Category: Business

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Carriers

Define an OTR Driver

An over-the-road driver, or OTR driver, can be defined as a person with a transportation job which involves driving a semi-trailer truck long distances. These long-haul drivers might work regionally, or they may travel to any of the 48 states and to parts of Canada.

Function
OTR drivers pick up and deliver freight, some on dedicated routes which have the same trips each week. Others drive different routes with each new transport order.

Life on the Road
These drivers live in their truck cabs when they’re on the road, which may be for many days or even weeks at a time. During their breaks, outside of sleeping, they might eat at a cafe, chat with other drivers, or get some exercise.

Licensing
Driving a semi-trailer truck requires a class A commercial driver’s license (CDL). Training to obtain the license can be acquired at driver training schools, and some employers provide paid training for new hires.

Payment
OTR drivers usually are paid by the mile. They are legally allowed to drive 70 hours in 8 days, with an 8-hour break required after 10 consecutive driving hours.

Considerations
Because of the payment structure, most OTR drivers prefer jobs in which they can drop off a trailer and pick up a new loaded one, rather than being involved in the loading and unloading process.

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Owner Operators

How to Change OTR Tires

Off-the-road (OTR) tires are a specific classification of tires that are used with tractors and other forms of heavy machinery. These tires are large and feature different treads than regular tires to allow the vehicle’s operator to use them where normal tires would fail. Because these tires and the vehicles they are used on are so much larger than a standard vehicle, the changing process requires a bit of extra work.

STEP 1: Park the machine on a flat, level surface. Place tire blocks in front of and behind the machine’s wheels to prevent it from rolling.

STEP 2: Jack up the machine with a hydraulic jack. Place an appropriately sized jack stand underneath the machine to support it during the tire-changing process.

STEP 3: Remove the tire’s valve stem core and deflate the tire.

STEP 4: Drive a tire iron between the outward-facing tire bead and the lip of the tire’s rim. Slide the tire iron back and forth along the rim to loosen about six inches of the bead.

STEP 5: Insert the bead buster between the tire bead and rim. Lock the bead buster to the rim and use the drive ratchet and socket to turn the head on the tool and separate the bead from the rim seat.

STEP 6: Repeat Steps 4 and 5 for the tire’s inside-facing tire bead.

Apply the tire-mounting lubricant to the tire’s inside and outside bead and bead seat area.

STEP 7: Lock the machine’s tire with the valve hole on top and insert two long tire irons between the tire bead and the rim. Pry the bead over the lip of the rim. Work your way around the tire until the entire outside bead is pried over the rim lip.

STEP 8: Remove the tube from the tire.

STEP 9: Insert two tire irons between the inside bead the outside rim of the tire and pry the tire completely off the rim.

STEP 10: Lubricate the inside bead of the new tire and place the tire on the rim so that the inside bead is partially over the rim flange. Insert a tire iron and pry the inside bead over the rim flange.

STEP 11: Insert the tube into the tire and place the valve stem into the valve hole. Slide the tube completely over the rim and put a small amount of air in the tire (about 1 PSI).

STEP 12: Lubricate the tire’s outside bead. Insert two tire irons between the tire’s outside bead and the rim flange. Pry the tire’s outside bead over the rim flange. Work your way around the tire until the entire tire is on the rim. Pull the valve stem completely through the valve hole and secure it with the rim nut.

STEP 13: Lower the machine so that the tire is centered on the rim. Slowly inflate the tire to seat the beads into the rim. Do not inflate the tire to more than 35 PSI. Once the beads are seated, deflate the tire completely and refill it to the manufacturer’s specifications.

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Freight Loads Owner Operators

Step-by-Step Instructions for Using Load Boards for Freight

Truckers use online load boards to plan their trips according to the best profit potential. The boards allow load bearers to post their payloads on various sites for free with the required delivery dates and price then truckers scan the site for cargo, their delivery prices, deadlines and contact information. Truckers can also fill in gaps in their trips while on the road, at Wi-Fi hotspots or even via 3G smart phones, by logging in to their load boards and monitoring available jobs along their routes.

Sign up for load boards with a good reputation among your fellow truckers . Log on to the sites regularly. Some of these services cost about $40 a month or more; others are free but may not offer as broad a range of jobs where you need them.

