The journey begins - purchased a truck.

TRAILER PICKED UP, FIRST LOAD!

That is, one paying worth a ######!

Thursday - Trailer pick up.

Trailer made it in on Wednesday, covered in ice. Had a passenger authorization filled out for my neighbor, Tom - he's 74 years old and runs rings around guys half his age, he expressed an interest in coming for a ride, so we set off about 8am to pick up the trailer from Springfield. Of course, the wiring for the dump valve was not complete, and there was a damaged crank handle - so it was about 11.15am by the time we pulled out of there. A dunnage rack was fabbed and fitted, and after a little squealing from the dealer, I didn't have to pay for it, and he doesn't refer to me as "That little Kiwi Bast**d" either. Good deal.

Back home.

Trailer paperwork through Landstar.

Off to the DMV, sales tax exempt form filled out (saved $1800), get tag ($56), fax off "Statement of lease", inspection, bill of sale, etc . . . wait 10 minutes, call qualification center . . . . no answer. Blow up their phone . . . . "main girl aint here today, I'll put it on her desk for the morning" . . . . ME - "Ummmmm, need to go to work . . . " - them (snotty) "It's 2.30 in Florida, don't think I'll get an answer back . . . " . . . . ME - well, you can figure it out.

Anyway - got a call back, 5pm ish, trailer number, all good to go. Great.

FRIDAY AM - TIME TO MAN the F^^* up and go to work!!

Hit the load board. Question is - do I go for lower rate per mile, and longer miles, into junk areas, to get some blood back in the bank veins? Or something light?, or short, for a training run? Or to a good area? It is Friday - after all . . . take a shower, think . . . go for the shorty.

2 boats, from Clinton, MO - 1 drop Tulsa, 1 drop Mead, OK. Pick up today. 135 mile DH, 435 mile trip, delivers Monday. Pick it up and come back to the house for the weekend. Trial run.

OMG - Now it's time to go to work !

Wait for rate confirmation email, grab trailer, head up there, find shipper, wait on street for a bit, peruse other loaded trailers, pull in. Helpful guys - tell you where to strap and hook, get it all situated, help strap down, little hiccup with paperwork, out the door at 2.30 pm, back at the house 5.30pm.

SMOKE CIGAR. DRINK COFFEE STOUT. REFLECT.

Not at all as bad as you thought it was gonna be, right? Ya big scaredy cat !

Lessons learned.

Had a BOYD driver there, I helped him with his load, there was a wait on paperwork, so he helped me. Ran back to Springfield with him, he helped add another strap at the truck stop. He's 10 years in on FB, 23 driving. Nice guy. See what you guys mean now - FB drivers tend to help one another out.

Forgot hammer and nails - or screws for screw gun - had to strap dunnage post down to secure against twisting. Forgot ladder. Dummy. Forgot . . . a few things. Be prepared. The BOYD driver liked my hook for pulling straps, porta winches, and tool boxes - so some kudos there from more experienced kiddies.

Light load - MPG was crud running into a pretty hard headwind back. managed 8.2 mpg up there, 6.1 back loaded. Ooof.

So - plan is - stock the truck with some clothes and get paperwork situated, head out early AM Monday to deliver, and have load alerts set to follow me to Mead, OK - and jump on something better outta there. Seems getting out of this specific location is a little hard, at the rates I want, and down yonder looks better. Main thing is to keep the wheels turning this week, and some bills scanned in for the payday following Tuesday. Will be looking forward to it.

Major thanks to all who have contributed to this point, OLD MAN - FORTY CAL GLOCK - mental support from TRUCK DUO - STORMDRIVEN, NIKIMBRE, ICSHEEPLE - you know who you are, appreciated guys . . . DOUBLE YELLOW - information invaluable, thanks bro. Still haven't made it to the end of that audio book - owe you 2 steak dinners now.

 

As with all else - if it helps somebody, I'm happy. Glad you've enjoyed it so far.

Somebody said here a little while back - it's a numbers game. It's important to know where those numbers come from. Double Yellow loves the numbers, and is a good resource. I'm just a test dummy - but no, I don't think it's all rocket science, just that I happen to like the details.

DID NOT! DID NOT!! But yes, the spread will take a bit of learning.

Thanks Fortycal - yes, I'm hoping for the better weather and rates too . . . all new right now.

 

And - I probably won't be posting rates on here, or $/pm figures, until I have it all up and running for a month or 3. Experienced hands here will be able to work out where the shippers are, what the rates should be. All I have seen so far is that I'm better off east of I35, out of the far NE, and Florida (unless 40cal hooks me up with his agent!! )

 

But, technically - it is . . . a load.

 

Thanks bro!