I'm stuck waiting for a load. Freight traffic is slow, and sometimes you're stuck someplace waiting for several hours, or even a day. Fortunately, thanks to high tech, I have the internet to kill time with.
No internet poker today yet. Instead, I contacted Arrow Trucks. They have 2,500 trucks in their inventory. Last night I emailed them with my specs: I want a truck they're going to auction that I can rebuild.
This morning (monday) a salesman from their St. Louis branch got right back to me. He said that they had two that were going today. He was hoping I'd jump, of course, but I asked him how often they got those. Every thirty days or so, he said. Ok, well, I'm not in a hurry and want the RIGHT truck. He'll give me as much notice as he can so that I can get by there.
They're actually in IL off I-55. That's off my company's primary lanes for mere mortals, but I know a shortcut through northern AR, and can get there on any runs to or from the middle southwest to the northeast or back without burning extra fuel or losing time.
I called and talked, and then emailed a followup, mentioning that I'd be open to other deals, as in on a truck they'd normally finance that's not due for a rebuild, for a certain price-range. I doubt that they'll be able to satisfy me there, but it's worth a shot.
I've got to tell you: They have free truck-sale papers at the truckstops, and dealers advertize online. One add: A truck with EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND miles on it for 37k. Made my blood boil. That truck is within 200,000 miles of a rebuild, of it's not due for one already. Probably gets a half-mile per gallon less than it did new and struggles on hills. WTF! I couldn't look at it much for fear of going blind, but it must have had a lot of chrome on it. Must have been a very pretty pile of junk.
I might get lucky and get one with, say, 600k on it and in need of some bodywork for under 18k. One that I could count on 300,000 more miles on before I need to sink 15k into rebuilding. With this truck, I'd probably go ahead and get a refrigerator, see if I could find a used generator (so that I needn't idle my truck and burn more fuel), upgrade the sound system, and consider bodywork.
The tough part is this: Moving out of a truck is like moving out of a house. Not just all my clothes and stuff, but my inverter, which is wired into the batteries. I'll have to go to where the new truck is, park next to it, and spend at least a DAY moving stuff into it. I'll probably have to pay a technician to take care of the inverter, then or later.
Then I return the old truck to AEL and start fighting them over the 20k they say I owe on it. Then take a bus or something to go back up and fetch the new truck. Then get everything processed through my O/O company all over again...I think.
You see, the whole idea of this is to make my move to bigger money--and why not Landstar, since that's where I aim to end up anyway?
But you can't apply without your own truck, so I won't be able to until I have the new title in my hands, and the truck in a condition to meet their requirements. Every company, to varying degrees, sweats "image", and also doesn't want drivers running trucks that are likely to break down.
So what I'll do is, as soon as I'm finished here, go to the Landstar website and get an application sent to me. I'll have that filled out and ready to fax when my newused truck is ready. You need to send them photos of it too, sometimes.
I can run with temporary tags for two weeks or a month, I think--not that it matters.
If Landstar accepts me, I'd probably want my own authority. But I may not be able to get one, since my address is a post office box, and using my Gman's in Ohio would subject me to Ohio taxes...well, when I incorporate it will be in Nevada with a resident agent. There will be a physical address there, so maybe I'll just do that later and make ten cents less/mile til that's settled. The authority will need to be in the Corp's name anyway....
I hate this stuff.
With the newused truck I can probably get it to a bodyshop and wherever else it needs to go, along with the bulk of my junk stashed in it, and then continue driving this truck for this company until that's all done. Then return this truck to the leasing company in Little Rock, but not start the battle with them over the money yet.
Then bus--no, rent a car--to go get the newused truck and bring it back. Complete the move, and THEN engage in battle and pay the leasing company off. In the meanwhile, I'll have been in touch with Landstar already. I may not know yet about Landstar, but my backup is the high-paying reefer company which is only 60 miles from Little Rock.
They're smaller and I have a contact person there. I will have disclosed my driving record and (ideally) confirmed that there is a gig waiting there for me once I have a truck. I'll wait for Landstar's decision and delay everything else, meanwhile taking care of my inverter and (ideally again) a used generator installation.
(As soon as the bastards realized they could gouge for truck generators, they went from 3 to 8 grand. I won't pay that, so I'll try to find a used one.)
Anyway, I won't burn any bridges. As I said, I like my current company a lot, and the only reasons I mean to leave is for more money, longer runs, and--in the case of Landstar--self-determination (freedom).
Trucking companies don't take it personally when you leave (on good terms). Or when you get tentatively accepted and then tell them you're going somewhere else. Good faith here is calling and TELLING them this, rather than just not showing up.
I will, of possible, give at least a week's notice to my current company of my leaving. But unlike in other industries, this is common. Companies are always trying to lease new drivers and never have enough, and my departure wouldn't change anything; one driver isn't enough to put them in a bind.
It's going to be stressful and difficult physicly and mentally. For me, especially, it's going to be hell. But sometimes you just have to put in your mouthpiece and go through this sort of purgatory. In a couple weeks, I'll come out the other side in a nicer place than I've ever been. It's worth it. It really is.
There you go. I just mapped it out (roughly) for myself, well in advance. Now I know that I need to contact the two companies and get those balls rolling. I've got a foundation, and as I think about it further over the next few weeks, I'll refine it. By the time I get to the newused truck, I'll have it mapped out like a commando raid.
