| Subj: getting started
Date: 7/17/00 3:33:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: mike and beckie
To: whitetigertruck@expresstrucking.com
I have soaked up every tidbit of information your
great web site has to offer and I can tell you I have yet to find another one that stands anywhere close to being your equal.
I'm not in trucking at this point, but after having spent several months researching and asking questions and talking to people, I really think the expedited freight field is where I want to be. My feeling is that before I make a commitment to a company and put myself into debt with a truck, the first thing I need to do is drive for someone else. That way I can be sure this really is what I want to do and not be under financial pressure if it isn't. Presently I'm driving an 84 passenger school bus for our local school district and I have the class B license with air brake endorsement, but no haz mat. I have 2 years experience with school buses. Do I need, or will it be required, that I take some type of driving course before operating a type D straight truck? Some say yes, some no. What's the answer? It's very difficult to know when the owner operator or fleet owner you're talking to will treat you fairly and offer decent pay. Can you give me some guide lines on this as to what is reasonable pay? Do you personally know of some ethical, good character type owner operators, or fleet owners, that I could talk to who hire drivers? I also hear stories of little or no major medical or health benefits for drivers hiring out to owner operators and fleet owners. I have no way of knowing if these comments are true or not, but everyone needs health coverage. I really would appreciate your comments on that subject and I suspect others would as well.Your thoughts will be appreciated.
Mike
Ellerslie, Ga
Subj: Re: getting started
Date: 7/22/00
To: mike and beckie
Dear Mike,
Thank you for your comment on the Expresstrucking.com website. I'm glad you were able to find information that may be helpful in your pursuit to venture into this industry. My apologies for not being able to respond sooner. Since we are in touch with this industry through our evolvement as a husband and wife team I personally respond to our visitors questions but
sometimes I'm not able to access the Internet from certain locations.
First let me say that your thoughts on driving for someone else before you make a big financial investment is very wise. Notice I say investment and that is because purchasing a truck and dedicating yourself to transporting emergency freight is just like taking a chance with the stock market Nothing is guaranteed but if the market is good you will see a rewarding return however if the market is bad you will
feel the impact as well and if you are not in a position financial to ride the waves then it would be advisable not to invest in a high risk venture. Remember lots of people play the stock market but not all are profitable and the difference is in the strategies, knowledge, management of their investment, planning, smart decisions and of course a little bit of luck by having the right stock at the right time. So with regard to expediting to see a good return on your investment remember it
relies upon your individual business strategies, knowledge of the industry, management of your business, planning ahead, making smart business decisions, being in the right place at the right time and you are always at the mercy of the industry trends.
Your B license with airbrake endorsement enables you to drive a commercial straight truck vehicle whether its over or under 26,000 pounds and whether or not it has air brakes however many of the large express companies require 6 months
or 1 years experience of driving the type unit you are leasing on with them. So even though the same drivers license applies to a school bus and a commercial straight truck if you have no experience in driving a straight truck you may not qualify to drive for certain express companies. Some companies are more strict about their qualifying polices than others so don't exclude a potential carrier you would like to lease with until you speak with their recruiter. The worst that could happen is
they say come back when you have at least 6 months experience in driving a straight truck. As far as Haz-mat endorsement most express companies require you to have that and all you have to do is go to your DMV and take the written test for the endorsement. There are certain companies that do not require the endorsement since they do not haul Hazardous Materials. I believe a couple of the companies listed in the directory on our site do not require Haz-mat endorsement.
If you are
looking to drive for someone an acceptable arrangement is usually a 50/50 split of the truck pay and you pay your fuel, meals and personals but the truck owner pays the maintenance, truck insurance and equipment related expenses. An ideal situation is a 60/40 split where you get 60% of the truck pay. As far as health insurance normally you are on your own. Most people hire drivers as independent contractors, for liability and tax purposes, therefore they do not provide health coverage. Most
express companies provide the opportunity to obtain health insurance through an underwriter they use which offers discounted rates to contractors. Just make sure if you get your insurance through them that you can take your policy with you where ever you go should you decide to lease with a different express company and if so would you have to pay a higher premium.
I hope this helps to answer your questions. Please feel free to ask if we can be of any further help. Good luck to you and
thank you again for visiting Expresstrucking.com, and come back soon.
Best regards,
Linda Yates
Linda@expresstrucking.com |
