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Phil Madsen's BlogLearning Something New Every Day |
Truck drivers Phil and Diane Madsen live, work and play on the road; transporting expedited and critical-shipment freight in their custom-built truck. Phil's blog is a blend of travelogue, brain dump and commentary on road-inspired topics.
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Blog entries are made so as not to reveal customer specifics or the current location of the truck when we are under load. Entries are updated to include location information after we leave the area. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, May 1, 2009. I learned today of a blog reader in Columbus, Ohio who spotted our truck when we were visiting the art museum there. Learned by receiving a message from him.
He was driving a city bus and drove past our truck. We were unable to meet but it was nice to hear from this blog reader just the same.
We woke up this morning at a truck stop near Spokane, Washington, where we delivered a load yesterday. The good night's sleep was most welcome. We have been running non-stop since Monday. A very nice load offer came in this morning that we accepted. The load picks up in this area on Monday and will keep us rolling for two days and nights. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, May 2, 2009. I learned today what the H1N1 (swine) flu virus looks like under a microscope (photo right). Learned by seeing it on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention web site.
Diane and I are following the spread of this flu with interest. The CDC Twitter feed makes it easy to keep up. Part of what we do in our work is disaster relief (see: Introduction to Expediting). If a full-fledged pandemic developed, we would likely be put on the job in one way or another.
We are laid over in Spokane, Washington until Monday, when we will pick up a load. Today is a typical layover day. Among other things, Diane took a long walk this morning and is doing laundry this afternoon. I am puttering with the truck and enjoying several hours of uninterrupted reading about trading. Later today I will take a brisk walk or work out in the truck and then shower. Tonight, we will rent a $1.00 movie from Red Box (Slumdog Millionaire), snuggle up and watch it together on one of our laptop computers. By choice, we have no TV in our truck, and with more and more programming going online, there is no need.
Financially, last week was a good week. On Monday we pick up a load that pays more than we made all last week. It has been a while since we have seen two good weeks back to back. The revenue of this two week period rivals that of some of our best two week periods ever. Two weeks do not a trend make but it feels good to be making good money again, even if only for two weeks. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Today's Topics: Laid over in Spokane • Due diligence on a prospective broker • Learning from one's mistakes is overrated
• I learned today a bit about Spokane, Washington. Learned by driving in town and reading its history online.
We are laid over in Spokane, waiting to pick up freight in the area on Monday. We went to church this morning and drove next to a museum to take it in. We did not make it. Streets leading up to it are truck-prohibited except for local deliveries.
Not feeling particularly determined to go to the museum, we turned around and drove to the mall on the other end of town, where there is a Barnes and Nobel bookstore. Diane is inside reading now. I am blogging in the truck and will soon read and study here.
My study topics today are trading and accounting. Both books were purchased at Barnes and Nobel stores elsewhere in the country. The nice parking lots and comfortable chairs Barnes and Nobel provides do their job. We have spent a lot of time in their stores and left a fair amount of money behind.
• I am also doing due diligence work on the broker I am about to open a trading account with. I was a registered representative when I worked as a financial planner (See: my bio). The internet did not exist then as it does today. It is a lot easier to dig up information. Still, it is a tedious process that involves reading old court cases, regulatory filings, searching for actions that may be pending against the broker and reviewing the broker's financial condition.
Diane and I have set some money aside for trading (money that we are fully prepared to lose and can live without if it comes to that). I am eager to open an account but not so eager that I am going to jump in without knowing the broker well. Depending on how busy the freight keeps us, it may be a while before this due diligence project is complete.
In addition to researching the broker, I need to learn more about the government agencies and self regulatory organizations that are involved. From my previous securities broker training (Series 7), I know a bit about how the stock markets are regulated (try not to laugh these days about the "regulated" part). As a beginning options and futures trader, I know very little about the regulatory environment so it's off into the due diligence forest I go.
So far, the broker looks just fine. I would probably be OK jumping in at this point but there is another reason to continue my research. Reading these old cases helps me learn how clients get into trouble as well. Due diligence work not only helps me know that I have a good broker. It helps me know how to be a good client.