There's something to be said for being obsessive, ya know?
No internet poker today yet. Instead, I contacted Arrow Trucks. They have 2,500 trucks in their inventory. Last night I emailed them with my specs: I want a truck they're going to auction that I can rebuild.
This morning (monday) a salesman from their St. Louis branch got right back to me. He said that they had two that were going today. He was hoping I'd jump, of course, but I asked him how often they got those. Every thirty days or so, he said. Ok, well, I'm not in a hurry and want the RIGHT truck. He'll give me as much notice as he can so that I can get by there.
They're actually in IL off I-55. That's off my company's primary lanes for mere mortals, but I know a shortcut through northern AR, and can get there on any runs to or from the middle southwest to the northeast or back without burning extra fuel or losing time.
I called and talked, and then emailed a followup, mentioning that I'd be open to other deals, as in on a truck they'd normally finance that's not due for a rebuild, for a certain price-range. I doubt that they'll be able to satisfy me there, but it's worth a shot.
I've got to tell you: They have free truck-sale papers at the truckstops, and dealers advertize online. One add: A truck with EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND miles on it for 37k. Made my blood boil. That truck is within 200,000 miles of a rebuild, of it's not due for one already. Probably gets a half-mile per gallon less than it did new and struggles on hills. WTF! I couldn't look at it much for fear of going blind, but it must have had a lot of chrome on it. Must have been a very pretty pile of junk.
I might get lucky and get one with, say, 600k on it and in need of some bodywork for under 18k. One that I could count on 300,000 more miles on before I need to sink 15k into rebuilding. With this truck, I'd probably go ahead and get a refrigerator, see if I could find a used generator (so that I needn't idle my truck and burn more fuel), upgrade the sound system, and consider bodywork.
The tough part is this: Moving out of a truck is like moving out of a house. Not just all my clothes and stuff, but my inverter, which is wired into the batteries. I'll have to go to where the new truck is, park next to it, and spend at least a DAY moving stuff into it. I'll probably have to pay a technician to take care of the inverter, then or later.
Then I return the old truck to AEL and start fighting them over the 20k they say I owe on it. Then take a bus or something to go back up and fetch the new truck. Then get everything processed through my O/O company all over again...I think.
You see, the whole idea of this is to make my move to bigger money--and why not Landstar, since that's where I aim to end up anyway?
But you can't apply without your own truck, so I won't be able to until I have the new title in my hands, and the truck in a condition to meet their requirements. Every company, to varying degrees, sweats "image", and also doesn't want drivers running trucks that are likely to break down.
So what I'll do is, as soon as I'm finished here, go to the Landstar website and get an application sent to me. I'll have that filled out and ready to fax when my newused truck is ready. You need to send them photos of it too, sometimes.
I can run with temporary tags for two weeks or a month, I think--not that it matters.
If Landstar accepts me, I'd probably want my own authority. But I may not be able to get one, since my address is a post office box, and using my Gman's in Ohio would subject me to Ohio taxes...well, when I incorporate it will be in Nevada with a resident agent. There will be a physical address there, so maybe I'll just do that later and make ten cents less/mile til that's settled. The authority will need to be in the Corp's name anyway....
I hate this stuff.
With the newused truck I can probably get it to a bodyshop and wherever else it needs to go, along with the bulk of my junk stashed in it, and then continue driving this truck for this company until that's all done. Then return this truck to the leasing company in Little Rock, but not start the battle with them over the money yet.
Then bus--no, rent a car--to go get the newused truck and bring it back. Complete the move, and THEN engage in battle and pay the leasing company off. In the meanwhile, I'll have been in touch with Landstar already. I may not know yet about Landstar, but my backup is the high-paying reefer company which is only 60 miles from Little Rock.
They're smaller and I have a contact person there. I will have disclosed my driving record and (ideally) confirmed that there is a gig waiting there for me once I have a truck. I'll wait for Landstar's decision and delay everything else, meanwhile taking care of my inverter and (ideally again) a used generator installation.
(As soon as the bastards realized they could gouge for truck generators, they went from 3 to 8 grand. I won't pay that, so I'll try to find a used one.)
Anyway, I won't burn any bridges. As I said, I like my current company a lot, and the only reasons I mean to leave is for more money, longer runs, and--in the case of Landstar--self-determination (freedom).
Trucking companies don't take it personally when you leave (on good terms). Or when you get tentatively accepted and then tell them you're going somewhere else. Good faith here is calling and TELLING them this, rather than just not showing up.
I will, of possible, give at least a week's notice to my current company of my leaving. But unlike in other industries, this is common. Companies are always trying to lease new drivers and never have enough, and my departure wouldn't change anything; one driver isn't enough to put them in a bind.
It's going to be stressful and difficult physicly and mentally. For me, especially, it's going to be hell. But sometimes you just have to put in your mouthpiece and go through this sort of purgatory. In a couple weeks, I'll come out the other side in a nicer place than I've ever been. It's worth it. It really is.
There you go. I just mapped it out (roughly) for myself, well in advance. Now I know that I need to contact the two companies and get those balls rolling. I've got a foundation, and as I think about it further over the next few weeks, I'll refine it. By the time I get to the newused truck, I'll have it mapped out like a commando raid.
There's something to be said for being obsessive, ya know?
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