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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
Thursday, October 1, 2009. I learned today that I have more to do to bring our trucking and trading business into balance. Learned by reviewing the unfinished tasks that stand between us and that goal.
We have been in a two-room, extended-stay hotel suite since Friday. The accommodations provide a productive working environment. We worked hard and succeeded in clearing out a backlog of paperwork. More significantly, we developed new administrative processes that will keep such backlogs from developing again and will streamline our expedting business.
It is not like we have done a poor job as expediters. In the six years we have been in this business, we have done well. Yet in those same six years, we have developed administrative habits that hurt us more than help. Actually, we developed nothing new when we entered this business. We brought our old ways with us. Knowing the business well and with new technologies that are now available, it is past time to streamline our business administration ways.
We made good progress in that this week. With the paperwork now gone, we can move back into the truck, go back into service and continue our progress there. We did not have to wait long for a load. Dispatch called us before we checked out. The load offer was acceptable. We will pick up a load here in Nashville, Tennessee this afternoon. It is an overnight run that delivers tomorrow.
It is not easy to change old habits. I am remembering a T-shirt I once saw for sale at an art fair in Minneapolis. It said, "Everything I have ever let go of has claw marks all over it."
Update: Later today, Diane is driving, I am in the sleeper continuing the process of clearing the crap out of my life. I come across a question that came to mind and I jotted down a while ago when previewing a book in a bookstore.
What is the status of truth in the digital age?
The author was talking about how competing visions of reality are readily available and how people fight over them. On what facts are these visions based? How do we construct the opinions over which we are willing to to fight?
Interesting stuff. It would be fun to read more and then write about it. People who have houses with garages tend to fill them to overflowing with stuff they later say they don't need but are loathe to let go. My challenge is to unclutter my mind of the same kind of crap.
A technique I read about regarding clutter is to create a place to put stuff you don't need and use. If it is still there in a year, get rid of it. I'm doing the same with these "valuable" ideas. I have a new computer folder into which valuable ideas now go. As interesting as they may be and fun to retain, what do I miss by clinging to them?
Five years ago, and one year after we got into expediting, we uncluttered our lives by selling our house, cars and most household goods. Entering into that property-free lifestyle opened new possibilities, such that we are now in the best job we have ever had.
We recently uncluttered the truck by getting rid of the paperwork. I'm working now on uncluttering my mind by disposing of good intentions and good ideas I once held dear. When the clutter is cleared, it will be interesting to see what possibilities the new space creates.
Next up is sleep for me. I can go to sleep easier early in the evening than Diane can. That is why she started driving today when she did. Her shift will be over after I have had some good sleep. We planned our sleep and fuel stops. We will arrive at the delivery about three hours ahead of business hours. I will be staying awake with the freight as the sun comes up.
It feels good to be back on the road again and I am looking forward to tomorrow morning's quiet time. I will use to move more stuff out of the garage. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, October 2, 2009. I learned today the sales figures of an aftermarket sleeper manufacturer. Learned by interviewing someone at that company.
The figures were typical of the industry but shocking nevertheless. The company sold 75 units last year and eight so far this year. Except for some follow-up questions I have for one company, this is the last interview I will do for the Bentz story. I hope to finish it this weekend.
We are on a run now that I an not at liberty to discuss. It will keep us busy until Sunday and involves more time sitting than driving. That is great because it gives me time to finish up the Bentz piece. This turned into a big project of my own making. It will be nice to complete it.
The load we picked up in Nashville, Tennessee yesterday was delivered early this morning near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We went next to a nearby Wal-Mart to park and take a nap. We were interrupted six times in the next hour with load offers. Some of them were OK but we declined them because Diane needs to get home next week for another dental appointment. The loads would have made it more difficult or more expensive for her to make that appointment.
One of the loads was a $5,000+ cross-country run. It would have put us on the road when Diane was scheduled to be in the dentist chair. Changing Diane's dental appointment was possible but not an option. We need to be home later this month for another reason and Diane will be able to work in her next dental appointment then, if we time this one right.
I have said it before. The less you go home as an expediter, the more money you will make. These dental appointments are something we freely chose. I am not complaining. I am just pointing out to people who are researching the expediting opportunity how much getting home actually costs.
Some expediters talk about going home in terms of days actually spent there. They might say something like "we are home just three days a month, or 10 percent of the time." They overlook the loads they turn down to get home and the time it takes to drive there. Three days home is actually five if you factor in the time it takes to get there. It also costs money to drive home. Ten percent of the time is actually 17 percent. Your run count is reduced because of the loads you turn down when you are trying to get home. Your expenses and percentage of deadhead miles increase when you drive home and your revenue on that drive is zero.
Some carriers have programs in which outside freight can be found and booked by drivers. We have tried it with our carrier and found it to be more trouble than it is worth. While we know several people who have used these programs, sometimes to good effect, we know no driver on the road with any carrier who has found these programs to be consistently useful.
If you want to be an expediter, keep in mind that expediters don't make their money at home. They make it on the road. If you expect to go home often and on a regular basis, be honest with yourself about the total cost. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, October 3, 2009. I learned today that a truck dealer recently reduced the prices on some of its new trucks by $20,000. Learned from a friend who called to tell me the news.
My friend knows I am working on an in-depth story about the industry exit of Bentz Transport Products, Inc. The trucks he alerted me to were Bentz-sleeper equipped.
This story is taking longer to write than anticipated. I worked on it for several hours yesterday and have at least that much more to go before it is finished. I have interviewed a lot of people for this and accumulated over 60 pages of notes. It is taking time to pull it all together into a cohesive whole.
While this work positions me better than ever to know the expediting industry players and write more about expediting in the future, the irony is that I want to write less. I am seeing this project through because I committed to it. When it is done, my focus will return to day trading.
• Expediting-wise, we are deployed the same today as we were on Friday. This run involves more sitting than driving. When I am not asleep, I am sitting in the driver's seat with my computer set up on the steering wheel. That leaves the bed available for Diane. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Today's Topics: Apologies to my Carlisle Readers • A $5,000 Expediter Truck • Our Status
I learned today of a three-generation expediter family. Learned by meeting one of the family members at a truck stop and listening to his story.
• We just left Carlisle, Pennsylvania where we have been since Friday. Knowing of at least two blog readers from that town, I feel compelled to apologize. If you happened to see our truck and are wondering why we did not reach out, it is because we were on the job and on a load that I am not at liberty to discuss. We were not free to leave the truck. We were on the job 24 hours a day and were working and sleeping in shifts. It was not a good time to visit.
• After getting clear of that load, we drove this afternoon to the TA in Harrisburg to use our credits for free showers. While parked there, a solo driver approached us to say hello. He told a fascinating story about his grandpa who has been with our carrier for 23 years, two uncles who are also with our carrier, and himself just now starting.
Even more amazing was what he told us about the truck he was driving (pictured here). It was once owned by someone who got a DUI and was consequently terminated. One of the uncles spotted the truck parked behind a barn in Ohio. Grandpa sought out the owner and purchased the truck for $5,000. For that purchase price, the truck is on the road right now, hauling expedited freight. It will pay for itself in its first few loads.
Driving around the country as Diane and I do, we see many idle trucks sitting behind barns, in fields, in carrier yards, at auction sites and on dealer lots. Smart people are buying them for a song and putting them in service. They are getting into the business for a fraction of the cost most people paid. If enough of them do so, it will put downward pressure on freight rates long after any economic recovery begins. When you purchase a truck for a song, you don't need to gross much money to turn a profit. To keep busy, you need only run a little cheaper than the next guy. With a low cost basis, that is easy to do.
In 2006, we paid $251,000 for our custom-built truck. The cargo box on the $5,000 truck is larger than ours. Not only did that truck cost 50 times less than ours, it can haul more freight!
Much can be said, pro and con, about each truck. We did not make a mistake when we bought ours. Our highly-specialized and full-featured rig did not pay for itself in its first few loads but it did pay for itself in less than two years. Paid for now, it has several more years of life left in it and will continue to produce profits year after year.
Industry-wide, if enough of these dirt-cheap trucks find their way out of the fields and back onto the road, it will be good news for shippers and bad news for truckers who own big-bunk trucks that are not yet paid for or would like to own one someday. Long after the economic recovery begins and credit becomes more available, some truckers may continue to struggle to make ends meet because other truckers entered the business at a fraction of the cost. (See this for another example.)
This is a subject to be explored in depth, but as my regular blog readers know, I am not looking to write more these days, I am looking to write less. It is tempting to dive in but I won't. I invite the trucking industry writers who read my blog to take up the story yourself. I won't be writing about it. It's all yours! Contact me if you wish. I can provide additional examples, names and prices.
• After showers, we drove to a nearby Wal-Mart to re-supply the truck and wait for freight. While we are first in the dispatch order, little if any freight is being dispatched on Sunday. We expect to be rolling under load tomorrow. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, October 5, 2009. I learned today that Americans are trading down to less expensive and slower shipping services when sending documents and small boxes. Learned by reading an article in The Trucker.
It stands to reason that the same thing is happening with freight. Customers that have the option can choose to ship via less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers instead of using faster but more-expensive exclusive-use expediter trucks.
