Buying a Fedex Ground Route

[barnyard]

Warren Buffet is a fairly liberal billionaire who bought a railroad. Warren Buffet is a conservative business owner.

When he bought the BNSF, he said that the future in the US was transporting goods. At the time UPS spent more money with the BNSF than any other customer. Some analysts wondered if buying UPS would be next. Bums me out that he did not.

 

[bbsam]

When he bought the BNSF, he said that the future in the US was transporting goods. At the time UPS spent more money with the BNSF than any other customer. Some analysts wondered if buying UPS would be next. Bums me out that he did not.

When it comes to running a business, he is not unlike Fred S.

 

[bacha29]

Good point FX267. The point in this matter is not who is at fault. But the larger point is when you pay in a manner that encourages taking risks in order to get done an hour earlier bad things can and will happen but it goes with the territory. But knowing X they will proclaim this to be a preventable accident because the G driver was suppossed to KNOW that the other driver was texting.

 

[Ex-Ex]

1 claim to workers comp and watch what happens to your net. (depending on what state you are in)

 

[Xquestionman]

Gt is right there are simply too many intangibles to put any real number on what you are going to get out of it. Clearly Mr Question is another one of those you thinks that all he has to do is to get a bunch of Fx routes then just sit back and count the money. Mr Questionman clearly wants a sure bet and it is for that reason I hereby state that X contacting is not for Mr. Questionman because he wants a degree of certainty and security X contracting simply will not provide.

Um, I don't think so. I would plan to work as the ful time manager of the biz and drive to fill in if needed. I have no problem with work or getting my hands dirty. My questions are simply to try and ascertain what level of profit can be expected given the airball risks presented by X, the regulators and courts, and of course the biz itself. If net profit margins are in the teens or less that does concern me as those are smaller than I had thought; and are smaller than most properly run service bizs in general. That is what I am trying to ascertain here not a degree of certainty as that exists nowhere.

 

[Bounty]

Um, I don't think so. I would plan to work as the ful time manager of the biz and drive to fill in if needed. I have no problem with work or getting my hands dirty. My questions are simply to try and ascertain what level of profit can be expected given the airball risks presented by X, the regulators and courts, and of course the biz itself. If net profit margins are in the teens or less that does concern me as those are smaller than I had thought; and are smaller than most properly run service bizs in general. That is what I am trying to ascertain here not a degree of certainty as that exists nowhere.

Your concerns about the courts and regulations are warranted, the bitter taste in my mouth from what this company has done skews my position,I DON'T TRUST THEM. I personally would not plop down a single dollar and leave my fate in x's hands. That being said, remember that iwbf and bbsam are in deep to this scam and their views are skewed to the other side. If you have this chunk of $ to invest please look elsewhere, for your own good.

 

[bbsam]

Your concerns about the courts and regulations are warranted, the bitter taste in my mouth from what this company has done skews my position,I DON'T TRUST THEM. I personally would not plop down a single dollar and leave my fate in x's hands. That being said, remember that iwbf and bbsam are in deep to this scam and their views are skewed to the other side. If you have this chunk of $ to invest please look elsewhere, for your own good.

Not so. I have never sugar-coated what X is or how one sided the contract is. Nor do I hold a lot of debt. It has it's risks and payoffs and I've never told anyone "Yes, buy it. It's a sure thing!"

 

[Bounty]

Not so. I have never sugar-coated what X is or how one sided the contract is. Nor do I hold a lot of debt. It has it's risks and payoffs and I've never told anyone "Yes, buy it. It's a sure thing!"

Also remember, a lot of the original contractors or early owners got their routes for free or very cheap.

 

[bacha29]

The uncertainty of the returns is what we are stressing here You could have some pretty impressive years but all it takes is a couple of unforeseen turns of events or a court decision or two a corporate restructing and couple of bad wrecks that's your drivers fault some indispensable employees head off for greener pastures and you can't find suitable replacemnts quickly enough. Don't forget a bunch of complaints or under heavy pressure from the company have to rent a bunch of trucks and hire seasonal temps to cover peak.Try to negotiate something better than alow ball contract when you can't have a contract lawyer on your side present to try to get a contract that X plainly states it doesn't consider binding and is changed every year or whenever it wants. Smelter bait trucks that will no longer take the hammering from drivers who just want to get done the fastest way possible .and you want to throw what? a half a million dollars of borrowed money at this. Look, if you are going for 5 or more routes then you will need to keep at least $75,000 between you and the next unpleasant surprise.

