Modern Trucking Tools For A Modern Market

Computer The brain of your business operations systems, you’ll need it to run all the business essential programs and applications for your business. It’s worth the value to find a durable computer with “Intelligent Shock Sensor” technology, this safe guards the hard drive in case of bumps vibration or a drop.

For what it’s worth, this is the type computer I worked the truck with; it’s a Fujitsu Lifebook A6010 or simply a A6000 series.Fujitsu Store

Mine has been dogged out, it’s still getting dogged out, now, it looks like a dog, but still when I use it “as I am now writing this book”, it purrs like a kitty cat. It has always worked for me without “any” major problems, accept because its been banged around so much, occasionally when I move it a certain way it just turns right off, but its not a constant problem at all. If you don’t have a computer stand your cord plug in point WILL eventually break because you move the computer around so much you don’t realize your twisting the cord to death. Until I put the computer on a stand I constantly went through power adapters. For my power adapter plug in, I plug it in, wrap the cord in a loop and clear tape it down at the plug in point, and try to leave the computer in the stand tray all the time. Oh get your self a good

Computer locking cable, it will give you peace of mind whenever you have to leave the truck. Check these out.

If you carry a laptop on the road, you should have a laptop lock to protect it!

Laptop Locks

mine was like 20.00 bucks or so. Anyway, lastly on computers, I paid like 1,300 for mine. I wasn’t smart enough then. I could have gotten the same one for a 1,000, had I found it on the internet.

Here’s the link to where I found the new generation of the same features for 999.00 “P7450” configuration."Fujitsu changes their site a lot so instead here's the Store link check out There current models there and excellent brand" Fujitsu Store

“If I had it to do over again I would have gotten a"

“ruggedize” computer, like the Panasonic Toughbook 52, Standard Configuration” was at 1,360.00

Notebook gives you the flexibility to work wherever you need to, whether in the office or in the field. The shock-mounted hard drive, full magnesium alloy casing, and spill-resistant keyboard and touchpad defends your data against the bumps of mobility, while the wide area wireless-ready design allows you to stay connected anywhere you go. The 15.4-inch widescreen display is perfect for increased productivity and better group presentations. Work anywhere. Risk nothing with the Panasonic Toughbook 52 [CF-52GCMHXAM] Notebook

I think it would have been worth it, you may get one like I got, but it’s not per say a “ruggedized computer, so the results might not be the same. In fact everything mine has been through I have to consider myself blessed for it to still be working good, it’s a one of a kind!!! The ruggedized is by far your best bet for the riggers of trucking.

Once my computer dies or I just need it bad enough the ruggedized “will” be my next computer, hands down, Lord willing.

You can find a few other option through Buy .com as well.

Knowing the Value of the Tools of Technology Here’s a quick testimony; While driving the bleach bottle rolled over on my first computer and ruined it, I didn’t have the money at the time to get another one, I never hesitated for a second to buy another one on credit, this time I asked for one that would hold up to the riggers of life on the road, one that could really take a lickin and keep on tickin sorta speak. I was directed to the computer that had the heaviest encasement they had. Its internal components also were built for mobile durability. It has an Intel Centrino “Core or Core 2 Duo” Duo Processor, which I didn’t even know what that meant at the time but it’s top of the line in Processors. It also reads directly on the keyboard label that it has Intelligent Shock Sensor, which safeguards the data on the hard drive in case of a bump, vibration or a drop. This computer turned out to be the toughest little gem I’ve ever owned, and it has provided a steady stream of income every since.

Restore System I’m not training on computers here but I want you to know what fixes my computer most of the time something goes wrong, I also asked computer technicians and they say they use this to fix most of the computers they repair at a fee. Its call “Restore System” it resets your computer to a date before a problem started without changing documents you’ve recently changed. In effect it cleans out viruses and fixes any program issues arising out of using your computer. Just click on “Start” “Search, search for “restore system” and once you click on it follow the directions carefully. For those of you that get on to this little know secret, “Your Welcome” ahead of time.☺

Computer stand: If you already have a computer, I already know what you are doing if you don’t have a computer stand. I already know your frustration too, and I know, and you know that what you are doing is especially too dangerous for a big truck. Commit to either buying a stand or building one, the consequences of not having one is much too great, it’s not worth it, get one.