Plan the major legs of your trips as far in advance as possible. You may need to be in, say, Houston on Friday morning for a half trailer of bananas bound for Cleveland. In this example, scan the sites for northbound cargo in Houston or on your way to Houston to fill up you trailer to capacity.

Click “Find Loads” or “Loads” on your load board site(s). Fill out as many fields as possible on the resulting search page. Select your origin and destination cities and states, as well as the desired radius from those locations. Many sites also allow you to arrange your results in a variety of ways, such as by pickup date or weight. Fill in these fields.

Type pickup and delivery dates into the subsequent search fields, as well as minimum and maximum weights, to fine-tune your search. the sites will often require other information, such as trailer type and payload size. Click “Search” once you’ve finished filling out your search template.

Broaden your search before you abandon your quest and hop to another load board. Select other origin cities along your route to other payloads you’ve already arranged, leave either your origin or destination fields blank, or choose to browse by region if your particular site allows it.

Scroll down the results page, looking for jobs that align with your trailer size, weight limits, origins and destinations.

Scroll across in the entries for jobs that look promising to access the company’s phone number. Call them to arrange the details of the job.

Categories
Freight Brokers

Freight Broker License

A freight broker, also called a broker authority or freight broker agent, is a domestic transportation expert who is knowledgeable about the logistics of cargo shipment of manufactured and distributed products. A freight broker company arranges for transportation of trade cargo by contracting with for-hire transportation motor carriers. They generally do not take possession of the cargo, nor assume responsibility for the cargo arranged with motor carriers. They deal with much of the technical shipping documentation, including terms and fees. In the United States, a freight broker license is required for operating freight broker business.

Obtain the required freight broker training and knowledge. While a degree program is not required, freight broker training programs exist to educate prospective freight brokers about the relevant transportation logistical knowledge, using an assortment of training manuals and books. You can also apprentice with a licensed freight broker.

Apply for the license. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the government agency that issues freight broker licenses. Complete the FMCSA’s Form OP-1 Application for Motor Property Carrier and Broker Authority and pay a fee of $300. The FMCSA will then assign a Motor Carrier Number you must have to continue the application process.

Obtain a surety bond to file with the FMCSA. The required insurance bond amount for a freight broker license is established by the FMCSA and must be obtained prior to OP-1 Application approval. The current bond requirement is $10,000. You must file proof of bond with the FMCSA while the application is pending.

File an FMCSA Designation of Process Agent form for each state you plan to conduct business in. A process agent must be designated for each state the prospective freight broker seeks to operate in case a legal action is filed against the freight broker. This filing must also be completed prior to an application approval by the FMCSA.

Submit all completed materials to the FMCSA. Refer to the FMCSA’s website for the mailing and payment options for submitting the Form OP-1 application, other filings and proper fees. The wait time on an FMCSA application is generally one to two months.

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Categories
Owner Operators

Start A Career As A Truck Driver

Truck driving is becoming a more and more popular career for people seeking job security. The truck driving industry is always looking for truck drivers, the pay is good, and there is security in this career. Becoming a truck driver is also a great career for people who do not want to sit behind a desk all day. This article will outline how to start a career as a truck driver.

The first step to starting a career as a truck driver is to go to truck driving school. You can find truck driving schools by performing an internet search for “truck driving schools” followed by your city and state. Truck driving school will last between 6-7 weeks Truck driving school costs several thousand dollars to attend(many truck driving schools offer financial aid however).

The second step to starting a career as a truck driver is to apply to the truck driving schools job placement program once you graduate. Typically these job placement programs at truck driving schools have a high success rate in placing graduates, as there is a demand for truck drivers to fill positions.

The third step to starting a career as a truck driver is to put your resume on online employment web sites. These web sites can be good places for truck drivers to find careers, and having more than one job offer on the table will give you power in bargaining with a potential employer.

Categories
Carriers Owner Operators

How Much Do Car Insurance Rates Drop After Age 25?

Several factors contribute to the car insurance rates you pay. Insurance companies generally consider your age, gender, driving history, occupation, the make and model of the vehicle you drive and where you live when determining the cost of the premium it will charge you. Drivers under the age of 25 typically pay higher insurance rates. Although the lowest auto insurance rates kick in at about age 40, once you reach age 25, the cost of insurance begins to decrease.

