Rolling CB Interview

Is that your truck in the video

 

Great little piece of filming there & great interview. I see he's driving on I-94 S/B near South Holland & I-394.
Never have seen anything but near spotless Altom equipment. Always lookin good.

 

Agreed! Dillon too. Top notch and clean. I believe they both hail out of the Chicago area.........so I want to ask the group a question....your opinion.....

Altom, Dillon, TMC and a few more: Spotless late model stuff, aluminum all shined and the unit pinstriped plus gold leaf lettering. Top of the line Petes and you get the idea. All I listed is major bucks to own and keep up.

VS

Trimac, Schneider, and many more running binders with steel wheels or striped down Freightliners and Volvo's....fleet units and way cheaper than a pinstriped Pete ( No brainer )

Now we know competitive market pressures keep the price point in check so it's easy to say their top lines are close to being the same.......so where does the money come from? Is the bottom feeder pocketing more cash or is the top dog giving the driver "more" and profiting less?

Opinion?

 

That is a nice looking wagon, except, I wouldn't have spinners, but when ever I've been asked what I was hauling (with a inclosed trailer), my response was always, "I'm empty, just delivered, and on my way to get next load"
even if I was loaded

 

On the companies you mentioned like TMC, it's the looks that attract drivers, check their starting pay, it's a little low, like Western distribution out of Denver,co they have top of the line Pete's and W9 all with 550 cummins, 18 sp. but starting pay is .32 CPM, A little low wouldn't you say? Now companies like Schneider, they may not have top of the line equipment, but you might make a little more on your check with them

 

Excellent question, chalupa... and one I've also wondered about.
I'd love to be able to ask the head dog of these companies, for an accurate answer, but I can only guess/assumption.
I think it's a little of both, a bit less for the company's profit (moreso initially) and the drivers getting 'more'.

But, I think these top dog companies see that in the long run, and in the big picture, it all evens out for the most part, on several levels.
1. The drivers respect their equipment more, and likely even spend their own time (by far) and money to maintain it well, for years.
2. It attracts the best of the best/safest of drivers. Sure, lesser drivers will still apply, but you get a bigger "best drivers pool' to pick from.
3. Image shows professionalism and quality, for your customer base, as well as attracting customers. (Better than 1000 billboards).
4. Resale value of the equipment (self explanatory). Their 'old trucks' for sale look like new & buyers know they've been meticulously maintained.

 

Go with Altom. I don't live far from them. They have really nice equipment and a very low turnover. Believe it or not they hire teams. Unfortunately they wouldn't hire us until we had at least a year of tanker.