This section of our web site has actual (email) conversations from perspective drivers & Owner Operators that have contacted our recruiters to see if their particular circumstances will affect their ability to succeed as an expediter;

1. Discuss specific personal circumstances that may affect their ability to actually succeed in this business, working with All Types® Expediting.
2. Discuss potential income earnings based on their specific personal circumstances that may conflict with any expedite carrier and to find out if they may cause job failure or limit ones income ability.

Read some or all of these to see if any of these circumstance specific situations may influence your success in this business.
The content may be edited to compress the length and to highlight points of interest.

You do not have your own unit and want to be inserted into a fleet owners unit as their driver.

This unit has to earn your wages, the units operating expenses and some profit for the fleet owner.

I cannot accurately say "for sure" (I have no crystal ball) what you'll actually earn, but I can estimate an average around $400.00-$600.00 and sometimes more, per week in a cargo van as a driver (not an Owner Operator). Ultimately, this is decided by your ambition, and business talent, your units capabilities, where your staged waiting for loads, our capabilities etc..

Here's some other factors, you need to connect a lot of dots to make your business succeed, it's not just up to All Types to flip a light switch and bingo bango, you're a success: For example, there are 96 Saturdays and Sundays a year.

We don't do a lot of loads on weekends, especially Sunday's. Business slows down considerably on the weekends, so lets use round #'s and say 100 days (weekends) a year from 365 days is 265 days left to work. Then deduct 9 major holidays, sick days, repair days, vacations, dentist appt's etc. and how many days a year will you ACTUALLY work? Who knows.

Having said this, this is why I use averages but reference your ambition and level of business talent. A big example to combat the loss days of revenue for both yourself and the fleet owner is to target 100 (or more) extra loads, during the year, somehow. This can be done by working 1-2 Saturdays a month (sacrificing home time) but filling your wallet from that void. You could also push for 2 loads a day periodically as just a couple of ideas. You have to be proactive, not reactive...........

Mainly, you should stay out on the road for a couple weeks at a time, avoiding a lot of dead head and unloaded miles, wasting fuel, money and time.

There are many angles to this, but if you loose 100 days a year and do NOTHING about it (100 days is 3 months off a year, not counting the other days) you could inevitably fail.

Bankers say "When your self employed, your unemployed". My point is - if you make money it's your fault and if you don't make money - it's your fault too! If you fail because you have lazy business talent and can't figure out ways to cover your butt and make sacrifices, you'll fail and probably blame it on us (or the carrier you work for) and often I see this. It's always easier to blame someone else...

Some of the sacrifices will be

1. able to deal with down time / in between loads
2. pacing yourself so you can safely drive miles when they flop in
   your lap unexpectedly
3. able to accept that your an OTR driver and CORRECTLY balancing your work schedule to make your wallet full and the fleet owner
4. realize that you may lose another 18 days or so in November and
   December each year due to the holidays. You'll possibly be off 11/22
   thru 11/28 (Thanksgiving) and again 12/22 thru 1/5 (Christmas & right
   after New Years Day) so you should adjust any home time concerns in Sept. Oct & November - no days off, always available to offset those lost days. You'll have the same issue on vacations or during our yearly 2 week shut down, you need to juggle your schedule balance it and compensate for it, for the peaks & valleys. These are some of the examples you can do to assure your survival.

So you lose a few Saturdays or your not home exactly when you want to
be but remember, you can make it up during certain times of the year and accomplish the same end desires - and pay your bills and avoid job loss. Think of the small business owner

1. plumber - who has to work every weekend (when people are home & off work) and has to crawl in tiny spaces and work around other peoples toilets
2. the Dept. Mgr. who gets home late after closing the (retail) store they
   are a manager at and works every major holiday
3. the carpenter who works in 90 degree heat and has a very laborious
   job with heavy lifting
4. the factory worker who stands in one spot all day in no air conditioning lifting and bending

They all have no real job security, crappy hours and often poor
working conditions so you shouldn't complain if you become an OTR
driver.

If you fail to constantly adjust, you will most likely fail and you'll
even probably blame it all on us and insinuate we don't have the
ability to perform miracles due to your deficiencies or in-abilities to
run your business. Think about it!

I see your looking to team in a big truck. Unfortunately, since a big truck normally, requires a team at our company, your home time requirements of "home weekends" can often be un-attainable, based on the other drivers desire to continue to earn more money and / or being too far to dead head home one driver to drop them off, and then return back to their house on Monday morning or having a family member drive them to the truck location for the following weeks work. Our positions are all, OTR.

We can and do, do this but only when it's practical and does not involve excessive dead head. This will have to be repeated for the units other driver periodically, so it has a tendency to be a hassle. Again, we will participate and comply with this, but it can't be when the units financial health is at risk. If this happens, the carrier, the fleet owner and you, will most likely fail.

Preston in Fort Wayne, In
If you are driving a straight truck under 26k, does ALL TYPES® company policy require you to have a CDL B?

If you could spec out a truck in the 1999 to 2000 year range, what specs would you look for?

If I decided to start out just hauling in a straight truck that is plated 26k, how much does this limit the freight that I will be able to haul?

Does the freight in the 26 to 33K range increase dramatically?

I guess the reason I am asking is because I am really wanting to get up and running within the next 3 to 4 week range. I know I can get a truck this week, however I have to give a two week notice for my current employer, plus I am guessing that it will take me a good week or so to find the best insurance, etc. I do not want to limit myself in the business what-so-ever, however everyone is saying under 26k is the best way to start out. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank You.

1) No, but you will need 2 years of experience. A chauffeurs license is fine, but if the truck has air brakes, you will need a CDL.
2) Under 26,000# GVW. Any box length from 18' to 24'. A sleeper. No lift gate. Box dims wide of 102" OD and tall of 102" OD. Dolly legs are helpful, there are some plants that require the vehicles to have them to enter their property.
3) The volume of freight for a 26K vs a 33K GVW, will be about the same, you will see no significant increase in the volume with the 33K vs the 26K truck.
4) Yes, stay under 26K.
5) Get a team, try not to drive solo. We have drivers that can co-drive.

You can start with us in your unit, but there's a catch.

I can't guarantee, nor can you-where the wind blows you Friday night. What if your 600 miles from home on any given Friday. Are you willing to waste some of your paycheck on the fuel to get you there?

This is an OTR position. You can have home time when you want, but at
times, you may not be in your area and it may not be practical to go home, due to the distance.

If your not within a reasonable distance on any given Friday, you can go home but you will have to pay for that travel. Do you understand this and agree to this?

Do you realize that when you do travel an excessive distance it will be coming from your paycheck. Your doing this periodically will reduce your income or, you should stay where your at. This is why this is an OTR position.

Any OTR driving position requires a certain lifestyle in order to maximize your profits. Any deviation of that OTR lifestyle will either benefit or not!