Which one? give me idea..
What the difference between PSA and ISP
- Thread starter alext
- Start date
MrFedEx
Engorged Member
Alex...I'm going to echo what others have said, You seem like a nice guy, but you clearly don't know enough about the delivery business to plunge-in. Look around, and do some research about Ground before you consider it seriously. You might also want to learn a lot more about FDX, the corporation.
Guys!! Thank you for support! For honest advise! I have now more info to think about than before I came to this forum!
gixxer squid
Well-Known Member
I think I gave you some pretty good advice as others have. I had jack crap in the experience department. Hell, I didn't even know that fedex ground was owned by contractors.
Fortunate for me though was that I have my own business and set my own hours although taking a month off to train someone hurt me $$$$.
So I am not suggesting that it cannot be done, I am suggesting wisdom and due diligence on your part before you hand over your greenbacks.
We have made it work and expanded so anything is possible. Whats gonna hurt you is not being able to drive and learn the routes to fill in with emergencies or peak holidays.
What is the daily stops of each PSA? How long has each person been driving their routes? I would be careful of drivers less than 1 year. Get daily settlements to see how many packages are brought back. If driver not over 95% then it could be a problem. So many little things to consider and at least your asking the questions.
I made it happen, knowing what i know now would I do it again, probably not but at this point its done. With 4 PSA's your kinda stuck. You need a manager but making such little profit that the manager is going to eat it up. If you think your gonna start stacking your money than think again.
We had service records of one of our p1000's that I think were falsified. We spent $11,000 the first 9 months on that truck. Broken spring, clutch, 3rd gear syncro, starter, king pin, tires, crank shaft sensor…….hurts me to even relive….took us close to 2 years before we righted the ship, got good drivers that cared and have obviously expanded and looking to expand even more when the right opportunity arrises...
Any thought about Line Haul routes? What I read this is no Package handling required this is picking up trailers and moving them from point A to point B. This is required CDL class A doubles, triples endorsements tractor trailer, which of course I don't have.
which one Route is more reliable to pickup Ground, HD or Line Haul?
White Line
Well-Known Member
Reliability as in which one has the most steady work and longevity? This business is based off pickups plain and simple, while there are other factors such as rates, how good the sales reps are and yada yada yada, we don't have much of a business without pickups, I am a linehaul contractor but if my counterparts on the P&D side have a bad day in pickups, that means less volume back to the terminal which means less outbound trailers loaded which means linehaul runs cut, contrary to what some of my fellow linehaul contractors think, that linehaul feeds the system, it is the P&D side that makes this machine rock and roll, and without their heavy pick up volume everything and everyone else is affected by it, from package handlers getting shorter hours that night on the sort, less trailers being loaded which causes runs to be cut from linehaul runs, to less delivery volume the following day for the P&D guys at the facility getting the less trailers, it's a vicious cycle and the reliability is only as good as the overall freight volume, no one department is spared from light volume it affects all of us.
White Line
Well-Known Member
Now to address the line haul routes question alext I will echo what the others have said, you sound like a nice person but you really need to research and think really hard about what you are getting yourself into before spending your money, I don't know what your situation is, if this is a big loan that you got that you have to pay back, or is this hard money that you have in your savings and you are looking to invest it, I can tell you from experience that if it's loaned money you are going to find that it will take a while to pay that loan back, don't let the contractor that you are buying from try to tell you "oh man you will be making so much money that you will have that loan paid back in no time" that's a bunch of malarkey and don't fall for that, now if it is your own hard earned money that you have saved be prepared to spend a lot of it and don't expect a return right away, owning semi trucks is expensive and sometimes they don't put out the return that people expect, if anything trucking businesses are more about putting out steady cash flow as opposed to high returns in profit just ask any owner operator, and if it is done wrong that steady cash flow can turn into steady loss before you know it, your biggest issue is not having any driving experience or experience in the business in general and that could really be bad for you, I am not saying it's impossible but like the others have said you will need some type of manager or what we on the linehaul side call a 'truck boss' , this is the guy who will help you in day to day operations and overlooking the other drivers and equipment, he should have his cdl and be able to cover runs for absent drivers, taking the trucks to the shop to get serviced and or repairs and depending on the size of the linehaul business you buy the truck boss position could be a full time position in itself, the truck boss may not even have time to do a run themselves which means you are paying him strictly for management and he isn't making you any money at all, not saying that's a bad thing and not worth it but understand that his position doesn't make you money, only the guys driving the trucks make you money, also you need to consider the real world reality of how are these guys going to like working for someone who has no experience in their profession, that includes the truck boss, not trying to sound mean alext but this could possibly happen, depending on the attitude of the drivers and the truck boss, they may display absolutely no respect for you at all, and that has to be considered and you will need to address it.
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