That's one of the reasons we are glad to own the highly-specialized truck we do. The customers we often serve do not have the LTL option. We have seen rates come down like everyone else but I believe our future as expediters is more secure in this truck than it would be if we were in the $5,000 expediter truck described above.
The $5,000 truck lacks all of the creature comforts we have in this truck. If we picked up a cheap truck to haul freight, our hotel and food bills would skyrocket and our productivity would decline. A solo driver like the one we met yesterday can make a good go of it in a truck like that. He is also making huge lifestyle concessions that we are unwilling to make.
Will drivers like him force teams like us off the road? Not likely. We do not haul the same kind of freight. We do not serve the same kind of customers.
• I said yesterday that we expected to be under load today. That turned out to be incorrect. We would be happily underway right now if not for Diane's Wednesday dental appointment.
Airline schedules and prices make sense to some people, I am sure. They do not make sense to us. A load we could have taken would have put us in Washington, D.C., from which it would cost Diane $1,900 to fly home. If we decline the load and fly from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, our current location, it will cost $470. The Harrisburg flight has a stop and flight change in Philadelphia. If we drove to the Philadelphia airport and flew Diane directly out of there, the cost would be $514.
We go through this every time Diane goes home to the dentist to have her braces adjusted. The braces will come off before Christmas, which will be a nice gift to us. With the dentist visits behind us, we can resume a more normal and productive life on the road. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Make no mistake about it. Expediter truck prices have plummeted to unimaginable levels and are continuing to fall.
• Diane flew home yesterday for tomorrow's dental appointment. She will return to the truck tomorrow night. This gives me a large block of "me" time do work on the Bentz piece and other projects. Me time is easier to take when Diane is not far away. When she leaves the truck and cannot immediately return, my world changes for the worse and the truck becomes an unfamiliar living space in a number of ways.
It has been said that home is where the heart is. For Diane and me, when we are apart, home is wherever the other one is. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, October 7, 2009. I learned today more about the expediter truck market. Learned by interviewing two truck dealers for the Bentz story I continue to work on.
The project has evolved into two parts. I completed part one today and submitted it to my publisher at ExpeditersOnline. The six-page, 2,500-word piece consists mostly of information and analysis obtained from company president Keith Bentz when I interviewed him about his company's demise.
Part two will include information and analysis from the seven truck dealers, five sleeper manufacturers and two owner-operators I interviewed regarding the Bentz closure. It is a big job putting something like this together. The interviews take time. The writing takes time, and the proofreading for puncuation, gramer and styal is sheer agony.
Oh well! Part one is done and I am well on the way to completing part two. One of these days, that project will be behind me and I can focus on activities (like trading) that will be no less interesting and have greater financial potential.
• As I write this, Diane is on a plane, making her way from Minneapolis to Pennsylvania, where she will rejoin me in the truck around 10:00 tonight. We will go back in service then and hope to be hauling freight tomorrow. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, October 8, 2009. I learned today that Diane is the best drink'n buddy I have ever had. Learned by enjoying her company after she returned to the truck.
We don't drink at all when we are out on the road and drink very little, if at all, when we are at home. A drink'n buddy is someone you can sit next to at a bar and have an enjoyable conversation with for hours. Diane returned to the truck last night. Today, she caught me up on news from home. She read and we talked about the Bentz piece I wrote. We talked about current events, industry news and more. It was nice to have her back.
That's the good news. The bad news relates to a bum load. I accepted it late Wednesday night as Diane was flying from home back to the truck. It looked good at the time. It was to pick up late today, around 6:00 p.m.
After most of the day passed, we drove 100 miles to the pickup. When we arrived, the shipper told us another truck had been there two hours ago and took the load. He showed us the bill of lading which gave us the truck number and run number, which was a different run number than ours. I called dispatch with the information. Sure enough, the other truck took the load that was also dispatched to us under a different run number.
Dispatch canceled the load and gave us $175 in what is called dry run pay. The idea is to compensate us for miles driven. We have a serious problem with this but until we have more facts, I will say no more here. We wasted Wednesday night and all of today on a seemingly legitimate load that, through no fault of our own, did not materialize. That meant forfeiting the opportunity to be dispatched on other loads. Someone screwed up big time and we feel we deserve more than dry run pay on a load that was not deemed bad until after we arrived to pick it up and after the scheduled pickup time.
We drove next to Frederick, Maryland where we enjoyed a tasty dinner together at Cracker Barrel and know of good places to spend the night. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, October 9, 2009. I learned today of a government agency that is clearly abusing its power beyond all justification and, in my view, is now out of control. Learned by reading this report.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has been burdening the trucking industry with ill-considered regulations for years. In recent years, they have been leveling heavy — very heavy — fines, beyond reason. This time, they fined a company $35,625, not because the company failed to submit a required report, but because the company made an administrative error on the form!
There is no indication that there was anything wrong with the equipment referenced in the report. Correcting the paperwork error has no impact on the engine exhaust emissions that CARB regulates. There is no mention of the company in question being a repeat offender. There is nothing to suggest that the company was uncooperative or intentionally deceptive on the report it filed. Most government agencies would accept an amended report as a remedy, and impose a modest fine if one was imposed at all. Not CARB. With them, the remedy is a $35,625 fine.
CARB's reach extends well beyond California. Our reefer dealer in Memphis Tennessee tells us that reefer sales there have essentially ceased because of a decision CARB made a few months ago. CARB required reefer engines to be upgraded by a certain date. When it became evident that the majority of California reefer operators were not able or not willing to comply, CARB pushed the deadline date ahead six months. That killed reefer sales in Memphis, and presumably nationwide.
Illustrating the law of unintended consequences, few if any newer, cleaner-burning reefer engines are now being sold, while older ones remain in service. Had CARB left things alone, the natural progression toward newer engines would have continued.
Truckers that spent $5,000 to $50,000 per truck for new equipment (depending on the setup) to come into CARB compliance were also affected by this CARB action. They are now competing with people who did not have to spend that money to keep their reefers running. This saddles the compliant truckers with a huge price-competition disadvantage. In this economy, such a disadvantage may be fatal. CARB is punishing the "good guys" and rewarding the bad.
With the CARB deadline extension in mind, people who did not comply with the first deadline now have an incentive to drag their feet and not comply with the next. Their situation is understandable. The cost of compliance is so high that it would drive many of them out of business. It is a mess.
CARB's reach extends nationwide partly because of the California market. A lot of reefer freight goes in and out of the state from all over the country, including much of the fresh produce you see every time you visit your grocery store. Trucks that haul it are purchased and equipped in most if not all of the 48 states. (I don't know about Alaska, but the same may apply.)
CARB has demonstrated an air-quality extremist view; focusing on it and nothing else. The result includes regulations that devastate business people in other states, threaten to leave California produce rotting on the ground because there would be a shortage of reefer trucks to haul it (the reason for the deadline extension, I believe), and significantly raising the price you will pay for fresh produce because of the tens of thousands of dollars now being spent PER TRUCK to come into CARB compliance.
In a different way, CARB rules impact our truck and contribute to the reason that $5,000 of YOUR tax money is being paid to Diane and me in the form of a federal grant. The money will pay 75 percent of the cost of replacing our perfectly-good reefer engine with a new one that meets CARB air quality rules. In the near future, your tax money will be used to pull our reefer engine out, drill holes through it so it cannot be used again, and replace it with one that meets the new CARB rules.
The useful life of a reefer engine is seven years according to the manufacturer. Instead of applying new rules to new engines and letting the old ones age out, CARB imposed a retroactive rules change. There is nothing right or fair about that.
When we bought the truck just three years ago, our reefer engine was a CARB-compliant engine. We don't want a new reefer engine. We don't need a new reefer engine. The engine we have works great and has several years of useful life remaining. But with federal grant money coming available and the retroactive CARB rules applying to us, it made financial sense for us to apply for the grant (which we won), take a down-time revenue hit to swap out the engine, and send our perfectly-good equipment to a premature grave.
Politically, there is little that can be done. With California being functionally bankrupt, the state is a rolling, snowballing disaster. So much so that the quality of life has declined to the point where more people are now moving out of the state than moving in.
Even the governor is calling for a constitutional convention because the state has become ungovernable. Real estate values have tanked. The state's credit rating is the worst in the nation. I will not burden you with the long list of new lows set by California, but education is one of them. Children in third-world countries do better.
In that environment, trying to get a legislature to reform an out-of-control agency that operates under the radar is a lost cause. The environmental extremists that have filtered into CARB over the years are taking full advantage.
CARB is one of many dysfunctional forces that have come to exist and helped create the sorry state of California. You and I are paying the price.
The over-the-top fine mentioned above suggests that a revenue agenda has trumped CARB's clean-air agenda. It raises real concerns that California agencies may be abandoning their charters and using their powers instead to maintain and fund their existence — just as people who have power do in corrupt, third-world nations.
When I read what I just wrote, I think, "that sounds extreme," and I am attempted to dismiss it as hyperbole. I normally would not write something like this, but the hard fact of a $35,625 fine for a paperwork error cannot be ignored.
• Before breakfast this morning, we accepted a load that picks up on Sunday and delivers Monday. It is an OK load, the best part being that we can make a little money over the weekend and be ready to haul freight again Monday morning. Revenue is welcome since we made no money this week. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, October 10, 2009. I learned today the phrase, "Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy?" Learned by reading it in the Bible, Isaiah 55:2.