• When Diane and I looked at truck driving for the first time, a host of veteran truckers talked loudly about the need for experience to succeed in the expediting business. The talked about how you must pay your dues, make mistakes, learn from the the mistakes you make and work your way up.
Poppycock!
In the information age in which we live, it is very easy to go online, read what numerous experienced people in any field have done and failed to do, and learn from their mistakes. It fell on deaf ears when I suggested that it is quicker and easier to learn from other people's mistakes than it is to learn from your own. In other words, what benefit is there in making mistakes that you can easily avoid, when you can instead learn from the mistakes other people make?
For example, a number of experienced truck drivers have ended up with a tank of bad diesel fuel because they bought it from low-volume, off-brand truck stops at a lower price. If they did not know it before, they figured out later that the fuel is sold at a lower price because it is closer to going bad than fresh fuel is. I have never had a truck die on the road because of bad fuel and it is unlikely that I ever will. That is because I learned, not my lesson, but the lesson others learned the hard way by buying cut-rate fuel.
I am approaching my new trading endeavor in the same way Diane and I approached our then new truck driving endeavor. I am doing more research than most newbies ever dream of doing, and learning from the mistakes others have made.
After the bookstore closes, we will return to the truck stop and get a good night's sleep. Then it is off to work tomorrow, hauling a good-money load. Yes! Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, May 4, 2009. No entry today.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009. I learned today that the gallery that overlooks the trading floor at the CME Group (successor organization to the now merged Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade and New York Mercantile Exchange) is not open to the general public. Learned when I began to plan a trip to visit these Chicago exchanges.
Interested in trading as I am, and wanting to know more, visiting the exchanges is something I would like to do. The next time we are in or near Chicago, we may take a day off so I can go downtown and visit these exchanges.
I was disappointed to learn the gallery is not open to the general public. I would have liked to spend a full day observing the traders on the trading floors. With all the information that is available online and from brokers, I'm not sure a visit would be otherwise worth the trouble.
• We picked up our freight in Spokane, Washington on Monday morning and have been running almost non-stop on a cross- country run. The weather and scenery are fantastic. May is off to a good start. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, May 6 - Saturday, May 9, 2009. No blog entries. We have been running hard and doing little more than driving and sleeping. This is the best-money week we have had since the recession impacted our business last year. This week, the freight took us from Washington (state) to Pennsylvania, to Florida, to Maryland, to Virginia, to North Carolina.
Last week was strong too. Two weeks do not a trend make but it is nice to see business back to robust 2007 levels, even if only for a short time. If May continues at its present pace, it will be an exceptionally good month that will backfill some of the weaker months we had earlier in 2009. Dare we hope? Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, May 10, 2009. After completing a short run last night and finishing a lucrative week, we went out of service until Tuesday morning to rest. We are in the Raleigh, North Carolina area.
The weather is beautiful today. We ate breakfast, not in the truck, but at a Waffle House late this morning (I love those Waffle House breakfasts!). Then we found a park. After driving through to make sure it was OK to park the truck there, we went to a nearby grocery store and bought steaks.
Our purpose is to rest. Diane likes to cook and today she will have at it. Otherwise, we will be spending the day under the trees shown here, seated in lawn chairs on pine straw covered ground, reading and sleeping. It is 76 degrees with low humidity. The wind is blowing gently through the trees. The birds are singing and the forest smells fresh.
Our runs have been such that our log books would allow us to keep going. While we are physically and legally able to continue, we can tell a rest is due. Call it a mental health break. After two strong weeks, this job is beginning to feel like a job instead of the enjoyable career we have come to know expediting to be.
We have been in these circumstances before. The drive/sleep thing can be done for only so long. At some point, it becomes boring and a real break is needed. It may sound strange to some, since we are together 24/7, but after driving and sleeping in shifts for a while, we start missing each other. Quality time in a non-moving truck is needed every now and then. That means time together when we are both awake, and time apart when we put space between us to get our "me time."
By Tuesday, if not before, we will be good as new and ready to roll again. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, May 11, 2009. I learned today how Star Trek's Captain Kirk came to be named James Tiberius Kirk. Learned by watching the latest Star Trek film.