Average Rate Decrease

Male drivers can expect an average decrease in car insurance rates of 20 percent after they reach the age of 25. That is if you have a safe driving record and haven’t been involved in any automobile accidents. Rates for female drivers drop about 15 percent. Rates don’t decrease as much for female drivers who, in most cases, already pay less car insurance. Before age 25, insurance companies consider younger drivers inexperienced and more careless, which makes them a higher accident risk. After that age, individuals have graduated from college and are working a regular job. By that time, some individuals have married and started their families. These things make them more responsible adults in the eyes of insurance companies.

Risk Factor

Although teen drivers account for only about 7 percent of the licensed drivers in the U.S., young drivers between the ages of 16 and 24 are involved in almost 15 percent of all fatal motor vehicle accidents, according to the American Safety Council. Driving at unsafe speeds is a common cause of accidents involving teens. Statistics show that more than one in five teenage drivers is involved in an accident during the first year of being a licensed driver. Inexperience driving in combination with indulging in reckless driving behaviors like speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and having other teens as passengers in the vehicle place this age group at higher risk for auto accidents.

Driver Behaviors

Insurance companies generally classify males under the age of 25 as high-risk drivers pushing up the price of their auto insurance. Young men in this age category receive the highest number of tickets for speeding and reckless driving. They are less likely to wear seatbelts increasing their risk of suffering serious injury if involved in an auto accident. This group of drivers also accounts for the highest percentage of DUIs, reports the CDC. Male drivers younger than age 25 cost insurance companies money by filing more insurance claims than other categories of drivers.

Premiums Decrease Over Time

Car insurance premiums typically go down at ages 21, 25, 30 and 35. Unless you have an accident or get a traffic ticket, rates usually remain stable for a time. Check your policy soon after you reach each of these age categories, as you should be able to save money on your premium. If it has been five years since you were last involved in a motor vehicle accident, or if you’ve had no accidents, you may qualify for a good driver discount. Auto insurance companies often offer discounts to policyholders with credit scores of 720 and above. While younger consumers tend to have lower credit scores, maintaining a good payment history over time will continue to boost your score.

Categories
Owner Operators Truck Leasing

Become an Owner & Operator of a Truck

Many truck lovers aspire to become the owner-operator of a truck. Being an owner-operator of a vehicle, such as an 18-wheeler diesel truck, allows you to make the decisions and be your own boss. Most owner-operators are responsible for buying gasoline, finding work, maintaining their trucks and paying expenses.

Learn to drive an 18-wheeler diesel truck at a truck-driver training school that fits your needs, schedule and budget. Browse the Internet and Yellow Pages to locate schools in your area. Truck-driver training programs typically last two weeks to two months. The longer programs usually have shorter classroom sessions.

Obtain your Class A driver’s license. A Class A or commercial license is required to drive an 18-wheeler truck. It is obtained by passing the Class A driver’s test offered at the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. A fee is usually required to obtain the licence.

Work as a company driver for at least one year. This experience may be needed before taking the big step of working for yourself. The income enables you to save money to buy your truck, and the experience builds confidence.

Purchase your truck. The truck should be in good condition and have good tires, because you will pay your own maintenance costs. A truck should have passed all operating tests before purchasing it. Commercial truck dealerships are similar to car dealerships. Search the Internet for commercial truck dealerships in your area. Some dealerships permit you to browse their inventory and prices online. Truck prices have a wide range, from $10,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The typical price for a basic truck starts in the $20,000 range.

Find work with a company as an owner-operator. Search classified-ad websites for opportunities. Consider the pay and the benefits offered. Only a few companies offer owner-operators benefits, but the search to find them may be worthwhile.

Categories
Carriers Trucker News

Techniques for Transportation

Transportation is physically moving goods from one location to another. Selling transportation means providing customers with optimum service for an agreed-upon price. Although some customers may enjoy knowing the details of how a package moves by air, ground or overseas cargo container, most are not interested in how transportation works. What customers want to know is, “When and how much?” Transportation sales will try to answer this quickly, accurately and, most important, more competitively than the competition.

Price
Transportation pricing is based on weight and distance. As weight and distance increase, prices go up. The transportation salesperson will provide quotes for shipping to the customer. As with all sales, the salesperson’s job involves name recognition and response as much as the actual product or service delivered. Promptly providing pricing for cargo will lead to customers preferring the salesperson’s company over others that may be slightly less expensive but that are slow on returning needed information. Moving cargo is definitely not suited to waiting for someone to get back with a quote.