In my lifetime, I have read the Bible cover-to-cover several times. When I was a college student, then on my way to a Lutheran seminary, I learned ancient Greek so I could read the New Testament in it original language. At the seminary, I learned Hebrew so I could read the Old Testament in its original language. But if you don't keep reading, you forget. Or, if you don't forget, as you move through life's stages and grow in wisdom and years, you find yourself reading Bible passages as if for the first time.
In the last several weeks, I have been intensely focused on striking a balance between our expediting business and my developing trading business. There are other dimensions to life, one of them being spiritual.
Perhaps feeling spiritually hungry, I went to the Christianity section of the bookstore yesterday, instead my usual stop at the investments section. It was depressing.
There are rows and rows of books with titles ranging from one thing to another. There is a remarkable array of Bible translations, none of them being commonly accepted like the King James Version or Revised Standard Version used to be, and some of them being so far from the original text that it is a stretch to call them a Bible. There are dozens of denomination-specific books talking about what true (enter your denomination here) is.
It seems that as a Christian today, you can believe almost anything you want and still call yourself a Christian. There are books about why it is good for Christians to have money. There are other books about why it is bad. Name any core topic — food, sex, money, divorce, marriage, children, whatever — you can find a book about how to do it the Christian way. Even better, if you don't like what that book says, you can find another that you agree with that also talks about doing it the Christian way.
One might suggest that Christianity is really about Jesus Christ — you know, the "Christ" part of Christian — but that only takes you to the books about who Jesus was, what the "essential" Jesus is, what Jesus really meant, what Jesus means today, and the like. There again, you can shop around to find the Jesus that most suits you.
I have no point to make here about what one should or should not believe. It just struck me yesterday that collectively, in an effort to make Christianity more relevant (or perhaps to sell more books), Christian preachers and writers have so fragmented and particularized the faith as to make it less relevant.
As I grew sad in this sea of Christian thought, a familiar face and name caught my eye — Billy Graham. I have never read any of his books but picked that one off the shelf. With The Secret of Happiness in my hands, I walked back to my seat next to Diane in the bookstore coffee shop to preview the book. Dr. Graham mentioned the above Bible verse early on. I wrote it down to read and contemplate later. Later turned out to be this morning.
Feeling very satisfied with the life Diane and I now enjoy, I'm not looking for the secret of happiness. It was just nice to see a book in print that has stood the test of time and offered something more than the Christian clutter and vibrant graphics that compete on the bookshelves to catch peoples' eyes and show them the way.
• We are dispatched to pick up a load tomorrow afternoon that we will haul overnight and deliver Monday morning. It has been a while since we have been to church. I'll search later today for a church in the area that offers timeless truths and truck parking (it is not as easy to find as you might think). Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, October 11, 2009. I learned today that, "It's now official: The country has lost more jobs as a percentage of peak employment than at any time since the Great Depression." Learned by reading this blog post and viewing the chart.
The unemployment facts suggest that we are not in an economic recovery but a continuing recession. They suggest that the bumps up in certain third-quarter indicators are false in that they are artificially inflated by government money. Real recoveries produce real jobs and that we have yet to see.
I believe a "double-dip" recession lies ahead. I believe fourth-quarter numbers will support the view that the recession is not over. I believe the recent bumps up we have seen are false. I also believe that I may be wrong.
Whether I am right or wrong, our expediting activities will remain the same. We will haul the freight that pays, decline the freight that doesn't and continue our transition to making trading our primary source of income and expedting a second job.
• We woke up this morning at the TA truck stop in Elkton, Maryland. We don't normally stay overnight at truck stops but this one offered an open parking spot that was well lit and situated such that our truck was well protected from other trucks running into it (a common occurrence at truck stops).
Having located a church online last night, we got up, got dressed and headed to worship. It is said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. We had good intentions and made a good effort but did not make it to church. The road to church was lined with "No Trucks" signs, as were the possible parking places within walking distance. We thought we had a chance when we used Google Maps to view the church from outer space (satellite view) and saw ample parking. On the ground, the reality was different.
That is not unusual on the East Coast. The communities are congested and two hundred years old. People have had centuries to cram into each other's space and regulate one another to death. Montana looks pretty good from here.
We went next to a shopping mall where we could park the truck and passed time there until leaving for today's pickup. The downtown Philadelphia pickup was routine and we are now on an overnight run that delivers first thing tomorrow morning. We will arrive several hours early and can go sleep this time. No special security protocols — for which the customer pays extra — are in effect.
We are already predispatched on the next load. It picks up tomorrow afternoon and delivers Tuesday morning. That is a refreshing change. It has been a long time since we have been predispatched two-loads deep. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, October 12, 2009. I learned today that a financial analyst who does transportation research for an investment research firm wants to trade his team's monthly newsletter for the opportunity to occasionally visit with me about expediting. Learned by receiving his e-mailed proposal.
He learned of me and this blog via Twitter. Thinking I am getting the better part of the deal, I happily agreed. The newsletter is no public rag. It is a professionally prepared, proprietary document that is distributed to a small number of institutional investors who presumably pay a pretty penny to receive it.
• After completing this morning's delivery in Charlotte, North Carolina, we took a morning nap, ate breakfast in the truck and headed toward our next pickup 150 miles away. That freight will keep us rolling overnight and deliver tomorrow morning.
On the way to today's pickup, we accepted a load that picks up tomorrow and delivers Wednesday. As happened last Friday, we find ourselves pre-dispatched two loads deep. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, October 13, 2009. I learned today that oil is forecast to drop to $20 a barrel by December 20. Learned by listening to a Bloomberg podcast in which Philip Verleger made the forecast.
Oil at $20 per barrel seems improbable but this guy has been right before. He cites oil storage facilities that will fill to overflowing. If they fill, the cost of storage will increase. Buyers will bid down the price of oil to compensate, he says. I'm watching this one with interest. See this piece and this piece for more on Verleger. Note that he modified his forecast from $20 to $30 between the two pieces.
The effects of a sustained drop in diesel fuel prices cascade in several directions in our industry; some of them undesirable. For example, lower fuel prices make it easier for carriers to stay in business. We have too many trucks on the road now for the amount of freight that is available to haul. We don't need more carriers in business, we need less.
Speaking selfishly and from our one-truck, owner-operator, solvent-business point of view, we would prefer to see oil at $120 instead of $20. Higher priced oil takes out the weak players and fuel-inefficient operators. More broadly, it reduces consumption, promotes environmentally-friendly alternative energy and reduces highway congestion.
• With Diane and I doing almost nothing since Sunday beyond hauling freight and driving and sleeping in shifts, listening to podcasts while I drive is about the only mind work (as in learning something new) I am able to do. That's OK. It is only Wednesday and we have made more money this week than we have in many previous weeks. It will be nice to see our pay flowing into the bank account at a decent rate. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, October 14, 2009. I learned today this quote by Jane Wagner: "What is reality anyway? Nothing but a collective hunch." Learned by seeing it on Twitter.
I enjoyed the quote. Much in life is true or false for no other reason than thinking makes it so.
I also learned today the economic out look of, Donald L. Kohn, Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Learned by reading the text of a speech he gave yesterday. He is making a case for a "gradual strengthening of economic activity."
Kohn gives very little attention to things that can go wrong. He does not even mention the declining dollar and massive federal debt. He does not mention that banks continue to be closed down at a record rate. He does not mention a lot.
If everything holds together in his scenario, the best we can expect is gradual strengthening. I believe the economy continues in a severely weakened state. It can be knocked off track by any number of negative developments. Kohn's view is worthy of consideration but it seems a bit too rosy to me.
• We delivered early this morning in Memphis, Tennessee. I forgot to mention that the load we picked up yesterday in Pennsylvania was a zero deadhead load. That is rare in expediting. It was amazing to bump a dock to deliver freight, and then without moving the truck, immediately load the next freight and head out on our next run.
After this morning's nap and a 30 minute visit with another expediter, we went to the grocery store to resupply the truck. It is now 5:00 p.m. but it feels like morning to us. It looks like we will be going nowhere today as we have yet to be dispatched. That's OK. After three runs back to back, we could use a day sitting still.
Update: As we settled in to spend the night at a Memphis-area truck stop, we received and accepted a load offer. We will stay put for the night, drive 200 miles to tomorrow's 4:00 p.m. pickup, and run that load overnight to deliver it Friday morning. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Today's Topics: Re-thinking FedEx, Part One • Today's Activities
I learned today about FedEx's Quality Driven Management initiative. Learned by reading the Chairman's Message and other FedEx information.
Re-thinking FedEx, Part One. We have read the message before. A printed copy arrived in our mail some weeks ago. Struck by the new corporate tone the letter seemed to take and the significant changes that were therein announced, the message lingered in our minds. We are reading it again, this time thinking deeply and discussing it together. Call it reading between the lines.
The hazard of reading between the lines is that you can fill that open space with anything you are predisposed to believe, no matter how far off base it may be. The benefit (if your perceptions are accurate) is that you may be able to discern changes early and better position yourself to take advantage of or avoid harm from them.