It is a good movie if you know the original Star Trek characters, and who doesn't? Unusual for us, we sat through the ending credits after the film ended. The music kept us in place. As the familiar theme song played, I reflected on how Star Trek has been part of our lives.
The first series came out when I was a teenager. I remember classmates using Spock's "Live long and prosper." on each other. When I was a college student and counselor at a summer church camp, the kids got a kick out of calling out "energize" just before they flushed the toilet.
Dozens of other cultural references have been part of our lives for most of our lives, and remain so today. When I got my first flip-open cell phone, the first thing I did was open it and say, "Kirk to Enterprise." When Diane and I are on a long run and change drivers, we sometimes say, "You have the bridge."
There is no doubt about it. Star Trek has been a fun part of our lives for a long time. The latest movie was fun to watch, well done and a worthy addition to the Star Trek saga.
We are in the Raleigh, North Carolina area taking a two day break to rest after completing a six day, 5,000 mile week. We are scheduled to go back in service tomorrow morning. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Today's Topics: Regulating financial derivatives • Our activities today • This trucker's advice to trucking company executives
• I learned today a bit about the Obama administration proposals to regulate the derivatives market. Learned by reading about them.
One paragraph in a New York Times article jumped out. "The administration is seeking the repeal of major portions of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, a law adopted in December 2000 that made sure that derivative instruments would remain largely unregulated."
That is of interest to me because the trading I am preparing to do is trading in commodity futures. I strongly support regulating derivative instruments. Traditional options and futures contracts are already transparent and widely used for a number of good reasons.
As the article says, "Used properly, they can reduce or transfer risk, limit the damage from market uncertainty and make global trade easier. Airlines, food companies, insurers, exporters and many other companies use derivatives to protect themselves from sudden and unpredictable changes in financial markets like interest rate or currency movements. Used poorly, derivatives can backfire and spread risk rather than contain it."
An example would be the farmer that sells corn at a known price today for delivery in the future (thus the name, "futures contract"). Another example is an airline that purchases vast quantities of fuel at a known price today that will be delivered later. Such a purchase helps an airline better know its future operating costs and thereby make better plans and pricing decisions.
Traditional futures and options contracts are known as derivatives. They are well known, well understood, traded in the open and heavily regulated both by the government and the exchanges on which they are traded. Successful traders have made vast sums trading these instruments in the open and under the rules.
I consider these to be good derivatives. The bad derivatives are now the focus of a regulatory conversation. Applying the rules of good derivatives to the so-called exotic derivatives that contributed to the crash of 2008 would have kept exotic derivatives from emerging in the first place, at least in the United States.
• We woke up this morning in Raleigh, North Carolina where we are waiting for a load offer and freight to haul. The last two weeks were very strong. So far this week, it seems we are back to slow freight and long waits between loads.
Total revenue for this week so far is $450. Yesterday we spent $120 on fuel and more on food and truck supplies. But hope is not lost. The Powerball rolled last night to a new prize level of $150 million. Diane just returned to the truck with a fresh ticket. Winning the Powerball has been on our to-do list for some time. This time, we are serious. We bought a ticket and, this time, we really, really, really mean it!
Update: It is now early evening. I have talked with three friends by phone. All are sitting in various cities waiting for freight. We have received two load offers. Both were declined because neither paid enough to make them profitable loads.
Diane completed an online course and printed test to maintain one of the certifications we have. I will do the same in the near future. She has been in a bookstore most of the day.
• I spent a good part of today reading articles and blog posts by various trucking company consultants and executives. These pieces read like a broken record. As with trucking company annual reports, so too with the literature. Everyone is talking about the same thing and suggesting the same strategies. They all are cutting costs, reviewing customer relationships, developing in-house brokerage operations, improving driver productivity and positioning themselves to capitalize on the expected recovery.
In other words, today's trucking company executives remain captive to the business school educations they received. They are focused on the things that got them good grades and teacher praise in the classroom.