Here are a few good sources Allsop offers free ground shipping on all orders in the continental US. Please visit our site for AllSop Laptop Stands/Cases free shipping. CyberTrucker, Ram-Mount One last note: Once you do have a stand, look in the mirror at least once a month and recommit to a firm decision. A decision to be discipline to not make a habit of using your computer while driving. When you’re using it while driving and your conscious is telling you something? “Listen” your conscious ain’t dumb, it’s trying to tell you something vitally important, why not listen to it! You’ll be glad you did. If you don’t, you may be sorry.

Four in one: Fax Copy Printer Scanner This little gem is the best thing since sliced bred, all my business with Brokers, Service Providers, Insurance Company, some State and Federal Agencies, everything went through my little Multi Function Machine, and I can’t say enough about it; It would be impossible in this brief paragraph, but next to my computer it singlehandedly is the next most important machine I own. I had several during my time in trucking, all of them were the small home and office type, the best one I personally had was inexpensive from Staple's and they will ship it to you for free it's the Brother MultiFunction MFC 465N it‘s small, durable, effective, and mine came with a great Document Management program “PaperPort” , and although it was not the latest version it did most of what I needed it to do.

Check PaperPort.com for the latest version or if the Brothers version works for you then you should be set. But there are many new products and if you’re reading this book ten years later you’ll want to hit a few sites like

and see what’s new out there.

Electronic Faxing: this is a service which basically is a fax clearing house. They give you a fax number, you use that fax number with all the transactions that can not be emailed but can be faxed, when someone faxes documents to you each page goes through this fax clearing house and come directly to your email, you can then print them, fill them out, scan them back in, and if your receiver can’t receive them back by email, send them back out to their fax number through your email which is attached to you electronic Fax station. Myfax.com or Efax.com or Rapidfax.com This service is only about .10 cent a page or a minimum of about $10.00 a month

Adobe “latest version” Almost every document sent to you will be sent as an adobe file. Adobe files are PDF files “portable document files”. That means they are super highly condensed and travel in a manner of seconds other files take minute, “Adobe Viewer” can be downloaded free from the internet. Adobe . If you want to have full functionality and be able to make a document that can not be copied or changed you have to buy the software.

Document Management Program “Converts regular files to PDF files” If you don’t have a Document Management Program your documents won’t scan as an Adobe file: That means they will travel “electronically” very slow. If you are sending through a connection card which may have a weak signal it may get stuck in the perpetual send mode but not really be working at all. I’ve literally lost very high paying loads because I didn’t get the paper work back in time enough to get moving on the load. Consequently the broker found someone to do the load for cheaper, pulling me off the load since technically he didn’t have me dispatched on it in the first place. Time literally is Money. I bought a Brother printer, it came with a Document Management Program called Paper Port, It allowed me to turn all my files into PDF files and send them in seconds. I don’t remember every being pulled off another load for being too slow since. Try to always do your paperwork at the Truckstop just in case something fails you can rush in and use their fax machine.

Trucking Load Boards I’ll group the load boards together, before I speak to them I’d like to jump way ahead and give you one of the very important rules to leasing on to any company, Here it is: Don’t even think of leasing on to a company that locks you into a set rate and does not allow you to run loads from the broker load boards. Find a company that not only will pay you what you’re worth but also gives you the flexibility to run loads off the load boards using their trailer. The best case would be a company that will allow you to run off the load boards with their trailer and only charge you like 15%, that means you’ll make 85% of the load. Through this book I’ll teach you how to leverage your knowledge of the market to make ridiculous amounts off the load boards. It’s an opportunity that you should never lock yourself out of when signing a lease contract.

Even if your company limits you somewhat or on where you can run off the load boards, at least they allow it, and in just the right circumstances you can get them to let you run off the load boards even in the areas that are generally off limits. I’ll explain more later. Here are some of the prominent Load Boards ans Post Everywhere allows you to post your equipment on multiple load boards simultaneously. http://www.getloaded.com/ http://www.internettruckstop.com/ http://www.posteverywhere.com/ Having the load boards or access to getting your truck posted on many load boards lies at the heart and soul of your high earning potential, I’ll teach you how to do most of your market research from the load boards, how to position yourself for the high payoff loads, and how to use the load boards to make the market come looking for you instead of you looking for the market, “big difference”.