Since 2003, we have been mostly happy in our profitable relationship with FedEx Custom Critical. But with recession-induced structural changes developing in the economy, trucking industry and FedEx, it seems wise to take a fresh look at the future opportunities our carrier of choice and the expediting industry may or may not present.
We made the decision to contract with FedEx in 2003, then as drivers in a fleet-owner's truck. We made the decision again in 2006 when we purchased a truck of our own and continued to contract with FedEx Custom Critical. What is now becoming known by some as the Great Recession has rocked to the core the trucking industry, FedEx, FedEx Custom Critical (an operating company within FedEx) and the customers we serve.
Significant changes have been made at FedEx Custom Critical over the years — almost all of them for the better, in our view. By the sounds of the Chairman's Message, more changes can be expected. With structural changes developing in the trucking industry and more changes coming from FedEx, the assumptions and projections upon which our 2003 and 2006 decisions were based need to be re-examined.
Hopefully, the decisions we made in the past will be made again. As I said, we have been mostly happy in our relationship with FedEx Custom Critical. We would like to see that continue. But the future of expedited freight transport ain't what it used to be. As wonderful as the past has been, it is the future on which we must focus.
There is a fair amount to think and talk about. I will share our observations and thoughts, in small chunks, over the next few days. For those might jump to conclusions, Diane and I have no inside information. We are simply scrutinizing our assumptions and projections, like FedEx does, and like all good business people do when charting their course.
In essence, we are looking anew at FedEx Custom Critical with these questions in mind: (1) What do we see? (2) What do we believe? (3) What if we're wrong? This is a discovery process. You are welcome to follow along as I think out loud here in my blog.
• We woke up this morning at the Pilot truck stop in Memphis, Tennessee. After an in-truck breakfast and truck-stop showers, we headed toward today's pickup. We will pick up later today, run the freight overnight and deliver it tomorrow. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Today's Topics: Improving Freight Environment • Re-thinking FedEx, Part Two • Today's Activities
I learned today that Landstar System's president and CEO sees a gradually improving freight environment. Learned by reading this report in Fleet Owner magazine.
Landstar is a very good company. Diane and I have more than once given them serious consideration as a carrier to which we could lease our truck. This large company offers a wide variety of freight services. The president and CEO is in a position to know, first hand, what is going on out there. When he reports a "gradually improving freight environment," it is something to pay attention to.
Re-thinking FedEx, Part Two. When analyzing our relationship with FedEx Custom Critical, the first place to start is with the analysts; namely, Diane and me. Perception is everything and we are the perceivers.
For example, we think it is great that our carrier serves customers in 50 states and beyond. We got into the business partly to see the country and a wide customer base makes that possible. Another expediter team that wants to stay close to their East Coast home may think it terrible that a carrier might send them west of the Mississippi. A carrier is what the carrier is. Whether it is seen as good or bad depends on what the perceiver thinks is important.
So lets start our FedEx re-think by laying out what is important to Diane and me.
First and foremost, it is important to profit from the expediting work we do. We are not in this business to get by. We are in it to get rich. It is not enough to break even. It is essential to produce net profits and substantially increase our net worth.
In short, the money matters. We don't blame FedEx for the recession. Freight, and thus our revenue, slowed in all sectors, and with all major expedite carriers. The recession, and the slow freight it produced, are not reasons to leave FedEx.
Our other expediting goals are personal, not financial. They are lifestyle goals, not business goals. They include working together in a business, spending time together and seeing the country. We set these goals in 2003 when we entered the business. They remain important and are achieved on an ongoing basis.
It does not matter to FedEx what our personal goals are. However, had we not been able to achieve them as FedEx Custom Critical contractors, we would have contracted with a carrier where our personal goals could be achieved.
At present, the FedEx Custom Critical contract provides the freedom we need to achieve our lifestyle goals. The freight going to 49 states and Canada is our free ticket to seeing the country. These are reasons to stay. If it ever came time to change carriers, these reasons would be part of our carrier selection criteria.
So, with the money and lifestyle working, what else is there to think about? In a word, there is the future to think about. If things stay the same, we have a pretty good idea what our future will be. But with significant changes being announced at FedEx, we need to look ahead as best we can. That brings us to the Chairman's Message.
• After picking up freight yesterday afternoon, in a small town in Mississippi, we drove overnight and arrived at 3:00 a.m. for an 8:00 a.m. delivery near Saint Louis, Missouri. We slept in a non-moving truck for a few hours, got up to complete the delivery, found a parking place in a retail area near our delivery and went back to sleep.
Runs like these are common in expediting. When you have to sleep in the day, it is very helpful to have a good blindfold or a way to black out the sleeper. A good blindfold is one that covers your eyes without putting pressure on them, and is comfortable to wear while you sleep. We got ours at an REI camping supply store.
We can black out the sleeper too but if only one of us wants to sleep, the blindfold goes on and the other can enjoy the daylight. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Today's Topics: Why I Like the Firefox Browser • Re-thinking FedEx, Part Three • High-tech Truck Repair • Today's Activities
• I learned today that, without my knowledge or consent, Microsoft installed an extension into my web browser, and that it contains a security threat. Learned when my Firefox web browser popped up a window telling me this and seeing Firefox disable the extension.
That's why I like Firefox and have come to dislike anything Microsoft. Microsoft seems to think they own my computer. Firefox thinks otherwise. Firefox is my browser of choice. I have come to regard it as the people's browser. More info about this issue here.
If you are not a Firefox user, I encourage you to give it a try. There is no cost. It takes a little getting used to but it is not difficult. Once you get used to it, you will be using a state-of- the-art browser that gives you total control over objectionable ads. You can choose add-ons that make it easy to protect your browsing privacy and keep outsiders from planting their objectionable stuff in your computer.
Re-thinking FedEx, Part Three. Before getting into the FedEx Chairman's Message, we need to zoom out to the bigger picture. Above, I described why it makes sense for us to continue with our present carrier. I did not talk about why it makes sense to be expediters at all.
When we got into trucking, we could have gotten any kind of license and into any kind of truck we wished. Some types of trucking would have required us to work our way into them by attending truck driving schools of one kind or another and gaining experience. Whatever path we chose we could have easily gone that way.
There are several types of trucking in which more money can be made than we now make with our specialized expediter truck. We chose straight-truck expediting partly because of the money and partly because of the lifestyle freedom and flexibility this kind of trucking provides. Without it, trucking would quickly become just a job and we would not stick with it long.
In good times and through the recession, being expediter truckers instead of some other kind of truckers continues to be the right choice. Given the lifestyle we want to live, we know of no other type of trucking that provides the freedom and opportunity straight-truck expediting provides.
Straight-truck expediting is different than big-rig expediting. While we could make more money driving a big-rig version of our truck (an ER-unit) with our present carrier, the difference is truck parking. With our straight truck (CR-unit) we can get into places big rig drivers cannot even think of. By choosing a straight-truck over a big rig, we traded some of the money that could be made for the mobility that could be had.
Drilling further down, there are different kinds of expediter straight-trucks and different carriers that will sign them on. We chose to become FedEx Custom Critical White Glove Services® drivers and to drive a White-Glove qualified, reefer-equipped truck. The thinking then was to specialize in high-value freight that commands higher tariffs. In good times and through the recession, the decision proved to be the right one.
Zooming back out, another decision was to affiliate with a carrier instead of getting our own operating authority. Having one's own operating authority enables you to keep every penny the customer pays to ship freight with your truck. It also means you have to find those customers yourself and perform the compliance and administrative functions carriers must perform.
Then and now, we choose to be free from carrier compliance and administrative functions. We are happy to operate under a carrier's authority and let the carrier keep a percentage of the money customers pay.
It also matters to us that our carrier is a FedEx operating company. FedEx is one of the world's most respected brands. We are proud to be associated with such a great company and have many times enjoyed special treatment out on the road because we are.
• We have on our truck a thing that clicks, buzzes and beeps. It is the speaker behind the dashboard that produces those sounds when the turn signals are use and various alarms sound. It started working intermittently on Thursday, if it worked at all, and the sounds changed. If it was human, it would be said to be losing its voice.
From my days as an auto mechanic, I expected it to be a simple repair. I would buy an inexpensive speaker, pull the dash apart, swap the old speaker for a new one, put the dash back together and be good to go.
Times have changed. Now days, the better idea is to build the speaker into the computerized instrument cluster such that the only way to repair it is to replace the entire cluster. The instrument cluster sells for $850. While it is a simple matter to swap out an old cluster, that is only part of the job. Data must be uploaded from the old and downloaded into the new. There is no way to make this repair without high-end shop equipment. It may even be proprietary such that only a Volvo dealer owns it.
Nevertheless, the story has a happy ending. We purchased extended warranty coverage when we purchased the truck. We went to a nearby Volvo dealer last night and got the repair done at no charge. They had the part in stock. We were in and out in three hours.
A lot of today's truck technology is built in because government regulations require it. Some is built in with large fleet owners in mind. They can use the technology to better track their trucks and manage their fleets — so the thinking goes.
And then there is the technology that is imposed on us by the nerds — feature-creep maniacs that believe the ability to build a high-tech feature into a device is reason enough to put it in. These are the people who bring us things like seven-dollar buzzers that cost $850 plus labor to replace, and TV remotes that have 101 buttons.
