I've been on the road pretty steady for the last five years, the last three being out of town most of the time, and I think it's now time that I take a different role.
Late in '07 I decided to get my own shipping authority and start getting my own customers so I could just get a larger cut of the loads I was hauling. One thing has lead to another and now I find myself with a dozen drivers running all over the country with my name on their trucks and I hardly have enough time to stay on the road myself and keep up with dispatching them and keeping the paperwork current.
So now I've decided that it's time to come off the road, run the business from a home office, and get back involved in some things that I was doing before I went on the road, church and social activities I have missed while on the road. Plus being away from home that much is really more suited for single people.
I'm a week into it so far and it's had its ups and downs. The first couple days I would see a nice load and want to grab it and go, but each of those times I was able to get another driver to handle it. I'm somewhat apprehensive about the transition because it's going to mean a little less income for a little while until I can use this extra time to grow the business a little more. I'm really looking forward to being able to enjoy some things around this area a bit more, like going to more Reds games and playing more golf next summer, along with the aforementioned church activities that I've missed. With all that said, I owe this to a great group of drivers who have given my business a good reputation for service and enabled me to get some extra business over the last year. A company is only as good as the people doing the grunt work and I've been very fortunate in that regard.