Common in these pieces is the notion of an expected recovery and the assumption that better economic times lie ahead. I'm not looking for better times ahead. I'm looking to succeed as a one-truck owner-operator because others are going to go broke before Diane and me, leaving us with profitable freight to haul.
At present, two items of consequence to Diane and me are going down; the supply of available freight and the number of trucks to haul it. In recent years and at present, the supply of freight has declined faster than the supply of trucks, perpetuating an excess of trucks. While thousands of carriers and individual owner-operators have been forced out of the business, it has not been enough to reach a sustainable balance between trucks and freight. While an increase in the amount of available freight would certainly help create a sustainable balance, will it happen? I don't think so, at least not anytime soon.
Remember the experts who said last year that a recovery will begin in mid 2009? Well, here we are in mid 2009 and the presumed recovery is nowhere in sight. Wall Street professionals are giddy these days, not because a recovery has begun but because they see signs that the rate of economic decline is slowing. These are the same blind fools that failed to see the crash of 2008 coming and remain today blind to the fact that trends have inertia and the current trend is down.
While the rate of decline may have slowed, there is no good reason on earth to believe that the slower rate of decline means a recovery is at hand. A slow decline can continue for a decade. A slow decline can re-accelerate. A slow decline can level off to zero growth and stay that way for a very long time. The assumption that a recovery will quickly follow a decline is as groundless and hazardous to believe as the assumption that the economy was in good shape in 2007.
The trucking company executives that are relying on these experts to predict the recovery are relying on people who clearly don't know better than anyone else when a recovery will happen, if one happens at all, and how strong it will be.
I am as eager for an economic recovery as anyone else. But I am also mindful of the "lost decade" Japan experienced after a major crash, and the profound negative economic impacts our recent and massive pain-avoidance bailouts will push far into the future.
Pretending that a recovery is likely to begin in the near future is a form of denial and the easy way out. If a recovery is assumed, a recession is nothing more than an inconvenient interruption of the way business "should" be and the way things "should" work. Pretending that a recovery will bail you out shields you from having to question long-held assumptions about what works in business and what your goals should be. Pretending that a recovery is the answer shields you from the unpleasant task of staring facts in the face, including the fact that the economy continues to decline and it may be decades before freight volumes rise to pre-crash levels.
I don't believe trucking company executives should be positioning their companies for future growth. I believe they should be positioning their companies for smaller operations and sustainable profitability. Those who make decisions today based on a desire to have market share in the future do so at great peril to their companies and careers.
I fear that today's trucking company executives, having seen people very close to them lose their jobs, are afraid of losing their own. Consequently, they are acting like sheep, taking cues from each other and reverting to answers that made them feel good and look good in business school.
This truck driver's advice to trucking company executives is: Hauling more freight is not the answer. Hauling profitable freight is. Focus not on gaining market share tomorrow. Focus on making profits today. Market share will take care of itself as your competitors go broke and leave the remaining freight to you. As many before you have already learned, if you don't make profits today, you won't be around to make them tomorrow. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, May 21, 2009. Regular readers will notice recent gaps in my daily blog entries. Diane and I are OK. We have been running loads here and there; nothing great but nothing terrible either. I have been blogging less because nearly all of my free time has gone into trading (that page recently updated and edited for brevity).
Our carrier has taken a heavy-handed approach to get contractors to abide by a new policy. That does not sit well and it drives the point home about always having a plan B in place, in case your plan A stops working.
Our standing plan B has always been to move to another carrier. Every so often, we visit with other carriers to stay current on their opportunities and in touch with their recruiting departments. Trading presents another income opportunity but I have not yet developed it into a moneymaker. To date, I have been treating it as something to study and learn in our spare time. Recent developments have me looking at trading more seriously and urgently. Accordingly, I have been writing less and studying more.
In my entire life, I have never kept a job I did not like. The day I become unhappy with our carrier is the day we leave. Diane and I are nowhere near that point now, but heavy-handed approaches to new policies that we disagree with take the fun out of the game. In nearly six years with our carrier, this is the first time they have done something that made us unhappy for more than a day.
We are giving it time to see how things play out and polishing off plan B, just in case it is needed. I do not know yet if trading will become our new plan B but am studying hard to find out.