It got me to thinking about building a low-tech, regulation-compliant truck. Firefox is a people's web browser that puts control in the user's hands. I wonder what a truck today would look like that complied with current law and was built to put maintenance and repair in the truck owner's hands?
• After the truck repair, and being dispatched on a load that picks up on Monday, we went to the TA truck stop in Troy, Illinois to spend the night. We woke up there this morning, took showers and ate breakfast in the truck. Laundry and business paperwork is on the agenda today. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, October 18, 2009. I learned today that "God is spirit..." and because of that, no one in the flesh gets it exactly right about God. Learned the "God is spirit" part by hearing it read in church today (John 4:24). Learned the getting it exactly right part by thinking back on what I wrote here.
No one gets it exactly right about God. That's a freeing concept. Maybe, if that concept took hold among the people who think they have it exactly right about God, they would not feel the desire to kill others who also believe they have it exactly right about God, only in a different way.
• Having driven to and scouted out the parking lot at a church last night to make sure we could park the truck, we returned this morning and attended Sunday services and an adult Bible study class. It has been a while since we made it to church. It felt good to be in church again.
We are dispatched to pick up a load on Monday. We are spending the weekend in various Illinois towns across the Mississippi River from Saint Louis, Missouri. Which town we are in depends on the work, worship or resting we are doing at the time. At the moment, we are at a Wal-Mart where Diane is getting groceries. Later, we will be at a truck stop where I will do a generator oil change. And so it goes on this layover weekend. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, October 19, 2009. I learned today about Operation Streamline. Learned by waking up with those words on my mind.
On September 24, I wrote about transformational rage and screamed "NO MORE!" to myself about letting paperwork clutter and distracting projects build in our lives. We checked into a hotel for a week to clear things up and made great strides in that regard. Since then, we have kept new paperwork from building up and continue to clear out the unfinished projects. Importantly, I have resisted the temptation to start new projects, no matter how interesting or worthy they seem to be.
Since September 24, I have been fishing around for a name that best describes this activity. It came to me this morning — Operation Streamline.
Expediting is the easiest, most lucrative and most enjoyable job Diane and I have ever had. Even in the good times when the freight keeps us busy, there is a lot of free time. With lots of time to get things done, we managed that time poorly. Thinking there would always be time to do it later, we put off and let build work we could have done now.
Actually, compared to many expediters, we managed our time well. We got done what needed to get done to be successful expediters. The spare time became more valuable, and the luxury of procrastination disappeared, when I became interested in trading and set a goal to become a successful trader.
Trading is fun. I enjoy the challenge. But it is not easy, and it will never be lucrative if I do not put serious time into it. With the freight picking up as it has, time is becoming even more precious.
Operation Streamline is about clearing out the old and becoming not just efficient, but exceptionally efficient in managing our expedite business. It is about being disciplined in using the free time expediting provides and creating more time by being smart in our business administration. It is about striking a balance between expediting and trading so there is time to do both well.
The Re-thinking FedEx paragraphs I have been writing above is not a new project. It is part of Operation Streamline. It is part of updating our expedite business plan. The business paperwork we did yesterday was not catching up on new paperwork that had built up. It was clearing out more of the old stuff that yet remains and improving our administrative practices.
While I have spent no time in the markets since September 24, by creating the time and mind-clear environment to trade, I have been making good progress toward becoming a successful trader.
• We woke up this morning in a parking lot in a retail area in Illinois, across the river from Saint Louis, Missouri. We will pick up freight later today in Saint Louis, drive overnight and deliver it in North Carolina tomorrow. This morning will be an Operation Streamline morning. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, October 20, 2009. I learned today that, as safe drivers, Diane's and my prospects are set to greatly improve. Learned by watching a webinar in which a new government safety initiative — CSA 2010 — was explained in detail.
Sadly, there are not as many good drivers out there as are necessary to haul all the freight there is to haul. Carriers have previously resolved this shortfall by hiring scum-of-the-earth drivers at low pay to move trucks.
The stat is unbelievable to people outside of the trucking industry who hear it for the first time, but it is nevertheless true. Driver turnover at many carriers exceeds 100% a year. That number has declined some as recession-driven freight levels declined and people tended to hang on to the jobs they had. But driver turnover levels remain eye-popping compared to other industries.
I believe that when CSA 2010 is fully implemented, that game will end. The only way for carriers to attract good drivers into the industry, and keep them, will be to improve working conditions and raise driver pay to draw good people in from other fields. The day is coming, I believe, when America will discover just how much a good truck driver is actually worth.
The game changer is the change in regulatory approach. Under CSA 2010, the focus will shift from carrier audits to driver compliance. Carriers will become known by (and accountable for) the drivers they hire. Drivers will become known by the roadside compliance scores they generate.
This is a complex subject and I am by no means an expert on it, having just now learned of its details via a webinar. If you start paying closer attention to this topic yourself, pay special attention to driver roadside performance.
Notice how drivers will now have their own individual safety ratings. Notice how insurance companies are likely to set minimum scores that drivers must maintain to be insured (and thus employable). Notice how the scores are developed and how technology will be used to immediately distribute them not only to carriers but to the next scale cop down the road. Notice how things like drug test results are included in the scores. Notice how certain violations that did not previously matter much will have points attached to them that will be included in a driver's CSA score. Notice how red light signals will be given to scale cops (on their screens) when a high-risk driver (as in a bad personal safety rating) or truck associated with a high-risk carrier is identified as the driver and/or truck crosses a scale.
Under CSA 2010, the scale experiences and carrier relationships of some drivers are about to change in a big, big way. One source says that CSA 2010 will render 175,000 current drivers unfit under the new rules, and thus unemployable. Drivers, see this page — and this web site — for more info.
I got on the phone immediately after the webinar to talk to a couple of carrier safety people I know in the industry. I was surprised to discover that they are not up-to-the-minute on the coming changes. It seems that no one believed that CSA 2010 was for real when it was earlier discussed in industry circles. Like so many other proposed government programs, this one seemed like all smoke and no fire as it developed.
With subsequent developments, and with the American Trucking Associations (ATA) now throwing its weight behind CSA 2010, CSA 2010 is a done deal that is moving full steam ahead. Pilot programs are already in use in several states. It was fascinating to see in the webinar examples where satisfactory carriers under the old system became immediately red flagged under the new system when present carrier and driver data were fed into it.
Mark my words. A year from now, you will hear a whole bunch of marginal and sub-par drivers and carriers screaming like stuck pigs about how big brother is watching and how they cannot operate under CSA 2010 conditions (which is the whole point!). With the economy presumably picking up by then, and freight levels rising with it, I believe CSA 2010 will contribute to a new kind of driver shortage which will tend to drive higher the financial value of good (as in safe and legally compliant) truck drivers.
Additional thought (added on a later day but posted in this day's blog entry to keep my CSA 2010 thoughts in one place.):
I wonder if the law enforcement community will become more energized by CSA 2010? Instead of them going to work every day and going through the motions of inspecting trucks and writing tickets, only to see the same violations happen again and again, CSA 2010 empowers the cops to heap points on bad drivers such that they will be forced permanently out of truck-driving jobs and careers.
Everybody likes to think they make a positive difference in the world. I don't know any cops well but have to think that at least some of them got into the cop business to make a positive difference. As they figure out that the tickets they give bad truckers will matter in a new and powerful way, I wonder, will the cops will become more motivated and more likely to write those tickets?
That may strike fear into the hearts of tuckers that don't trust cops. CSA 2010 really does give the cops more power to mess up a trucker's career. I take some comfort in the fact that under CSA 2010, a cop can also enhance a driver's career by submitting a positive roadside inspection report.
As the cops figure out how the tickets they write and inspections they do become the points by which truckers will sort themselves into good, bad and ugly peer groups, I wonder if the good drivers will get easily green lighted so the cops can spend their time on the bad and ugly, thereby making a positive difference in the world?
Is that a realistic idea or am I being naive? I would be delighted to hear from cops about this. This is a huge new topic about which truckers know little about.
• We drove overnight from Saint Louis to North Carolina and delivered our load this morning. We next went to a retail area to park. Diane went to sleep. I stayed awake to participate in the webinar. After the webinar, I went to sleep and got in one of my best naps ever.
Routine events are just that, routine. But every now and then, something routine turns into something magnificent. It might be that routine cup of coffee that for whatever reason tastes especially great. It could be the beer that goes down especially smooth, the meal that is especially tasty or hotel bed that is especially comfortable.
Imagine the best mid-day nap you have ever had. Think for a moment what makes a great nap great. That's the kind of nap I had today. I woke up feeling great and thinking I did this nap right.
No dispatch offers have been received. As we sit in the same retail area, now in the early evening, we continue to wait for our next load. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, October 21, 2009. I learned today that "...the movement of goods and services [across international borders] within the same company accounts for half the U.S. trade deficit." Learned by previewing the book, Making Sense of the Dollar: Exposing Dangerous Myths about Trade and Foreign Exchange by Marc Chandler.
I learned of the book by listening to a Bloomberg podcast, which is something I regularly do when I drive. I previewed the book because some of its points relate to Diane and me as expediters.
