Air Bag Dump Valve Install

So Mr. Daryl has been a busy little bee running local/regional this week. Got to brag on him and my dad a bit.

I'd posted a while back that we had a catastrophic failure with our ramps, resulting in us losing out on some serious fetch over the last couple of weeks as our ramps are our bread and butter.

We specialize in equipment hauling and in this market, we have to have every advantage over our competition.

So we've been in contact with the suppliers of our ramps and may have found a way to network with them on a few projects, more on that to come, but one of the things we needed to do to help any future damages to the trailer or equipment was to have an air bag dump valve installed to help with the weight distribution of the offloading process, as most of these machines are well over 30,000lbs.

Any type of modification of the truck or trailer can quickly add up to thousands of dollars with the overpriced cost of labor and parts, and if those wheels aren't turning, we ain't earning, and that is just something that isn't affordable right now! Like so many, we are having to lean out our expenses and find alternative, more cost effective ways to get through these times.

With that, Daryl Selby and my dad took to the interwebs and found a solution that allowed them to complete the modification by themselves yesterday evening after Daryl got home from a local run, potentially saving us thousands of dollars and time down in a shop!

I have to say, seeing him and my dad work on Obsidian, trouble shooting problems and finding cost effective solutions has brought on a whole new respect for both of them. I'm so appreciative of them and it makes my heart so happy to see my husband and my dad, 2 men I have the utmost respect for, side by side tackling these challenges with their combined passion for trucking and experience in the industry. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world and that is truly what sets us apart from the rest...We are truly a family owned and operated company! It's what I dreamed of when we started this path, and they never seem to disappoint!

Today, of all days, when we needed to make some headway on our end of the month bookings, that wolf is a 'nocking and we have been overwhelmed with the whole "Peter/Paul" scenario many are so familiar with.

We were contacted to move a load that starts us out in October with a decent rate, so Daryl headed out. Shortly after rolling the broker calls me in a panic asking to pick it up tomorrow for a Monday delivery due to shipper request, no big deal, we are flexible and will make it work...

But that left today empty to find a local run that had a straight through delivery...

Since Daryl had already started his drive clock (once it's going he can't stop it) we had to find something or else it's a wasted day and this truck doesn't make money sitting in the yard. Thankfully I've been working on fostering a relationship with a broker company who sought us out to do some local/regional equipment work about a week ago, we've gone back and forth on our prices, they want to be cheap as they can (that's just the game) and it's my job to hold firm on our rate and make them understand why going with a cheaper carrier isn't always a good thing, and also remind them that they contacted a 1 truck company for personalized service, and that comes with a cost. Well yesterday we finally hauled our first load with them after some haggling on price. We aren't cheap, but they get what they pay for with us...That's become my never ending motto when booking a load. But we knocked it out of the park and hopefully solidified why they should work with us....So I reached out to my contact asking for local work for the day. Surprisingly they had something pop up, but then began the song and dance of price negotiation. I was prepared to plead my case, yet again lol Thankfully because of our performance yesterday, he was all too comfortable at booking the load at my price without much opposition! I'm hoping this is a start to a good working relationship for local/regional work, because we are rolling into baby having season soon and I need to keep the truck and my baby daddy within at least a days drive!

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