At the moment, we are on an overnight run. The delivery puts near a city where one of our nephews will be graduating from college. If no new load offers are received, we will be able to attend the ceremony and family doings. With the long weekend ahead, we don't expect much freight activity until next week. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Today's Topics: Family Event • Surprise Load • Visiting With an Energy Analyst
• I learned today the post-college plans of one of our nieces and one of our nephews, about the nephew's serious girlfriend, a bit about rottweiler dogs, the latest baseball exploits of our four young nephews, and additional items of the kind that typically get covered when families gather. Learned by attending a family event in Austin, Texas.
We delivered a load near Fort Worth, Texas early this morning that was picked up Thursday in North Carolina. With the long weekend approaching, we did not expect much freight to move. With a nephew graduating from college in Austin, Texas and family members gathering there, we decided to attend.
This nephew would be considered an achiever by most people's reckoning. Nearing the end of his eight-year military obligation, he served overseas, served with the unit in Washington, D.C. that guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, earned his way into a U.S. Army Special Forces program (the real SF, not the special forces many proud relatives tend to group their young soldiers into), and earned a college degree in Arab language and studies. The Army would love to have him back. He has a number of career options including stateside or overseas positions with various government agencies. His immediate plans include further full time study.
He was a reserve soldier while attending college, worked as a bouncer to pay the bills and even became a homeowner using rental income from his roommates. If he doesn't go off and get himself killed someplace, he has a bright future ahead. His now-serious girlfriend is giving him an incentive to consider his more adventurous career options.
• While running the North Carolina-Texas load, we were surprised to receive a very good load offer that picks up Sunday morning and delivers on Monday of the holiday weekend. Instead of sitting over a long weekend, we will be running well and setting ourselves up nicely for Tuesday work.
Curious about weekend activity, we used our carrier's automated voice response system to call in and find out what trucks were present and what loads were dispatched in the Dallas area. Expecting very little activity, we were surprised again. No trucks were waiting for freight. Ten had been dispatched before noon on this Friday before a long weekend. It was delightful to see trucks moving; strange too.
• Her relatives were also at this family event, which created an opportunity for me to meet and visit at length with an energy industry analyst. That was of special interest to me because of the commodities trading I have been researching.
He works for a large U.S. company that is a major player in banking and investment banking. The company also has a large presence in the futures markets, having a group of traders that do just that. Like many in that industry, when asked how work is going, he expressed relief that he still has a job. He joked that he does not have to tell mom about work any more because she can read all about his company in the news every day.
Six years ago last March, Diane and attended the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky for the first time. Then researching trucking carrers, we discovered expediting at that show. With that discovery made, we used all the time we had left at the show to research expediting and talk to expediter carriers that were exhibiting there.
On the way home, we stopped for fuel at a truck stop and saw not an exhibitor, but a real-live expediter parked there. I approached him and asked if I could ask some questions. He agreed and a friendly and informative visit followed. When I left, I was walking on air. This visit with a real-live expediter confirmed that the information I had and opinions I had formed about expediting were valid.
Up to that point, everything I had learned and come to believe about trucking and expediting had been learned as an outsider looking in. Talking not to a sales rep, recruiter, or trade show pitchman, but to a real-world expediter was a breakthrough moment for me. I found out then that what I knew was real and on the money.
The same thing happened today during my visit with this analyst. I have been researching and practicing trading for several months. I learned today that I can hold my own in a conversation, not with a broker or pitchman who has a trading system to sell, but with a real-world industry professional.
This man is about three years into his job. He goes to work every day and full time to do nothing but study certain segments of the energy industry and write reports that people higher up in the company will scrutinize and use in their decision making. Some of those people began as analysts themselves and count their industry experience in decades.
That helps explain why 95 percent of the people who enter the markets as beginning traders become net losers. They are trading against some very sophisticated people and well-developed minds. These high level professional traders do not work alone. They have a small army of analysts behind them and access to information mere mortals like me can only dream of. This I already knew.