Part of my Operation Streamline is to polish up our business plan. Part of polishing up our business plan is to update our strategic analysis of the global and domestic forces that influence the economy, and thus our business. Previewing the book has an added bonus. It relates directly to the trading business I am working to develop, specifically forex (foreign exchange) trading. This book is one I will likely purchase.
• We did something today that we normally do not do. We chased freight. We delivered a load in North Carolina on Tuesday morning and received no load offers that day. Normally, we would continue to sit and let the freight come to us. Being more eager than usual to haul freight, we relocated to a busier area. For family reasons, we will be off the road for a week or more in November and want to run as much as we can between now and then.
Deadheading on your own dime to an area where you expect your next load to originate increases the costs and reduces the profits of the next load, because your unpaid or low-paid deadhead miles must be added in. On the other hand, it costs money to sit and wait too. Whether you are running or not, you must still pay for things like cell phone plans, truck insurance, etc. It is an ongoing question with expediters. Do you sit and wait for the freight to come to you, or do you move at your own expense to find some freight to haul?
Today, motivated by the week or more that we will soon take off, we moved. With the benefit of hindsight, it was a mistake. Four loads that we could have hauled were dispatched out of the area we left behind. Moving into a busier area put us in line behind the other trucks that were already there. They were not dispatched out fast enough to get us in line for a pickup today.
It was not a total bust. Soon after checking into the Baltimore express center, we turned down five loads that did not pay enough to profitably haul. Then we accepted a good load that picks up tomorrow and delivers Friday.
Nevertheless, because we chose to move instead of sit, today turned into a zero-revenue day that did not have to be. We bet on the wrong horse and got skunked. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, October 22, 2009. I learned today that we may be soon buying a new mobile scanner. Learned when the one we have did not respond to technical-support fixes.
We use the NeatReceipts® scanner in the truck. It has been a great product until now. The company's technical support was also very good but the scanner still produces blurry images. I'll try a couple more tricks but think they will be for naught.
Life on the road is hard on the stuff you take with you. It seems that just about everything you have wears out or breaks. As I think about the things we have had with us for six years and still work, they include a fly swatter, our shower shoes (flip flops), and silverware. There are certainly more items that can be added to the list. However, the list of things that have run out, worn out, broken or become lost over the last six years is longer, I think.
• I added an additional thought above about CSA 2010 and how it might energize cops to do truck law enforcement in a new way. I put it in a previous blog entry (here) to keep my CSA 2010 thoughts in one place.
• We picked up our freight in Pennsylvania today as scheduled and are driving it overnight as I write this. We had a good laugh at the pickup. The slang term for the temperature control unit that is used to maintain freight at a certain temperature is "reefer." The shipper was having a bad day. When I walked in, a co-worker was throwing a loud, profanity-laced fit. The boss was there asking urgent questions. Truckers were lined up to get loaded. After securing the freight and closing the door, I told the shipper I was going to go out and start the reefer. He said, "Start some up for me too." Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, October 23, 2009. I learned today about the truck pictured here (right) and the people who own it. Learned by visiting with them.
When we arrived at this morning's delivery, the consignee told us to bump a certain dock. That put us next to this truck and team. As the bigger truck was being unloaded, I had time to visit with them. They were a very nice couple. These professionals presented well at the delivery and are happy in their work.
Our truck is a straight truck. Theirs is a semi (18-wheeler, tractor-trailer). Our carrier calls our truck a CR-unit and theirs an ER-unit ("R" for reefer-equipped).
Every ER team we have met tells us they could make a lot more money than they do, and I believe them. They service the same high-end customers we do but can haul far more freight with every load. What happens is, the ER teams get to a point where they are feeling financially fat and happy. They then start going home more often or taking more time off.
We chose straight truck driving over semi-truck driving because of the mobility straight trucks provide. Big-truck driving is harder work, on the road and at pickups and deliveries. The money can be better in a big truck, but you have to work hard to earn it. From what I gather by talking to ER-unit teams, when they are tracking gross revenue of over $200,000 a year, they start kicking back. All of them say they could do $300,000 or more a year but they don't because they take time off.
I say more power to them. There is more to life than money and work. Diane and I chose the lower-money route when we chose to drive a straight truck. We don't go home as much as many ER teams do but our lower-money straight truck was a lifestyle choice made with quality of life in mind.
As such visits go, we talked shop for a bit, exchanged names and contact information and then went our separate ways. We have both been running with the same carrier for six years, yet this is the first time we have met. It's not like we would not have noticed each other's trucks. Both are distinctive. It's that, like us, they use the comforts of home their big (142" ICT) sleeper provides to minimize their time at truck stops. We have not met before because we avoid the same places.
• I also learned today a bit about an author who is getting ready to write a book about truckers. Learned by visiting with her by telephone. I first learned of her by reading her internet posts where she was seeking out truckers to write about.
It was an interesting chat. She has no background in trucking and it shows. It was also immediately evident that she is a quick study. She intends to write about trucking for a broad audience. That, I told her, is a special challenge.
If you go into any bookstore and look for big-truck books, you will find few if any. While there are books about trains, cars, planes, horses, houses, and a thousand other topics on bookstore shelves, there are essentially none about big trucks or truckers. It seems hard to believe, I know. Try it. You will see.
This woman is no wannabee. She is an accomplished writer and published author with strong connections in literary circles. I am watching with great interest to see what approach she and the professionals she is working with on this project decide to take.
• Some truckers complain about being lonely on the road. If I kept to myself, I might be lonely too but it does not have to be that way. Every day is a new day. On this day on the road, I became newly acquainted with three nice people before lunch.
• After our delivery, we went to a Wal-Mart parking lot to resupply the truck, take a nap and wait for freight. We were dispatched a few hours later. We will pick up a load on Monday and deliver it the same day. That gives us the weekend off near Atlanta, Georgia. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Today's Topics: Universal Phone Chargers • Our Schedule • No Time for Sarah
• I learned today that a United Nations body adopted a universal mobile phone charger standard. Learned from news reports.
Finally! This common-sense solution comes into its own. Over the years, Diane and I have owned several cell phones, each with its own charger. Now we can buy new phones without having to buy new chargers too. As technology evolves, the size and number of electronic devices we carry in the truck have declined. That's a good thing.
Proponents talk about universal chargers as a green (environmentally friendly) move. I just like the idea of a standardized product that can be used with all phones. If our charger fails or we loose one, it can be easily replaced. No more hunting for an old charger that fits a particular phone that is no longer being made.
Sometimes what is politically correct is also sensible. Accessibility comes to mind. Curb cuts were built for wheel chairs but come in very handy for moving freight in and out of office buildings. We don't need the extra space provided for wheelchairs in handicap-accessible showers but it is nice to have. And when you sit on a toilet in a public rest room, which do you prefer, a toilet that is built for wheel chair use, or one that requires you to view the world through your knees when you are seated?
• Yesterday, after delivering near Atlanta, Georgia, we were dispatched on a run that picks up on Monday. As we were figuring out how and where to spend the weekend, dispatch called and asked us to do a run on Saturday and Sunday. The money was right so we agreed. It is a run I am not at liberty to discuss. I can say it gives us more time sitting than driving, which will be spent mostly on my Operation Streamline.
• Lead me not into temptation. That's not a Lord's Prayer excerpt. It is what I keep telling myself to stay focused. If you have read my biography, you know I have extensive, front-line experience in third-party politics. In the news today is word that Sarah Palin has endorsed a third-party candidate in New York. To a third-party guy like me, that is fascinating stuff.
Is America in the midst of a political realignment of historic proportions? Will Palin lead the charge to an ultra-conservative Republican party that will leave Republican moderates without a home? Will America transition to a left-middle-right, three-party paradigm? (We actually achieved that in Minnesota for a time.) As much as I would love to study and write about this, Operation Streamline is more important. Lead me not into temptation.
Giving Operation Streamline its name, as I did on October 19, is turning out to be a good thing. It makes it easy to identify the nature of my next act. Is what I am about to do an Operation Streamline activity or not? Asking that question keeps me on track. As interesting and entertaining as it would be to think about Sarah, she gets no time from me today (beyond this blog entry).
To stay focused, think about what you are thinking about. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, October 25, 2009. I learned today that ideas have inertia. Once conceived, they tend to propel themselves. Or, to put it another way, I learned today that life is a conspiracy to keep you spread out. Learned by receiving a Twitter message, from someone I did not know before, telling me that my fire hydrant photo blog posts have started something.
It seems that one or more Tweeters have taken a cue from my fire hydrant interest and taken interests of their own in photographing manhole covers. The first thing that came to mind when I read that was a long-forgotten memory from the Vietnam war years. I did not go to Vietnam but was in the Army while the war was underway. A barracks mate once told me how meaningful and emotional it was for him to see a certain manhole cover in Vietnam. It had been forged in his home town. That mundane object touched the heart of a lonely soldier who was far from home. We were young then ... so very young.
The thing about fire hydrants is I have been trying to phase them out. While I remain intrigued and continue to notice fire hydrants as we travel, I have stopped photographing and studying them in detail. Fire hydrant photography and study are not Operation Streamline activities.
One would think that with fire hydrants being the passive objects they are, it would be easy to stop interacting with them. While fire hydrants have no life, ideas about them do. As demonstrated by that recent Twitter message, ideas have a way of carrying on. Napoleon Hill said ideas are things. More-recent books on the law of attraction express the same concept in a different way.