Transportation salespersons will know the bottom line for the company to make a profit, and possibly to insure a minimum commission for themselves. The salesperson will then take the base amount and, knowing the customer and the customer’s expectations, add an additional markup that is best for the company but low enough to ensure the order.

Scheduling
A pickup and delivery schedule tells the customer when the cargo will leave and when it will arrive at its destination. Not every transportation company will be able to meet all schedule demands. The salesperson’s job is to coordinate the service availability with the customer’s need to move a shipment in a specific time frame. When regularly scheduled air transport will not meet the deadline, then the salesperson will look at over-the-road transport.

Overseas transport can be the most exasperating to schedule because of ship traffic and intervening ports of call before arriving at a destination. If the cargo is the right size and weight, then airfreight may work much faster. If weight, size and total costs prevent using expensive airfreight, then the salesperson will have to use pervasive people skills to convince the customer that the shipping order will have to be changed. For the successful transportation salesperson, part of the job is explaining to customers that not all their demands are feasible while still getting the orders from the customers.

Packaging
Transportation salespersons also sell packaging and shipping readiness services. These can include crating, pallet loading, strapping, loading and the like. Although many large companies have their own departments preparing cargo for shipping, some smaller companies will need such services from outside. The transportation salesperson will again price for maximum profit while keeping the cost low enough to insure the customer’s order.

Categories
Freight Brokers

Cargo Freight Company

Logistics
A big part of starting a cargo freight company is figuring out logistics and costs for moving cargo. Analyze the cost of shipping cargo within the United States by land and water, and into foreign countries. This includes accounting for customs, freight duties and cost of transportation. The general costs for transportation include not just gas, but also vehicle maintenance, driver salaries, tolls and loading and unloading.

Strorage and Shipping
Some cargo freight companies will also factor in the storage of freight in a warehouse during delivery. When freight is shipped, sometimes it ships from one warehouse to another, then is picked up by another driver and shipped to a final destination. This is all part of the complicated logistics solution that you as a shipping company can provide. The companies that do it cheapest are the ones that succeed. Gather information not just on the cost of shipment, but also on warehouse storage. Find several options for storage that you can work into your plan.

Analyze Vehicle Costs
Vehicle costs are another large topic to investigate. Freight trucks must be dependable and fuel efficient. Diesel engines also require specialized mechanics. Hourly wages range from $20 to $50 or more. Find a servicing company that can provide maintenance, or look into hiring a full-time diesel mechanic for your cargo freight shipping company.

Buy a Warehouse or Rent
You will need a warehouse. Look into the prices on warehouses for sale through a commercial real estate broker. They have the best insights into the market and will also give you comparisons on renting a warehouse over buying. Compare the costs and balance your budget accordingly. If you do not want to take on additional assets, renting a warehouse is probably your best option.

Categories
Carriers Freight Loads

Test a Load Board

A load board is an interface device that works in between the IC under-test and the test head of the automated test equipment. The purpose of the load board is to provide mechanical and electrical interface between these two devices. It is extremely important that a load board be tested to see if there are any problems in its connections. There are three main methods to test the devices, which vary in effort, time, and money put into the test. Choose the one that is best for you and your situation.

Perform a manual verification test. To do this, you will need to use an ohmmeter to check for any shorts or opens between the test socket-to-IC contacts and the PCB to ATE connections. This method is, however, very limited. It will save you some money if your load board deals with a low amount of contacts (under 50); it is on the flip side not very practical for load boards that happen to feature a large amount of contacts (100 or more).

Use the same expensive device that you employ when testing your ATE to test the load board, whatever that may be. This method is the least desirable out of all the options as it is very expensive and inefficient. It can also waste a large amount of your test resources, which will then consequently impair your ability to test your ATE. You may also need to write some special software to test the board. Avoid this method if possible.

Take the test out of your hands. Employ a dedicated load board testing system. This method is your best bet as it will save you the greatest amount of money and time. It is also much more reliable than any form of manual testing that you undertake. This test measures leakage currents and resistance to confirm that the load board does not have any shorts or opens in its circuitry. One system that is especially noted for its abilities is the Cerprobe BOSS Load Board Test System, which measures not only for the shorts and opens but also a variety of other factors. Find a group in your own town that can perform this test for you and let them take care of it.