| Subj: Re:Laying a foundation
Date: 9/3/00 2:40:57 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: Thunderman
To: whitetigertruck@expresstrucking.com
Dear sir: First off I would like to commend you on a truly outstanding website, I don’t know when I’ve seen a more orderly and informative sight anywhere. I guess I don’t qualify as a newbie yet, as I’m still in the information gathering stage of my conversion from a semi driver to an expeditor, thus
the reason for this letter. I have gone through your site and I guess I’m wondering how to proceed, I find myself looking at trucks, sleepers, cargo boxes and companies and geting all the brouchures from all the various sources and it seems to me that you need to know what the company you’ll work for requires, but they can’t tell you much unless they know what kind of truck you have. I’m probably not making much sense to someone who has been in the business as you have but it seems like I’m
going around in circles. I’ve got 27 years in the transportation industry as a semi driver both as a company driver and an o/o but this is a totally new area of the business and I could use some direction. How do you know which companies to stay away from like the plauge and which are reputable, what manufacturer or type of equipment to incorporate a cargo box when you don’t know what type of freight you’ll be hauling and a million other questions that seem to need an answer when I don’t have
a clue as of now. I would appreciate any information that you could give me as to how to proceed.
Subj: Re: Laying a foundation
Date: 9/6/00
To: Thunderman47
Dear Thunderman,
Thank you for visiting Expresstrucking.com. I'm not sure where to start but first my apologies for not responding sooner. We all have literally been working around the clock in preparation of launching an expansion site to Expresstrucking.com that will
bring you the answers to many questions you a should have before you venture into this business. I'ts dedicated exclusively to Emergency Freight Transportation News.
We are delighted to hear your impression of the Expresstrucking.com website and appreciate your comment. If our sight has appealed to you in the way you describe then that is my answer to many people who ask "what do you get out of all your time and dedication to making this site available?" For those who have
helped make this possible our reward is receiving feedback from our viewers who almost word for word tell you that the Expresstrucking.com website did for them what the main objective and mission it was created for "Being the most orderly, informative, reader friendly and focused Resource for the Expedite Industry anywhere".
The one thing that adds value to our insight and content is that we can empathize with our readers because we've been there and are experiencing the same things as we are still out on the road.
What you are saying about gathering information I know exactly what you mean we went through the same thing. It seems no company really wants to take the responsibility of saying this is exactly how it is and this is what you need. That is because this segment of the industry is so
volatile. Trends change quickly and it closely relates to what our economy is doing as to whether or not Emergency Freight will be plentiful or very scarce. So while a particular size truck, cargo box or equipment needs my exist a certain way today by the time you get out there the tide my change. Believe me it happened to us. It took 9 months for our truck to be built and by then they company's needs had change. No one wants to say they told you to go do this because if it doesn't work out
you'll have negative feelings. So what they all do is put the ball in your court so any disappointment is that of your own doing. Just like bankers, stock brokers, doctors and many other service type professions the major decisions are up to you. The difference with those professions is that they put all the information in front of you so that you can make a wise decision based on the knowledge you have in front of you.
That is our mission and commitment to you as a professional service provider to the Expedited Industry! Most people entering this part of the trucking industry don't understand the nature of the beast and feel they are not able to get an unbiased answer to all their questions because someone has a string attached to you for their benefit, like the dealers which sell the tools and equipment for you to do this job and the Express companies who will build their customer base by having enough contractors to haul the freight. So many times people feel they are not getting the truth or the whole story from them. That's why we are here with no strings attached but a "bond of trust" because we do not have any investment in your individual business. We have a commitment to the entire Emergency Freight Transportation Industry and that is to be the most reliable and helpful resource so that all parties can be in a Win, Win situation, the contractors, express companies and equipment providers.
I know I am rambling on but I hope you understand my message. No one can really predict the demands or trend of the Expedite industry so don't misinterpret a dealers or express companies lack of definitive answers to your questions. All we can do is provide you with the past history trends and help to educate you in this to make a wise choice. I will commit to telling you firmly that if you have any uncertainties or appehentions about your investment of time and money into this
business or feel you don't have enough information to go on then it's not the time to do it, don't just flip a a coin. Many of the things you mentioned you had questions about you will find the answers to in the Business Strategies section or the EFT News Section of Expresstrucking.com. If you didn't find it that is probably because there is so much content in there. This is one of the reasons we have made the EFT news a website of it's own so that you can find information easily on the topic
you need. You may want to check out the "Viewers Questions area of Expresstrucking.com because you will probably find answers to similar or other questions people have asked us.
Being a Professional Freight Transporter for 27 years in the heavy duty truck industry the best way I can compare the two types of trucking is that in Expediting you run less miles for the same amount of revenue but there are usually less miles available to run. I know now I sound like the express
companies you ask what kind of truck they need and they say what kind of truck do you have, but seriously if you are use to running 4,000 miles in a week as a single driver in this industry you can possibly make the same amount of revenue by only running 3,000 miles. The big question is will you get 3,000 miles a week consistently doing expediting? The answer to that is no one knows.
Think about it if you have to go to the emergency room at the hospital the first thing you think of is
"I'm going to be there for hours because they are always full and if it's a holiday weekend you know to bring a pillow because the trend is there always seems to be a lot of emergencies during the holidays and summertime. Well sometimes when you get to the hospital and the emergency room is empty and you say "where is everybody" and the staff replies there has just been hardly any Emergencies today? Good thing Doctors get paid a set salary right. As an Emergency Freight
Transporter you are dependent upon the day to day happenings out there and how well the company you are leased with is prepared for the days events. That is why you won't really get a concrete answer to your questions. So the best advice is to be prepared financially and mentally for many dull days with no generated revenue because unlike doctors all of us do not have a set salary!
I hope I've been some what of a help in answering your question. Please keep in touch and let us
know how we can be of further assistance. I will send you the address for the sister site to Expresstrucking.com as soon at it is available. In the meantime if you enjoy this site and feel we can help others or be of interest to other drivers please forward this to them so they can find us WWW.expresstrucking.com
Thank you again for visiting and taking the time to write to us. We usually post our viewers questions if it is information others can use so unless you tell us your question
may appear on the website but without you email address to maintain your privacy. please let me know if it would be OK to post your question because I think many others have the sane dilemma.
Sincerely,
Linda Yates
Good luck to your venture. | |
