North by NorthEast by Choice - the saga of sadwar continues

Transition to new company complete...

Rented trailer acquired...

First loads booked on the spot market freight through brokers...

Learning curve for sure...

Confidence is high...

Roll on....

 

First load using a broker a success...

1 pick, 2 drops, all live of course. 100 miles total for $700...

I'm already loaded for my next trip, 2125 miles for $3900. Customer loaded me 24 hrs early....

Broker called ME today and offered me two loads after I finish up this one. 325 miles for $1000 and 800 miles for $2100. Both loads load where the previous one unloads, so no deadhead. Nice to have someone call and offer me a load Also nice not having to endlessly search a load board...

Weird not having a Qualcomm in the truck. Nice not having to use workflow. Life seems simpler somehow...

So far so good...

I should start a new thread but I don't know where to put it. There are lots of threads about what I'm doing...

Roll on....

 

No, we use BigRoad....

A box the size of a deck of cards sits on my dash, it plugs into the ecm port. It links by Bluetooth to my phone, which is where the BigRoad app is. I do all my logging on my phone. It's nice....

And very handy to go on duty laying in the bunk, no need to start the truck to get the Qualcomm to fire up.....

Here's the box on my dash....




Here's my dash without the Qualcomm. So much space....



Roll on...

 

Where to begin?......

I lasted a week at the new gig. Let's just say a difference of opinion caused an irreparable rift between me and the 'owner'...

So I moved on. I am now leased onto a different company. I was approved to join this company before I decided to go to the first gig. Night and day difference between the two for sure. This company has 17 trucks leased on. I make 87% of revenue while working the spot freight market. I pick my own loads off of two different load boards or I can use a 'dispatcher' to find me loads off the same load boards. This had proven very useful when I don't have time or just don't want to mess with finding a load. We also have several brokers at different brokerages call us with loads before they hit the load board....

So far things are going well. I am still learning lanes and rates. I am developing relationships with several brokers....

The money has been what I expected. I am averaging a bit more than I did at Schneider. I do have a lot more deductions though. So all in all, it's good..

Pros and cons so far....

I love not having a safety department watching my every move and every turn of the truck. I love not having quarterly videos to watch and not having to do quarterly annual inspections....

I love not having to do workflow....

I love not having a Qualcomm. We use Keep Truckin for our ELD. Same setup I described above....

I love my air ride trailer....

I love the wide variety and quantity of loads available...

I don't miss constantly being on the load board looking for loads. I do sometimes miss the ease of point and click when booking loads....

I miss not having access to the OCs....

I miss the discounts on tires and parts....

I miss having my tolls paid for...

So far doing all live loads and unloads has been surprisingly good. Most customers are friendly, professional, and happy to see me....

To sum it all up..... I'm glad I made the move.... We'll see what the future holds...

Roll on....