What I learned today was that the information I have gathered and opinions I formed about trading are valid. THAT is very good news! It does not mean I am destined to be a successful trader. It does mean that I have not been barking up the wrong tree and that I am seeing the opportunity, not as I hope it to be, but as it is.
There is a nearly limitless variety of trading strategies that can be used. A number of successful traders became successful (rich), not by doing in-depth sector research, but by viewing the markets through different eyes and using strategies that many institutional traders do not use.
I have more work to do before I will feel ready to trade again with real money. Yesterday's conversation suggests that I may be further along than I previously thought. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, May 23, 2009. I learned today the latest about several relatives. Learned by visiting with them.
After attending a college graduation party yesterday, we drive to another community in Texas to spend time with relatives there. Our next load picks up tomorrow. We would have enjoyed a longer visit but, this time, put business before pleasure. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, May 24, 2009. I learned today that the Vietnam War is not over and never will be for those who were involved in it back in the day. Learned by experiencing a surprise rush of emotions when a radio show talked about the war.
I am not a Vietnam veteran. I am a Vietnam-era veteran, meaning that I was in the Army during the Vietnam War but did not go to Vietnam. There is a huge difference between the two. Deferring to the combat veterans, I have never felt I had much worth saying about the Vietnam War. I wasn't there and I don't know what it was like. They were and they do.
At 2:55 a.m. this foggy, summer morning, Diane was driving the truck eastbound on I-40 in Tennessee. We were on a run from Texas to Maryland. She pulled into a rest area so we could switch drivers. It was her turn to go to bed and my turn to drive. We were rolling again at 3:01.
Noticing the time, I switched on the radio to catch the news, which begins one minute after the hour on NPR. I would normally switch to iPod music or podcasts after the news but the tee-up for the next show got my attention. Had I known how much the show was going to shake me up, I might have skipped it, but I did not know and continued to listen.
The show was a re-broadcast of 'Lost & Found Sound': The Vietnam Tapes of Lance Cpl. Michael A. Baronowski. "In 1966, Michael A. Baronowski of Norristown, Penn., took a tape recorder with him into combat in Vietnam. Lance Cpl. Baronowski was in the demilitarized zone when he captured sounds of jokes, songs, bombs, and bullets. He died later that year in an ambush in a village -- but not before sending these recordings home."
If you wish, you can listen by clicking the link above.
I had the road to mostly myself as I drove through intermittent rain and light fog. As I listened, I heard words that I have not heard in a long time; words like hooch, M-14, napalm, VC and DMZ. These words seemed old to me but hearing them triggered present-moment emotions. My gut churned. My breathing changed. My heart beat a bit stronger.
I wondered, where did THAT come from? I didn't go to Vietnam. Why are these words and this man's story hitting me like this?
It did not take long to figure it out. Everyone who was then of age in the USA, Vietnam and many other countries has a Vietnam story to tell. It has been a very long time since I have thought about how divisive and profound the experience was, nationally and individually. The war words brought it home as I drove through the dark.
When the show was over, I turned off the radio and drove in silence until sunrise. A host of past experiences, mine and other people's, streamed through my mind.
I remembered my neighbors keeping my playmate's older brother's bedroom exactly as he left it as they awaited his return from "Nam." I remembered an older classmate joking that he finally made the top ten when his low lottery number was drawn and he was drafted. I remembered the fierce debates I had with my high-school classmates about the war and my decision to enlist. I remembered in rapid succession many of the soldiers I met in the Army, some who went to Vietnam and some who did not. I remembered a woman who was my supervisor when I was stationed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. I asked her about her family and she said, "My son was killed in Vietnam." I remembered touring a college as a prospective student and seeing literature that held up war protestors as people who had God on their side. I remember people who later became great friends being initially leery of me when they learned I was coming to college out of the Army.
America was a different country then. Whether you were for the war or against it, whether you went or did not, Vietnam was very much on our minds; day after day, year after year. Judging from the effect the old words had on me last night, it was in our hearts too and remains so to this day. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, May 25, 2009 (Memorial Day).
Today's topics: Trading • This Month's Revenue
• I learned today that I have read enough books on futures and options trading to last me a while. Learned by finishing one more and finding it redundant.