I believe there is something to this. That is why I am as confident as I am that I will be successful at trading. The idea is firmly seated in my mind and I am doing the mental, emotional and physical work necessary to manifest trading success in my life.
This is not what a friend of mine dismisses as "California woo-woo shit." Do a bible study on the words believe, belief, faith and prayer. You will find the same powers of ideas and belief operating there as are written about in secular books. Example: "Your faith has made you well."
The challenge is to think about what you are thinking about. Ideas are real. They compete for your attention. They cannot survive without it. If you know what you want, the next step is to focus your thoughts and deeds on it to bring it about. If you don't know what you want, it is probably because you have too many ideas bouncing around loose in your mind. If you don't use your mind to focus on an idea, random ideas will enter your mind to compete for attention and live lives of their own.
While I am honored, gratified and sometimes amused by the attention this blog receives, I must respectfully decline to take this new fire hydrant bait. Instead, I will focus on trading. A fire hydrant expert would be fun to be. A successful trader I want to be. Henceforth, when a fire hydrant catches my eye, I will think about trading before thinking about it.
• Pictured here is a cool truck we saw yesterday. I know nothing about it and was unable to talk to the drivers to learn more. Nice ride, don'tchya tink? (As they say in Minnesota.) I put more photos of it on Hank's Truck Pictures Forum.
• We are on a run this weekend that I am not at liberty to discuss. We will be off it at midnight tonight. We will then drive 170 miles to our Monday morning pickup. Planning to arrive several hours early, we will get some sleep in before the pickup.
As with all pickups when there is time to spare, we prefer to close the distance between us and it and pass the time near the shipper. If something goes wrong on the way, this approach leaves us with time to deal with it. For example, if we had a flat tire along the way, road service could be called and we could still make the pickup. If we stayed put at midnight, left just enough time to get to the pickup before leaving, and then had a flat tire, we would miss the pickup time, be charged with a service failure and probably lose the load to another truck that would be called in.
By the way, we have never been delayed on a load by a flat tire. Except for road hazards, most tire problems can be prevented simply by keeping them inflated and checking them close each day during your pre-trip, during-trip and post-trip inspections.
Pictured here are three pieces of metal I once dug out of a tire just after we completed a delivery. A tire picked up the metal up somewhere along the way, probably in the shipper's yard. By keeping an eye on our tires, I spotted and pulled the metal out of the treads before it had a chance to work further in and cause a leak.
Tire repair cost: Zero
Down time owing to tire repair: Zero
Satisfaction from making this heads-up catch: Priceless!
Monday's run is short, delivering just 90 miles from the pickup. Beyond that, we have no idea where we will next go. We expect a dispatch offer will come on Monday for a Tuesday pickup, but in this business, you never know. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, October 26, 2009. I learned today about disposable, flame-retardant suits. Learned by wearing one for the first time.
We woke up this morning in a parking lot in South Carolina and proceeded to our pickup. The freight was not hazardous material (HAZMAT) but the plant where we picked it up manufactured hundreds of tons and thousands of gallons of HAZMAT products.
Before driving into the plant, I had to read and sign their rules sheet, prove that we had hard hats and safety glasses and complete a couple other safety actions. We have done all that before at various plants. The flame retardant suit they gave me to wear was new. Other than that, it was a routine pickup at a large chemical plant. Two hours and ninety miles later, we delivered the load (one pallet holding four small drums) to another large plant.
Our next stop was at a truck salvage yard that we spotted on the way to the delivery. The front grill of our truck is made of plastic and coated with imitation chrome. Having pushed its way through 400,000+ miles of wind, road salt and blowing sand, it is showing its age. Volvo wants over $500 for a new one. Before springing for that amount, I want to see if I can do better in a junk yard.
They let me go in and look around to see if I could find a grill. I did not, but was no less happy to be there. I would love to spend a week in a junk yard like this; rooting around for undiscovered treasurers, piecing together the stories behind the wrecked trucks, pulling components off the junked trucks and taking them apart to see how they look inside, writing the thoughts the junk yard inspires, etc.
A few steps into the yard, I turned to go back to our truck and get the camera. A few steps toward the truck, I turned around and headed back into the yard. As much as I would have loved to use some of today's free time to play in a junk yard — even wearing my brand new disposable fire-retardant suit to keep my clothes clean — my Operation Streamline is more important. Reluctantly, I limited my junk yard visit to 30 minutes.
Before this morning's pickup, we accepted a load offer. After the junk yard, we worked our way up into North Carolina where we will pick up freight tomorrow morning. On the way, we received and accepted another load offer. That one picks up immediately after tomorrow's delivery and will keep us running overnight. Business is definitely picking up. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, October 27, 2009. I learned today another example of how the internet is empowering the little guy and changing the nature of public debate. Learned by reading about the people and organizations involved in a recent truck safety story.
The people and entities involved are news man Dan Rather of Dan Rather Reports (HDNet), truck driver Desiree Wood (on Twitter: @TruckerDesiree, her web site) The Trucker newspaper (their story on this here), the American Trucking Associations, and others.
The stir began when Dan Rather ran what many truckers would consider just another anti-trucking piece. It drew the predictable response from the ATA. The report became news in itself among truckers and was reported on by The Trucker.
Normally, that would be the end of it, but this time, because of the internet and people's ability to communicate directly with the masses, it is not. I learned of this not from Dan Rather or The Trucker or the ATA. I learned of it from ordinary people talking about it on Twitter.
TruckerDesiree is outspoken if she is anything. Yet what she said in the Rather report about truck driver training rings true with me. Out on the road, like Diane and I are, you don't have to go far among the truckers at truck stops to hear stories similar to those told by Wood.
We have meet trainers that leave us wondering how in the world they became trainers. We saw it happen when a trainer literally packed up his stuff and abandoned his truck and trainee, leaving the stunned trainee under load and alone with no idea what to do next. We have met other trainees that, in our opinion, have no business driving a truck.
I am personally acquainted with a former trucker, now a police officer, who got suckered by a carrier. The deal, common in the industry, was that he would receive free training if he worked for the carrier for a year. Immediately upon completing the training, he was told there was no work for him and he was obligated to pay the company $6,000 for the training. I am personally acquainted with another driver who has a similar story with a different carrier.
The ATA is dismissing Wood and Tom Hansen — a former training manager for a large carrier, who was also quoted in the story — as disgruntled employees. I would not be so quick to do so. With Wood and others making impressive use of the internet, the ATA is not getting the last word.
If you want to dig into this interesting and ongoing story yourself, a good place to start is here on TruckerDesiree's web site. The links there will take you to the relevant sites.
Do not be quick to take sides. Everyone involved is telling at least some truth. It is a great story to follow if you wish to get educated about some of the issues some truck drivers face and how different players in the industry deal with them. See also: AskTheTrucker.com.
• This morning's pickup in North Carolina was routine. The freight was easy — one box, 13 pounds. The nature of the freight is such that an exclusive-use truck driven by a qualified team is required to transport it.
As I sit in the sleeper and write this, Diane is driving to this afternoon's 3:00 p.m. delivery. We will leave immediately for our next pickup which will keep us busy overnight and deliver tomorrow morning.
When our next load offer comes in, we will be thinking of two things. First will be our log book hours. Business has been good. At the moment, we do not have enough hours left in our seven day allotment to take a long run. That will clear up if we get a break after tonight's run.
We will also be looking at where the next offered run might take us. We need to be home next week. Where we might be normally willing to take a run say to New Mexico or Miami, we will be reluctant now. It would not be good to go to a slow freight area that leaves us far from home.
Here again, our personal choices are cutting into the money we would otherwise make. In the last few weeks, we have had plenty of freight to haul at good rates. We keep shooting ourselves in the revenue foot by taking the time off we are.
This is not a complaint. It is just what is. We are freely choosing to take the time off and are fully aware of the revenue consequences these choices involve. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, October 28, 2009. I learned today the phrase, "constant transformation is the new normal." Learned by reading the words in this Bloomberg/HarvardBusiness.org article.
The idea is not new to me but the phrase puts it nicely. Constant transformation is the new normal.
I read a while ago that we live in a world where everything is getting smaller, lighter and faster. Consider recorded music. It once came on vinyl disks packaged in album covers, then on tape, then on CD, and now on nothing. So too with the devices that play the music. First record players, then tape players, then CD players, and now nothing. That is, nothing more than an iPod that can be as small as a key chain.
(And let's not forget the big stereo speakers we were so proud of when they boomed in our dorm rooms. What was so very cool back then is seen as ridiculous today.)
As the music goes, so goes music freight. Shippers don't ship truckloads of record players any more, or the albums to play on them. With flat screen TVs, a single truck can deliver many more of TVs than the now obsolete cathode-ray tube sets. So too with computers that are smaller and more powerful than earlier versions.
Even something like bed sheets are getting smaller, lighter and faster. The sheets themselves seem not to have changed. They take up the same amount of space and weight. But new fibers make them last longer, so fewer sheets are shipped. The sheets got faster in the sense that you already have in your first set the second set that you don't have to order at all. Also, with modern distribution systems, sheets move faster. What runs off the shelf one day is back on the next.
How about hotel suites? What used to be a corner of rooms in a high-rise building has given way to freestanding buildings offering smaller extended-stay floor plans. What about books, food cooked at home, home heating and air conditioning systems, grass seed, and just about anything else you care to name?
I could go on but think the point is made. Albums, TVs, bed sheets and hotel suites are physical things. Ideas move even faster and more life-changing ideas appear every day (like the internet or the formula for a new drug). It all meshes into the swirling world we live in today, a world in which constant transformation is the new normal.
As part of updating our business plan, I started "Re-thinking FedEx." At present, it is clear that Diane and I made it through the recession in good shape and will make it through any double dip that may occur. It is also clear that business is picking up and there is no immediate reason to do anything other than go with the flow.
However, we live in a world in which constant transformation is the new normal. I am not content to leave well enough alone. While many people were blind sided by the demise of the record player, others saw it coming and made a ton of money off the new normal.
I don't want to get caught flat-footed in the trucking industry as it continues to move from one new normal to the next. We have had six good years in our present business model and it appears that more good years are ahead. That's fine, but I don't trust the future.
One of the reasons we did well as expediters is we ditched most of our material goods. We do not measure our wealth in square feet of living space, feet of lake frontage, length of the boat, quality of furniture, type of automobiles, number of business suits (now business casual) and such. We measure our wealth in dollars — which can be instantly and accurately quantified, easily positioned, and quickly repositioned — and in lifestyle considerations like freedom, personal expression, etc.
Except for the truck and some equipment, our expediting business model is not property-dependent like many other business models are. With FedEx saying it is in the information business, that may become even more important than it is today. More on that later as I continue to re-think FedEx.
For now, note this. The last load we hauled weighed 13 pounds. At this moment, it is 2:17 a.m. I am sitting up with the freight we have on board, to monitor it and the reefer that keeps it cool. We will deliver this one-skid, 300 lbs. load when the consignee opens for business in the morning.
Yes, the truck is being used to haul freight. The truck is also being used to generate temperature and location information without which the customer could not ship this particular kind of freight. The reefer adds a couple thousand pounds to the truck (I don't recall the exact weight). The information equipment adds a couple dozen pounds. The information equipment enables us to provide added value to our customers and charge higher rates for it.
As Diane sleeps in the back and I sit up with the freight on a cold, rainy night at a freeway rest area, live information is streaming off a dome on our truck, to a satellite in space, to our carrier and ultimately to our customer.
The truck is needed to physically move the freight. The reefer is needed to keep it cool. But the sale of our services was made because we can provide the information our customer needs. Because we are in the information business, we are hauling freight that is smaller, lighter and faster than general freight, and we are getting paid more to do it.
• You already know what we are up to so far today. We are not yet dispatched on another load. If we are not dispatched by the time we deliver, we will follow our usual priority of work: (1) get any sleep that we may need, (2) go to Wal-Mart and a truck stop to get whatever supplies and fuel we may need, (3) do whatever else needs to be done to be ready to run.
Regarding fuel, we always try to arrive at the delivery with full or near-full fuel tanks. Buying fuel while we are under load frees that time for other uses when we are not under load. Keeping the tanks full leaves us that much more ready to run on short notice. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, October 29, 2009. I learned today that third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 3.5 percent. Learned from news reports.
Many people will cite this number as proof that the recession is over. I am not so sure. My views align with the economists who warn about a double-dip recession. Government economic stimulus spending explains much of the third-quarter rise in GDP. It is an artificial boost and not without a significant price to pay in the future. I am waiting for 4Q 2009 and 1Q 2010 numbers to see if the recession is really over.
Big-picture macroeconomic trends are something to watch as we run our microeconomic, one-truck expediting business. More-meaningful indicators for us include the number of loads we haul and the rates at which we haul them. In that regard, the indicators are good.
Today's load pays $2.45 a mile over a good number of miles. Recent loads have been frequent and well above the minimum price at which we are willing to run.
So, what do Diane and I do in the midst of these positive macro and micro economic indicators? We go out of service for a week to go home for family reasons.
Expediter wannabees, understand this. When you talk to a trucker and he or she says business is good or bad, a host of personal factors and individual business practices (good and bad) may make it so. Never take one trucker's word about how business is as an indicator of how the trucking business will be be for you. Do your homework. Consider multiple sources. Talk to many truckers.
At the moment, Diane and I are neck deep in great freight and rates. Yet we are not taking full advantage because we choose to go home instead. Our present expediting revenues indicate more about us than the industry. Also, at our microeconomic level, we have no way to know that the week we take off the road would otherwise be great revenue week. For all we know, that week could end up being a low-revenue week even if we stayed in service.
Again, do your homework. Consider multiple sources. Talk to many truckers. Too many people get into expediting based on wishful thinking. They talk only to the people who support their hopes and note only the information they want to believe. Then they fail and blame others for their failure.
(About wishful thinking, a whole lot of ordinary truck drivers and high-level Wall Street professionals share the trait. Truckers buy over-spec'ed trucks they should not buy. Wall Streeters buy over-leveraged securities they should buy. Both use wishful thinking to explain away inconvenient truths and facts that are otherwise evident. The truckers who spend hours on internet forums and CB radios condemning Wall Streeters are not so different from the targets of their rage as they may think.)
Yes Diane and I have done better than many other expediters through the recession. But note very, very carefully that many others have not done well through the recession. In fact, many have been financially devastated and even forced into bankruptcy.
If you cannot explain exactly why (EXACTLY WHY!) some expediters did better than others as the recession progressed, and exactly what (EXACTLY WHAT!) you will do to be an expediter who succeeds, you are at high risk of becoming a failed expediter if you get into this business.
Yes, the economic news is good at the moment. Yes Diane and I have done well in our six years on the road. That does not mean business will be good for you if you become an expediter today.
• The load we pick up this afternoon and deliver tomorrow takes us further from home, not closer. Diane needs to be home on November 4 for a dental appointment. She or we also need to be home to do our part in a family mission.
We have a relative who recently had surgery. The recovery period is long. It can be done in a nursing home or at the relative's home if support is available. Relatives are rallying to the cause and pitching in to provide care at the family member's home. Diane and I are coming off the road for a week to do our part.
Between now and then, we will be watching the Qualcomm unit with more than the usual amount interest. If a load offer comes that moves us close to home, we will probably take it, regardless of the price the load pays. If not, Diane will fly home for the week and I will stay with the truck.
We have the option of Diane flying home on a one-way ticket and me running the truck solo for a week. When it came time for her to return to the truck, she would fly to wherever I would be at the time.
We considered the option and ruled it out. Operation Streamline is more important. Whether we both make it home for a week or it is just Diane, this week off the road provides a welcome block of uninterrupted time to further develop my trading business. I would dearly love to spend the week trading full-time but am not yet ready. Operation Streamline must be completed first. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, October 30, 2009. I learned today what Diane's and my schedules will be for the next week. Learned by finding out when and where we would be clear of freight today, and then making plans from our then known circumstances.
After picking up a 75 lbs. box yesterday afternoon and driving overnight, we delivered it this morning in the Atlanta, Georgia area. This was no routine run. It involved a cargo plane from overseas that was grounded by U.S. Customs officers because an insect was found on it; maneuvering the truck off-road through a very large, crowded and hectic construction site; an irate customer at the delivery who asked me if this was my first day on the job; and a lot more in between.
At first, the customer could not understand why he was unexpectedly summoned from home to come into work to sign for a FedEx delivery. He thought I was a package truck driver with a FedEx envelope that anyone could have received. Once he learned what was in the box and what we did to make the shipment a success, he became apologetic towards me and deeply appreciative of the work we did. He would not let me go until he said how thrilled he was to be a FedEx customer and how he uses regularly uses FedEx Ground to ship gifts to his granddaughter.
We next went to a nearby Cracker Barrel for a late breakfast and nap. A few load offers came in but none that took us toward home. When the offers quit coming, we gave up hope that the freight might take us home, went out of service and considered several remaining options.
We decided the most productive use of our down time would be for me to take the truck to a couple of shops to have some minor repairs and scheduled maintenance done. Diane will fly home from an airport that I will deliver her to on the way to my first maintenance stop. We will be out of service until Sunday, November 8.
Before leaving Atlanta, we will meet someone for breakfast tomorrow. She is an accomplished author who is writing a book about truckers. Finding us through the internet, she wishes to include Diane and me in the book. She is based in this area so we are taking this opportunity to get better acquainted.
She will be talking about her project online in the near future. Not wanting to steal her thunder (and some cool thunder it is), I will leave it to her to explain the details in her own good time. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, October 31, 2009. I learned today about two authors. Learned by visiting with them over breakfast.
We woke up this morning in a retail area north of Atlanta, Georgia. As previously arranged, we met with two authors regarding a trucking book they are working on. It was an interesting meeting and we found them to be nice people.
We headed next to Indianapolis Indiana, where Diane will catch a flight home. She will be home for a week on the family mission mentioned above. I will be taking the truck in for work at two shops in Northern Indiana. She will fly back to the truck a week from tomorrow.
It was a nice day for an open-road drive. With hundreds of thousands of miles of driving now under our belts, we enjoy driving as much now as ever. Driving is one of the best parts of this job. While challenging at times, it is still fun to drive a truck. 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