 

[Cactus]

What I read the other car's driver was texting and swerved into the truck. I know that doesn't fit your narrative, but it's the truth. Yes, you'll be running a trucking company, accidents happen. It's part of the gig. There aren't trucking companies that never have accidents, it has nothing to do with wages.

Sure there's accidents but remember you get what you pay for (or don't pay for.)

 

[FedGT]

Yeah I guess you do. Guess what, we could go pic for pic (that includes usps, on trac, and ups) how about you let the grown ups talk about relative information. Like bb said these are trucking companies. We all have jackasses.

 

[FedExer267]

Exactly my point. Do not expect top quality effort unless you are giving top quality pay. There are drivers that refuse to work over 10 hours a day so they will 04 the business they have left do their pick ups and come in.. That would hurt the bottomline I assume.

Sure there's accidents but remember you get what you pay for (or don't pay for.)

That's FD release right...lol

 

[FedGT]

Here you go if you want one closely resembling your last one, besides the minor detail of the smashed other car. Good thing you guys are so much better trained.

 

[FedGT]

The uncertainty of the returns is what we are stressing here You could have some pretty impressive years but all it takes is a couple of unforeseen turns of events or a court decision or two a corporate restructing and couple of bad wrecks that's your drivers fault some indispensable employees head off for greener pastures and you can't find suitable replacemnts quickly enough. Don't forget a bunch of complaints or under heavy pressure from the company have to rent a bunch of trucks and hire seasonal temps to cover peak.Try to negotiate something better than alow ball contract when you can't have a contract lawyer on your side present to try to get a contract that X plainly states it doesn't consider binding and is changed every year or whenever it wants. Smelter bait trucks that will no longer take the hammering from drivers who just want to get done the fastest way possible .and you want to throw what? a half a million dollars of borrowed money at this. Look, if you are going for 5 or more routes then you will need to keep at least $75,000 between you and the next unpleasant surprise.

The $75,000 figure is ridiculously high. I have 10 guys that go out on a daily basis and even with a huge payroll expense I feel very very comfortable with a low of $20,000.

 

[Cactus]

Yeah I guess you do. Guess what, we could go pic for pic (that includes usps, on trac, and ups) how about you let the grown ups talk about relative information. Like bb said these are trucking companies. We all have jackasses, especially Ground.

 

[It will be fine]

One of the annoying parts of this business is the years with the highest nets are likely going to suck the most. They are the years that due to turnover or injury you end up driving a lot. Or it'll be a year when you should add another truck and driver but hold off because of cost, and either you end up driving a lot on a small route or a bunch of your guys are slammed everyday. Your highest profit years will be your most stressful.

 

[bacha29]

GT: One new engine a 5.9 or a 7.3 and a new transmission figuring a 4R100 or an Allison 1000 that will take just about all of your $20,000 reserve. I based it on having to do that for 5 trucks.

 

[FedGT]

Could be the case but the likelihood of an engine/tranny breakdown simultaneously is quite rare. I still haven't had an automatic transmissions to replace, have replaced a few spicer manual trannies. But the likelihood both will go out at the same time and multiple trucks as well would be worse odds than the lottery. Also that is what reserve credit lines are for. Never plan on using them but if the Armageddon type situation did occurs you are covered. No way to play that conservative with the bank account an virtually non existent interest. Would much rather make 10+% investing that money that would just be sitting there.

 

[bacha29]

In the operating environmnet I was in they went out all the time. Put 2 engines and get this 8 transmissions in one unit. That was the unit the company speced out. The next one was mine. No where near that much trouble. Isn't all about repowering units. The cost of training new grunts has to be factored in. You're paying him while training him and the time it takes to get him up to full production has to go into it. Besides corporate bank accounts generally don' tpay any interest. Granted 75K may not be necessary after Mr. Q gets the hang of it but he should at the very least have 50K readily available.

 

[It will be fine]

In the operating environmnet I was in they went out all the time. Put 2 engines and get this 8 transmissions in one unit. That was the unit the company speced out. The next one was mine. No where near that much trouble. Isn't all about repowering units. The cost of training new grunts has to be factored in. You're paying him while training him and the time it takes to get him up to full production has to go into it. Besides corporate bank accounts generally don' tpay any interest. Granted 75K may not be necessary after Mr. Q gets the hang of it but he should at the very least have 50K readily available.

That's awful advice. When training, the new driver makes less. Tell them they get a pay bump when they can cover the route on their own. This yields very good results in my experience. $50k cash on hand for 5 trucks is crazy. I don't average $10k/truck annually let alone all at once. That would be incredibly wasteful.