There are millions of investors and several hundred thousand traders. While the trading population is a fraction of the investing population, it is large enough to spawn an over-abundance of books and resources on trading subjects. While there will always be a new point or insight to be gained by reading the next book on trading, I have reached the point where most of the information covered in any book has already been presented in several others. It is time to move past the books and on to interacting with brokers and exchanges.
• We completed our Texas to Maryland run with a routine delivery today. We are now passing time in the truck and sitting at a rest area, waiting for our next load offer. We are pleasantly surprised by our month-to-date revenue. If this pace continues, May will come in as a very good month — by today's standards. This level of revenue would have been routine or slightly below average in 2007.
It would be nice to string a few good months together but I do not expect that. The economy remains in the dumps and there are still too many trucks chasing too little freight. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, May 26, 2009. I learned today that the construction on I-495 on the east side of Washington, D.C. is mostly finished. Learned by driving that stretch.
We were pleased by the improved lanes and traffic flow. We have been going around the west side of town for a long time to avoid the construction on the east side. I think we will use the east side route from now on.
We woke up this morning in the I-95 rest area in Maryland, just north of Washington, D.C. A couple hours later we were rolling on a two-stop load. The distance is not that great but the pickup time and two delivery locations mean we will have freight on the truck overnight.
That suits me. Quiet time in a non-moving truck is being put to good use as I continue to research day trading. I am getting sick of studying and increasingly eager to dive in for real. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, May 27, 2009. I learned today the mental outline into which all topics encountered in trading can be organized. Learned when the outline "clicked" in my mind.
Running a one-truck owner-operator business is less complex than running a trading business. Trucking is physical (move freight, maintain the truck, etc.) and financial (bookkeeping) with some strategy, research, customer service and legal compliance thrown in. Online trading is mental activity in which the information flow is enormous, endless and complex; giving rise to a vast array of opportunities and strategies.
If I had no sense of what I was trying to do as a trader or why, I would become quickly distracted and lost in the forest. Without a purpose and plan, every object merits attention. Each appears to be better than the next, until you get to it, when the next will look better still.
Today, it clicked. I was sitting in the sleeper as Diane drove the truck and it clicked. The forest that trading is, came into clear view. In a way that was not so before, I feel grounded and oriented to my surroundings. I know which way is North, how high is high and how far is far.
Put another way, I have crossed the threshold of familiarity and the forest is no longer enchanted. There are no witches, wizards or fairies. The rainbows don't come with pots of gold. The forest is just a forest and I dwell in it.
If you begin to study trading, as I did, with no prior knowledge of it, you will be quickly introduced to a wide variety of topics like contract, zero-sum, moving average, oscillators, clearinghouse, strangle, triangle, limit-up, Elliot Wave, stochastics, CTA, momentum, position sizing and much, much more. With the outline that clicked, I can now sort such things into their category and deal with them as appropriate to my purpose, goals and trading methods.
While there will always be some obscure trading topics that I am blind to, the major topics are known. Having now grasped the breadth of the trading forest, and my place in it, I can shift to studying particular topics and developing particular skills in depth. To that end, broker due diligence continues and paper (practice) trading will soon resume.
• We delivered a load deep into West Virginia early this afternoon. Our route took us miles from the nearest freeway on some fun and scenic roads. But the fun lasted only as long as other cars and trucks stayed away.
Most people who drive these roads are very familiar with them. This familiarity gives way to speed on their part. As oncoming dump trucks, tanker trucks, school buses and other large vehicles raced and rumbled by, driver's-seat stress in our truck rose. We pulled over several times to let by the string of cars that accumulated behind as we drove cautiously to the delivery.
The trip out was less stressful because we knew what to expect. If we drove those roads every day, we too would be doing so at a faster pace. But with us being unfamiliar, the locals had to put up with a slow truck that crept along.
Four hundred miles from the delivery, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, there is a Volvo truck dealership and mechanics we trust. Needing some work, we headed there. At 10:15 p.m., we parked at their gate and went to sleep for the night. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, May 28, 2009. I learned today more about the wiring on our truck. Learned by watching and talking to the mechanic that was repairing it.