Connection card: I’ve seen too many business people “especially Truckers” become satisfied with using local WiFi Connections, first of all they are not usually secure connection, secondly and the real big reason is they are too limited in their reach and capacity. A connection card allow you secure internet access from almost anywhere; some connection card companies are better than others, the main thing is, find one you like and get it, its worth the investment, remember time is money, you can’t drive that big truck around hoping to find a park in a hot spot; you need it and you need it now!!! TIME IS MONEY! If you’re limping around on WiFi, thinking you can maximize your business potential, the only one you are fooling is yourself. Sprint AT&T Verision PDA If it’s within your budget you may consider a PDA phone, they do have a few advantages that will make your life and your business a little easier, they may never really replace the use of a computer but they do provide some functionality that is convenient.

Mapping program GPS Optional Now we’re down to the nitty gritty of the trucking business. Since there are a few mapping programs out there I’m on the safest ground simply pleading with you, GET ONE!!!! Find one in your budget and buy it, I used Microsoft Streets and Trips, , it’s about 30.00 bucks. I often found the mileages to be pretty close to what the actual is when I ran miles on the quickest route setting. Almost every broker out there runs miles on PC Miler “an expensive program if you’re only a one truck operation”.

They have a little trick of setting it on the shortest route if they feel like they can get away with it. Most of the time you have to ask them to try running the miles on “practical miles” setting, that will give you the route the truck needs to take and the miles will always be longer. Most of the time, the brokers are cheating you on the rate and the miles. They routinely run short miles even though they know your equipment can’t legally run the short route. I also experienced similar results with Rand McNally mapping programs. Once you learn Demand Strategies for your truck operation you’ll be in control of what miles are going to be using not someone else, so you’ll want to make sure you don’t cheat yourself on miles. Remember not all trucking programs send you on truck routes, I would only remind newbie’s, you’ll have to get a good solid

Motor Carrier Map, unfortunately that’s all most Truckers will depend on. They don’t realize what their missing out on, if they ever used a mapping program for any length of time, I just know they’d never think of trucking without it, they wouldn’t even think of it. But since they are comfortable with what they have, some of them just don’t want anything else. What can say? Anyway, you’ll need a good solid Motor Carrier Map to research your route for every trip, once you get off the designated routes of the Motor Carrier map you’ll have to learn to primarily plan to use the state routes, also once you get on the ground in the towns and cities a lot of time you’ll see signs for the truck routes. There are times when the address you type in will give you the wrong location. Always but always call and ask directions way ahead of time or before close of business today if you deliver early in the morning. One last note: if you see a no trucks sign on the route the program gives you, its better to keep going, find a pull over and regroup, than to panic and turn down that road.

Truck Stop Directory RED
Truck stop Directory BLUE Tuck Stop Directories are the industry standard for finding Truckstops. The Red Directory is handy because it gives you all the highways in numerical order by exit number, in the back, all along each highway it will give you every Truckstop along the way with its exit number and some general information about each Truckstop. , It’s about 14.99 The Blue Directory is very handy too; it will give you specific details about each Truckstop that the Red one won’t cover. I particularly liked using it to find Truckstop that allow trailer dropping; sometimes I would get there and they would have signs that don’t allow trailer dropping but they usually will let you if you ask and even if you don’t they are guilty of being ambiguous and they probably know it, so chances are they won’t bother your trailer if you drop it. This is a very handy tool it's harder to find but it's easy to order them online, sometimes thats just the fastest way to get it when you know you got the funds It’s about 14.99 TruckStop Directories

Motor Carrier Map This is one I don’t have to tell you to get, unfortunately this is the only thing most Truckers will use to get around with, but do you really know how to use it? Yeah, if all the Trucker knew how to use them then would no Trucker get tickets for being off route right? Wrong, if you get lazy and careless and don’t learn how to really use the thing you’re looking for trouble and you’ll eventually find it.

A good Email like Outlook Download Office 2007 Now! Direct from Microsoft. A good email program will allow you the flexibility to easily go back and check all the prior emails you got long ago just in case you need them for very important issues that arise. With Outlook you only have to go online to send and receive, and unlike many other online email products if you can't get on line you can't do a lot of procedures. I have MS Home and Student it's only like $150.00 bucks but it's been well worth it. I would look into a good Spam blocker for my email if I were you. Spam Blocker prevents you from getting bogged down by a lot of junk email that are randomly sent out once if somehow they happen to find your email address..

