and trailer.

I also have to say that your son must be extremely grateful that you and your wife are doing this to help him. I come from a family of 5 uncles who are or were O/O's and the most help I ever got from them was taking a few loads for them if they were in a jam. So just from reading this thread I can tell that you are a stand up guy who really puts in the extra time and effort to be successful. Good luck to you and your family and I look forward to the next update.

 

Since we had some paperwork for the truck come in the mail, we had to meet as he came back through for a handoff. Being #### proud of making it this far, I couldn't resist a few photos.

This is either an ad for the Atlanta, GA. QT truck stop at I-85 exit 96 or a new trucking company setting out on it's first load with 44k lbs of soda pop in the trunk:



This is my wife chasing down her big ###### truck driver son for a goodbye kiss. Proof that Moms never quit doing that: