Zigali
Well-known member
Well I’m sitting in Santa Rosa Texas right now getting a new van it’s a 2018 ford transit ext it’s bigger and better then my old one so much more comfortable and has a generator with rooftop ac unit I’m living it up haha. I’m hoping I get more loads and am able to travel further with this one.
Zigali
Well-known member
Zigali
Well-known member
Yea over 40k after everything and still got some more work to do on it but my boss has money so that’s fine with me. The more he does to the van the more comfortable I am lol
Im enjoying the hell outta your adventure, kid. Maybe not as much as you but im close lol safe travels out on the road man.. Be CAREFUL not to pick up any shady ppl who may try to steal from your truck while you have a load! You seem like a very caring and helpful person and unfortunately, a few ppl on the road out there love to take from folks just LIKE THAT!.. I got robbed for my entire molle 2 pack only a day after getting to Venice bch. All i wanted to do was watch the sunset into the pacific Ocean for the FIRST time in my life, being from ATLANTA Georgia id never been out west.. I offered a homebum a beer or 2 and asked if he wanted to join. Long story short, i was dead tired from my trek to the West coast so i passed out with my pack under my head as a pillow.. Woke up with NOTHING. My miniGuitar was strapped to my pack and my wallet and all my clothes were gone.. Just a small reminder to WATCH the company you keep... You can lose EVERYTHING just like that....
Zigali
Well-known member
Yea there’s a lot of shitty ppl out here but I’m pretty strict on who I’ll pick up cause I don’t trust ppl. That’s pretty shitty what he done that’s why I usually don’t mess with homebums, dirty kids I’ll talk to but not homebums it’s generally not a good idea I’ve found most of them are shady
Zigali
Well-known member
Update: I’ve been much busier since I got this new van and I’m liking it better. I’m making more money and staying on the road more plus the van is hella nicer lol. I’m currently headed to Missouri near St. Louis I left from Detroit this morning. Still interested in switching carriers tho.
I just came off a weekend load that kinda sucked, I had 3320 lbs squatting my van almost all the way to the ground for 3 days I hated that. My max weight is 3400lbs so it was about maxed out, sooo glad I got it off lol. I didn’t have anywhere to sleep cause it was 3 full size skids which is all I can carry so I had to go to my dads for the weekend which wasn’t bad so I reckon some good came from it. I almost rented a Airbnb log cabin that was right next to the Lake Erie public beach access that would have been cool haha but decided to save the money and go to my dads instead.
I just came off a weekend load that kinda sucked, I had 3320 lbs squatting my van almost all the way to the ground for 3 days I hated that. My max weight is 3400lbs so it was about maxed out, sooo glad I got it off lol. I didn’t have anywhere to sleep cause it was 3 full size skids which is all I can carry so I had to go to my dads for the weekend which wasn’t bad so I reckon some good came from it. I almost rented a Airbnb log cabin that was right next to the Lake Erie public beach access that would have been cool haha but decided to save the money and go to my dads instead.
Zigali
Well-known member
Joe Btfsplk
Well-known member
How about you getting a stright truck with a comfortable sleeper? More opportunity. Surely you've heard of Landstar. If you had a lift-gate and reefer; more opportunities.
Wait a minute. Landstar prefers teams. That's a hard decision. Myself, I'd rather be alone
Wait a minute. Landstar prefers teams. That's a hard decision. Myself, I'd rather be alone
Zigali
Well-known member
Well I thought about str8 truck but I’ve got so much more maneuverability and I don’t have to deal with eld or weigh station or hours of service all that is just a load of bull and a lot of stress if I was to do that I would have to go with a semi with an older truck so there’s no eld and I can keep different logbooks but it’s still a pain in the ass. I might go that way one day but right now I’m enjoying my sightseeing excursions
Joe Btfsplk
Well-known member
What you've typed is spot-on. Regulations; ever ongoing. Freedom of driving big trucks is now more microscoped than if you worked in a factory or at a desk job. Penalties can be severe.
Then there is weather. Your first winter driving is coming up. There are exciting times in the winter. Black ice is worst. Heavy snows means crawling along at 25 mph endlessly. You mostly seem to stay in the midwest area, totally different experiences in the eastern or western mountains. Braking can easily cause jackknife. I used to drive doubles year around, god, last thing I wanted to do was brake on snow or ice. With so many brake shoes on your wheels, all not in exact sync with one another, you don't know where you're going to wind up and two trailers jack instead of one. It happens so quickly.
A lot of semi drivers are trying to get in to expediting because of what you've stated. At the moment, the expediter market is supposedly swollen, but could change if this driver shortage bull-roar has any merit to it. Looking to ship product means any way possible.
Then there is weather. Your first winter driving is coming up. There are exciting times in the winter. Black ice is worst. Heavy snows means crawling along at 25 mph endlessly. You mostly seem to stay in the midwest area, totally different experiences in the eastern or western mountains. Braking can easily cause jackknife. I used to drive doubles year around, god, last thing I wanted to do was brake on snow or ice. With so many brake shoes on your wheels, all not in exact sync with one another, you don't know where you're going to wind up and two trailers jack instead of one. It happens so quickly.
A lot of semi drivers are trying to get in to expediting because of what you've stated. At the moment, the expediter market is supposedly swollen, but could change if this driver shortage bull-roar has any merit to it. Looking to ship product means any way possible.
Zigali
Well-known member
Yea there’s way too many vans on the road right now. I just wanna start throwing nails out at truck stops to give them all flats so I can get all the loads lmao jk btw. My company alone I heard has 500 vans that’s a crazy stupid amount it’s no wonder they have trouble keeping everyone moving, they’re so worried about being the biggest that they aren’t paying enough attention to the drivers they have. They’re still sticking with mostly auto parts for their contracts too, they really need to expand and get into other types of deliveries, and they need to start expanding westward as well. They can’t expect to be the biggest company and still only keep their ppl on the east coast it just won’t work. A bigger fleet requires a bigger area of operations and I don’t think they understand that, hence the reason I want another company smaller fleet more loads and better personal service
Jackthereaper
Well-known member
Zigali
Well-known member
Yea it’s doing ok I got $1300 coming for this week that’s in my pocket. I just bought a new $1400 phone so overall I’d say I’m doing pretty decent
Jackthereaper
Well-known member
Zigali
Well-known member
Yes sir we are going to analyze the income for the rest of the year to determine whether or not to switch companies based on the percentage of the return we get too, by January we will be able to decide whether to stay with this company or go with another one that has a reputation for better loads and pay
Zigali
Well-known member
https://www.expeditersonline.com is a good place to start there’s forums for information, classified driver ads, place to apply for multiple companies etc. it’s a good site also check Facebook expedite groups like Transportation life wheels, wings and rudders
Joe Btfsplk
Well-known member
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