Excel Spreadsheet Microsoft Office I learned how to use spreadsheets before I got into trucking, I’m so glad I did, they allowed me to focus all the particulars of running my business and I had a heighten sense of what it actually took to run and make what I deserve. Products of Microsoft Office Download Office 2007 Now! Direct from Microsoft. This was one of the products included with the Home and student version of Microsoft Office which is only like $150.00 bucks

Extra phone line Since I’m coving equipment I may as well hit on this, if you have an extra phone it can save the day for you, If you lose your phone you can call it, maybe you’ll find it, but the biggest reason is that if you lose your phone from your primary line you can switch the secondary phone over to your primary line. This makes a good case for recording all your important contacts to your extra phone in case you lose you main one. It’s a good idea to do even if you’ve never lost a phone in your life, “people steal phones too you know”.

Bank of America Account “OTR or Regional” There are just time when you’re gona have rush money into the bank, cancel a card and order a new one, deposit or just the convenience of being able to get cash out of the ATM machine for free before you fuel, in some case that will save you about .05 cents per gallon and I just don’t know of any other bank that you can find in almost every home town other than the Bank of America. Even still they are not in every state, last time I checked these are the states they are not in WVA, OH, VT, KY, AL, MS, LA, MN, ND, SD, NE, CO, UT, WY, MT, HI, and AK. You can find out more at Bank of America

Online banking As I mentioned already time is money, I promise you probably don’t have time to mail out payments to every single institution you owe, and unless you have someone that can dedicate that kind of time to the task you’re a good candidate for online banking. Many banks will now draft the fund electronically, on the date you want, and directly from your account and mail to what ever individual or company you designate, FREE. Or is it really free, why do you think banks are selling you on this idea?

Because every time it automatically drafts money from your account without sufficient fund in your account you are charge and over draft fee. This means, there’s a trade off for the time value you save. By taking a disciplined approach to checking your account and making sure you either get the funds in the bank before the draft or stopping the draft a few days before it suppose to go out. You also have to keep up with any other draft you have coming out of your account from auto drafts you set up through other companies. Insure you have enough to clear all drafts.

The Next Exit I’ve probably use the Next Exit for the past year and a half, again it’s a time saver, I mostly use it to find exit’s the truck can get off on which also have places to eat, it ‘s proven itself to be handy enough to me to say I think I got my money’s worth, it’s about 14.99

Business Cards Get a nice business card they’ll come in handy if you meet that right shipper or a trucking company you’d be interested in working with, remember as a professional you’ll be ready whenever you meet and tell someone about what you do. You can design your own card at Get High Quality Prints with PrintRunner.com

Services Factoring: Here’s part of a testimonial I sent my factoring company recently, I think it’ll fit just right in this spot. First of all, the reality of waiting 30 to 45 days sometime 60 days to get paid is almost too overwhelming for anybody, but even these companies that offer a quick pay involves a separate contract with each company all with different ways of doing business, different standards and fee structures, I'd just as soon become familiar with and lock in to one system. What's more, if I had to do the follow up on all these companies, I'd be a raving maniac and I'd probably drive some of them over the edge too; and besides all that, I'd never have time to run loads, but factoring relieves me of that whole stress, so I can focus on running the company.

Let's get to the real nitty gritty though, I'm sorry, but if I'm a broker and things are tight, I mean really tight, I'd rather get the loads that were factored paid before I pay on the loads that aren't factored, Why!!! Because there are companies like Twelve Oxen Transportation, that call their factoring company on every single broker they can, and if that broker has not paid that factoring company they WILL drop off the load, and who knows it might be a great potential money maker for me the broker.............You see, it's just basic common sense it's not at all complicated. If you're the lone ranger out there, waiting on some broker who a month later, can't even remember you did a load for him, you’re asking for frustration times ten.

Fuel/Payroll Card Service Provider Obviously convenience comes with a price, but let’s face it, most fuel point accept Fuel Cards as cash, that means you save on that end, but it does cost about 9.00 to load money on to the card and a dollar or so here or there for other various transactions, but let’s consider the alternative, having your check sent directly to your home address, hopefully you’ll have someone there to put it in your bank account, or let’s just say you have direct deposit to your account, using your debit card to fuel, 200 gallon of fuel at .05 cents credit price is $10.00 you’re paying out anyway, plus you got to walk inside, and give your debit card to some stranger that says “I’ll just keep it right here til you come back”, yeah right, even though 9 times out of 10 they’re not going to steal you’re information from it, you’re almost neurotic 100% of the time about the chances of them stealing it. By the way some of them won’t let you leave your drivers license, I’ve tried that many times, it doesn’t work every time.

