Add Three...Subtract one

If there has been one recurring theme in my posts the last couple of months .... I have been crazy busy. But not so busy I can't get back to Paradise, which is where I am today. Running my new biz from the Gulf beach of Florida. I guess Life ain't so terrible after all.

I have actually been here almost a week now. When I left here last my #1 priority - besides my upcoming DOT Safety Audit (see below) - was to hire on another driver or two. I have done that -- actually completed paperwork on three new owner/operators. Of those three, one is working part-time; one is finishing up another obligation before going full-time with me (he says) and one has been terminated already.

The bottom line - as of today - I have one driver that runs regionally (my original guy, Mike, who is doing AWESOME); one guy who is local (he takes care of my very irregular construction company in STL) and one guy who says he wants to run regionally (we shall see). Plus me.

But I don't have a trailer anymore! I'm leasing my new one to Mike. My old one sits in Belleville for my local guy when needed (like this morning. And yesterday). Fortunately my other 'future' regional guy has his own wagon.

I spent several hours on the Internet looking for a trailer. I have found several that I like and have actually bid on a couple on Ebay. We'll see where that goes. In the meantime I am sitting in Treasure Island loving life and keeping two drivers moving.

Driving a truck does not require a college degree. Common sense, a sense of urgency, attention to detail and a good work-ethic are good starting points. I thought this one guy had the right stuff. But there were warning signs and I chose to look past them thinking ..... I don't know WHAT I was thinking, in retrospect!

The company this guy was already leased on with, when he and I first met, had a ton of work posted on the load board. Why wasn't he getting it, I wandered. One of the references he gave me from 3 years ago told me he was a bum (off the record). Supposedly he had borrowed money and never repaid. But greedy me thought he looked like a nice guy (he ALWAYS called me Sir) so what the heck. It lasted four days!

Fortunately for him (and probably me), I was in FL when his true colors began showing. I have him booked on a trip and he starts telling ME what he's going to do and not going to do. WRONG! Read the lease agreement, stupid. You may OWN the equipment and you may be DRIVING the truck but it belongs to ME for dispatch! He managed to get loaded for his first trip but never got out of town with it. I was two seconds from flying back to IL and doing something I likely would have later regretted. As it turned out, he had enough sense to take his trailer - with MY load on it - to a place where I had it moved onto another driver.

This other driver went on to make the delivery - a day later than originally promised - and then continued the dispatch I planned. The result was 2800 miles driven in less than 5 days generating almost $3200 in revenue, a VERY excellent week!

That all happened last Sunday and Monday. Monday night, I couldn't help but reminisce why I had got out of the restaurant business - EMPLOYEES! Now, in case the IRS is reading this, I do NOT have ANY employees. These owner/operators are independent contractors that lease on to my company. I did not invent this set-up. There are thousands and thousands of these O/Os on the road today. That being said, I am ultimately responsible for the things these guys do when it's MY name on the side of their truck. It's MY federal authority that they operate under. When I commit to being somewhere at a certain time, THEY need to do it.

But I'm all better now. Money will do that to you. Money may not buy you love but it sure helps your blood pressure when it's hitting your checking account.

I am still turning down at least 2 or 3 jobs -- A DAY! So I am still looking for another regional driver. Someone based in the STL area (that's where my shippers are) willing to be 'out' for 3 or 4 days at a time and owns their own diesel pick-up truck and flatbed trailer. I guess I'll try CraigsList again. It worked well the first time.

Meanwhile, I am in FL for another week or so. Then back to STL to add on another one. Or two.