I scheduled/am taking time off to take care of much overdue business.
1: Pick up my new debit card and checkbooks for my new personal account. These should have been mailed six weeks weeks ago. Naturally, they weren't there. Somehow their server omitted stuff out of the address, and they were returned. So...here we go again.
2: See my accountant about my taxes. She is on vacation til tuesday. I also need a copy of my articles of incorporation for other business.
3: Dump Christine (pending). Yeah...AEL tells me that after almost 3 years and 46k on a 3 year 47.5k lease I still owe ten grand. They say the maintenance deficit is 38k. Well they're getting the truck, and that's all. (Not productive or useful to waste time hellraising or whining or suing. Ya got to focus on practical matters.)
4: (Should be before 3, actually) Locate and nail down a truck that won't earn the name "Christine".
I internet searched, sent several emails and made some calls. Ryder appears to be my only option, unless I want to buy--which I don't in this economy. (Plus leasing is a better tax-deal). They have automatics and can provide the make/model of my choice. The problem is, all their automatics seem to be NEW.
Also, their leases aren't walk-aways. I don't think you're tied to the balance when you turn it in, but there are certainly penalties. I'll have to sort these details out face-to-face in Little Rock. (Those guys are, of course, on vacation too--but I fortunately got the guy in Van Buren, and he's writing it up for them. I should get a contact monday or tuesday.)
Little Rock is where I turn Christine in so that's the Ryder I want to deal with. I can empty her out on the Ryder lot, take her in, and get a cab back.
They have a good deal as far as monthly costs are concerned. As-is, I pay 300/week on my current lease, plus 12 cents/mile into my maintenance escrow. Ryder could provide me a truck for about 2k/month, and I think 6 cents a mile (non-refundable).
The thing is this: I get free maintenance, and they provide road assist. This includes my insurance, which I currently pay in addition to my lease. On a new truck, many of the warrantees run for three years. It is a lease-to-own, and I can get an early buy-out clause.
What all this means is that, as far as weekly average nets are concerned, I could run the new truck cheaper than I now run Christine.
They'll want all this stuff on my credit, and no doubt there's a lot of false BS on my report. But I can put down a big deposit, prove that I make good money, and have liquid collateral. Plus it will not be me, but rather the Corp. which will lease the truck.
I don't mind the deposit, either. It's just equity that I can use later to buy the note. It's an investment, and since I intend to own the truck, why should I get all bent out of shape? I shrug this stuff off.
But right NOW, being down for what appears to be more than ten days is painful. I still have to make my truck and insurance payments, and I'm still burning fuel.
But since I'm stuck anyway, I'll just make the most of it. Catch up on my cable. Play internet poker. Maybe go to a bar (in a cab, of course).
Oh: And I'm checking out other opportunities. I do like USA, and do well here. But I just can't ignore better deals when I see them.
I currently make .90/mile plus the surcharge (no surcharge on empty miles). At Schneider, I could make 65% of the line-haul (what the carrier charges) plus the surcharge. No pay for empty miles.
That's an average of about 1.30/mile. If I factor in the no pay for empty miles, it's still over 1.20/mile, or a 33% raise. AND I could self-dispatch; picking my own loads off the internet. Schneider also has a few other deal-sweeters--plus they have a terminal in Akron, Ohio, so that I could bother my relatives more often, watch some Browns games, get an old car maybe to park at the terminal, and watch some Browns games.
However, another company in southern Ohio pays 74%, and runs mainly LONG runs. (With Scheider I'm concerned about length-of-haul). Now THIS would average about 1.48/mile; 1.40 omitting empty miles. This extra .20 could mean 600/week!
I've had that one fax me an application. I need to find more out about Scheider, and at any rate can't do anything 'til the truck problem is settled; you must provide that information.
Each has it's pros and cons. The latter is a no-frills outfit, and small. I have to consider what might happen to them in a trasportation industry which, under pressure of fuel prices and inflation, could lose freight, and consolidate.
The thing is, then I could just return to USA or go with Schneider. This company is doing well, even now. If anything happens, it would be bought out by a larger company. I'd remain there, or else could always go to Scheider.
Their terminal is about 180 miles from Cleveland, but maybe I could still get an old car and cruise up there for Browns games occasionally--or at least to a Browns-freindly hotel/bar. (And yes--it DOES matter!)
At this point, I'm leaning heavily towards the smaller, higher-paying company in Bungles territory. I have a rollover on my record, which is huge. It wasn't my fault, but that might not matter to Schneider. I'll have a better chance with the smaller company, since most often if there's an insurance issue, I can get my own. Smaller companies tend to be more flexible--and to trust their own judgement more.
That's the bird-in-hand in terms of length-of-haul. They run freight from coast-to-coast.
Yeah, writing stuff down like this forces your brain to slow down to your typing-speed. You think more clearly and deliberately. You weigh everything.
I'm almost 52. I don't have enough piled up. I have to go for the big bucks, and start piling it up. With this gig, I'd be a lot mopre secure a lot faster. In fact, I'd use the lease-term to determine my (optional) retirement. I could buy the land I'll need much sooner; like during this housing crisis--and have somebody to manage it 'til I'm ready.
Yeah...thanks for making sure never to read this, everybody. You've helped me make my mind up.
I haven't told Ryan that I'm looking around yet. He'll understand, of course--money is money and that's how this business works. But it's still real uncomfortable, so I'm putting it off. I really should tell him though, since saying "surprise! I quit!" is pretty classless.
Wow. I just did some mental calculating...Ryan will absolutely understand.
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