A little bit on Insurance Services. To run your own Authority you have to have $750,000 primary liability and $100,000 in Cargo. I also got Hazmat insurance, basically for the same reason I had extra cargo. I thought when I got Hazmat my insurance payments should go up, mine actually went down. My previous insurance provider didn’t allow the option of Hazmat, I then found other insurance companies like Cline Wood Agency Inc. that wrote coverage through Great Western Casualty, I explain that I would only get a few Hazmat loads maybe 12 or so a year, so they design a convenient price around those chances, when I got the final monthly payment I was paying about $70.00 less monthly, as some might say “I was stoked” I can’t tell you how many loads I missed not having Hazmat, I can’t tell you how many but it was a lot.

Compliance Services This is one of those time savers, you’ll have to decide if you want to go this route, but I’ll show you how to get around it in some cases. When you get your own Authority you’ll have eighteen months to get your one time, New Entrant Audit with DOT its quite and involved process. You can save by printing all the forms directly off the FMCSA website, your New Entrant Highway Patrol Officer will start calling you after about 4-6months of you getting your Authority, they’re usually pretty helpful and will even help you find all the forms you need online.

The other option is to have a professional Compliance Company do them for you, I think they charge me like $95.99. Most of the Compliance Companies also can sign you up in a random pool for your drug and alcohol random screening which by law you have to be in anyway; that was like 110.00 per year. Compliance Companies also develop Hazmat plans which by law you must have to run Hazmat, which I couldn’t even tell you where to start, so obviously I was more than willing to pay for it, although it was like $450.00, the time and head ache it saved me was well worth it. I used Foley Compliance Services and was very pleased with their outstanding customer service, and helpful staff. You can find them at this link Foley Services

Accounting Services? I put a question mark here because, I became so proficient with Spreadsheets I created some things that worked for me for the accounting side of things, IFTA and so forth, so besides having my tax guy do my taxes for year end I didn’t use an accounting service. There are plenty of companies out there all vying for your business, for you it might be worth it. I’ve listed a few here for your convenience. I created a Spreadsheet for my individual state which allowed me to plug in the miles for each state and the gallons purchased in each state; I sent it to them, got it approved and updated it every quarter as the IFTA rates changed for each state. That worked for me but if you haven’t gotten to a certain level with Spreadsheets you’ll just need to get a service provider. IFTA Preparation

Creating a Backup and Working Hard Drive This is only to remind you of things you should already know, keeping backup file on all your documents is just smart. If anything every happened to your computer you’ll have the files you need. On my computer I’ve added many programs and good software downloads from the internet, so I bought and extra hard drive and hard drive storage adaptor. The total cost hit me up for about $100.00 buck which I’m sure will probably make you take a step back, but you see I already know what its like to lose my whole system. I’m just insuring I don’t have to know what it feels like again. Windows and other similar Operating systems have a backup system link in the control panel, view category, performance and maintenance, backup your data, and follow the prompts.

The back up should allow you to make a recovery disk, if not, and you did not get one in your initial set up software order one from your manufacture immediately so you don’t forget. My encouragement to you is buy an third hard drive install it in place of your working hard drive and use your recovery disk to load the hard drive to your computer then use your backed up drive to backup all your personal material to the new drive. You now have another working drive not just a backup but a “working” drive.

Do this, before you have any problems, eventually you will encounter problems, but since you have two working hard drives you’re ready and you don’t lose 5-7 days or more in the process. Remember to replace your new working disk with your original one especially since your new working disk won’t have 100% full capability as your original. “Word to the wise should be sufficient”. Backup Drives

Attaché file storage device Handy little storage files, allow you to store info from one computer to another. They now have these little things that can store more information than my computer, which make it a pretty good place to backup your computer documents and certain programs. There pretty cheap too. Go to Office Depot, Inc., Staples or Best Buy pickup one or just order one online have waiting for you when you get home, that way you don’t forget about it nor will you have to go out of your way to get one.

Why PC Miler for multiple truck companies If you can get PC Miler “it’s expensive like $450.00 I think, although one company quoted me $1800.00” it will allow you to put all the zip codes to and from where you traveled, and tell you how many miles you traveled in each state. Plus it will tell you how many toll mile you did in New York verses regular road miles. Since New York only taxes you on all none toll road miles. I don’t necessarily advise buying this program if you’re a one truck operation, but it sure is good if you can get it. Here’s a very brief example of a typical day, while I go through this I want you to imagine what kind of things I would have to do to achieve the same things without the resources I’ve listed here at hand.

Bring The Market To You With Modern Market Tools, Business Products For The High Income Earning Trucker