We woke up this morning at the Volvo Trucks dealer in Fort Wayne, Indiana (actually, New Haven), where we had an appointment to get some truck work done. One of the items was a malfunctioning marker light. The rest was routine maintenance. We were out of there and back in service shortly after noon. Now we are waiting for freight.
While the truck was in the shop, Diane and I put our schedule together for a planned trip home in June and arranged for use of a car. She will be completing continuing legal education courses to keep her law license up. Both of us will be visiting the dentist. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, May 29, 2009. I learned today more about the broker I will use for trading. Learned by studying the broker's web site.
My due diligence is complete. The decision is made. A broker has been selected. Next comes learning that broker's web site and opening a trading account. The money is on the way to the broker now. A lot of studying is ahead.
If you do a Google search for online brokers, you will find dozens to review, most of which offer an abundant array of educational resources and trading tools. It will take some time to learn my new broker's trading platform (a program used to view real-time market data and make trades) and get familiar with the web site. Then paper (practice) trading can begin. I am looking forward to these tasks. Enjoyable in themselves, completing these tasks will move me closer to real-money trading and the trading profits I hope to produce.
• We are on a fun run now that that makes May a good month. Gross revenue this month rivals that of many good months we had in 2007, which was our best year in the business. One month does not a trend make and I remain leery of the economy. Still, it is nice to see some decent money for a change. It would be even nicer to string together a few months like this.
We have about 12 hours of driving to do today. I drove for a while this morning. Diane will complete the stretch while I stay in the sleeper and study. This job has numerous benefits, not the least of which is the free time it gives you to focus on other interests. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, May 30, 2009. I learned today that "Lord of the Dance (With Taps)" is great music to run to. Learned when the song came up on my iPod playlist while I was working out.
Peter, Paul and Mary slows you down. "Lord of the Dance" helps you pick up the pace. Black Sabbath is good work-out music too but you have to worry about burning in Hell.
• Surprisingly, we are home today. While in Fort Wayne, Indiana yesterday, we got dispatched to pick up a load in Bloomington, Minnesota on Sunday. Needing to drive almost past the house to get to the load, we left immediately, spent last night at home and woke up here this morning.
Today is a day off at home. The weather is perfect. Diane went to her favorite stylist for a haircut and did some shopping for truck stuff. Being near a shower and familiar open space, I got in a great workout. I said "run" above. It was a walk-jog actually, but also a full hour of sweat-breaking, heart-pounding exercise. I also got in a few hours of trading study.
The funny thing is, we will be home again next week for a planned visit and some appointments. Diane has a week of continuing legal education classes to complete to keep her law license current. I have a class of my own planned and a two-appointment dental procedure (a crown) scheduled.
We have no idea where we will be after we deliver our load in New York on Monday. It will be fun to see where we come home from next week. We normally welcome loads that take us out West. We will think twice about any that are offered this week. Western-state loads are great but they leave us far from home.
• As regular readers know, we like to stay out on the road for months at a time and generally go where the freight takes us. That approach has helped us succeed as expediters.
Notice the difference it makes when we need to get home. We might have to turn down good loads in the interests of getting home. We will not only lose money-making time every day we spend at home, we may also lose a day just getting home. The expense of deadheading is also a factor. If you are thinking about getting into this business and also planning to go frequently go home, you will make far less money than you would if you stay out and flow with the freight.
The trip that brought us home today is a freebie. The miles driven are revenue-producing because they are part of the Fort Wayne to Bloomington to New York run. The weather today is a blessing. It is a good day at home. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday May 31, 2009. I learned today more about my broker's web site and trading platform. Learned by studying.
After a delightful day off at home yesterday, we woke up in our driveway (Minnesota) this morning and headed out to pick up freight a short distance away. We are now driving toward New York, where we will deliver tomorrow. When Diane drove, I am using my sleeper time to study and sleep.
The weather is spectacular and the trees are green. It is a fantastic day for a Sunday drive. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Blog entries are made so as not to reveal customer specifics or the current location of the truck when we are under load. Entries are updated to include location information after we leave the area. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page