Big decision made today

Updated Mar 27, 2012

I learned today more about Las Vegas. Learned by delivering freight there and exploring a new area of town.

Diane and I woke up this morning in the parking where we would deliver freight this morning. It was a lift gate load that was dropped off at the side door of a one-story building in an office park.

We got there several hours before the load and went to sleep. The truck was parked in an empty lot but we knew it would likely be full when we woke up. The truck was parked at the end of a row, in a way that made it possible to back into an open area even if the lot filled.

To provide double protection from being parked in, I set six orange cones around the back of the truck to keep cars from parking there. You can get those at most truck stops. They collapse for easy storage and transport. They are great for times like these.

The delivery went well. We sent in the POD (proof of delivery – the name of the person who signed for the freight and the signature time) and moved to a nearby retail area to resupply the truck. Diane spotted the stores when she drove in last night (I was asleep in the bunk).

As usual, I waited in the truck while Diane went into the store to shop. I received a call from an agent and accepted a load offer that puts good-paying freight on the truck tomorrow morning.

The weather is spectacular this morning and we are parked in an area that has lots of sidewalks. Sidewalks are not present in many retail areas where trucks can be parked. I took advantage of the ones we have today to take a brisk walk.

Today is a catch-up day. I got my tardy blog posts in to the Overdriveonline web site where this blog is also published. Our tax people called and reminded us that they are still waiting for us to review and approve the 2011 income tax return they completed for us. That will get done today too. We drove over to the TA for fuel and showers and then to a parking lot near tomorrow’s pick up where we will spend the night.

Today was also a big-decision day. I made the formal decision to write a book about expediting. People have been encouraging me to do so for years. I have thought about it off and on but it was never a priority.

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It clicked today, and I decided today to write the book. It came to mind today that I never felt like writing the book before because I never felt ready. With most of Diane’s and my expediting experience being with just one large expedite carrier, there were large segments of the expediting industry that I knew little about. But with a carrier change made last June and the knowledge and contacts gained at the Sylectus conference in February, it clicked, and I now feel ready to write the book.

This is a big project with no deadline so don’t hold your breath waiting for the book to appear. But honest work on the book has now begun.

The first idea for the title has already been considered: “In Delaware the Bugs Have Yellow Guts.” Diane thinks better titles are out there to be found. Another possibility was “I’ve Pee’ed in a Thousand Toilets.” Diane nixed that one too.

Suggestions?

UPDATE: One of the people who has been encouraging me to write this book is a publisher. When I let him know of my decision, he made it official and advised me of his company’s interest in publishing this book. That means my book will not be self-published. I have a publisher.

I do not expect to make much money with this book. Expediting is a tiny, tiny slice of the larger trucking industry. I will be writing mostly for the few thousand people a year who take a serious look at expediting and consider it as a career possibility. Best estimates put about 15,000 expediter trucks on the road. Some of those drivers may buy the book too.

My publisher and I expect to sell enough books over the years to justify the project but it will not produce a life-changing sum of money.  Indeed, I expect to make almost no money at all with this book. It’s more a labor of love than anything else. Diane and I remember what it was like to be new to the industry. It would have been nice to have a book of this nature to read.

 

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