My first years at CSX Intermodal were steady, profitable, and full of lessons. From unusual loads to new supervisors, I quickly discovered that working as an independent contractor in the rail yards was a whole different world.
CSX Railroad had two rail yards where I ran most of my business. The main one was in Cincinnati, Ohio, about 80 miles southeast of my home. The other was in Avon, Indiana, roughly 65 miles northwest of my home. Geographically, it put me in a very good position to profit. I picked up and delivered loads from both rail yards.
Our dispatchers were based out of Jacksonville, Florida, and they were excellent at keeping us busy. At the Cincinnati terminal, there were 23 Independent Contractors leased on when I signed my lease. We rarely crossed paths, but we all stayed moving.
Another reason I chose CSX was because they hauled domestic freight, not imported. That pretty much guaranteed the sealed trailers were loaded properly at the shipper’s dock.
My assigned territory covered all of Kentucky, half of Ohio, and two-thirds of Indiana — stretching up to Peru and Wabash. Usually, when we dropped a load in the Cincinnati yard, dispatch would ask us to run an empty trailer to a manufacturing plant in Florence, Kentucky, and pick up a return load back to Cincinnati. Columbus, Ohio, was also a regular run.
The first two years were busy and profitable. Some loads were even unusual. For example, I once hauled a sealed trailer full of old tires to a shredding plant in western Kentucky near Paducah. Those tires were shredded and recycled as playground surface material instead of gravel or sand.
During that time, the truck performed well. Other than replacing tires, it held up strong. Rarely did I have to stay out overnight. All in all, those first two years were profitable — and I was grateful not to be under the thumb of company policies. Of course, state police and DOT regulations… that’s another story for a later chapter.
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Terminal Managers or Driver Supervisors?
At the start of my time with CSX, I was confused by one situation. In my earlier career, as you read in Book One, I worked under a couple of terminal managers. But at CSX, even though people had that title, they were really nothing more than glorified Driver Supervisors.
A true terminal manager handles all aspects of the facility — maintenance, repairs, staffing, and day-to-day operations. Our “terminal,” on the other hand, was just a mobile office trailer inside the CSX rail yard. Its sole purpose was to process paperwork for pay, hold driver safety meetings, and give us a line to call central dispatch in Jacksonville.
I worked under two different Driver Supervisors at CSX.
Gina Beemer — very likable, helpful, and professional. For a Driver Supervisor, I’d rate her above average.
Linda Becker — let’s just say I was not a fan. To keep this book clean, I’ll leave it at that.
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Looking Ahead
The first two years at CSX were busy, profitable, and a huge learning curve for me. But I was still a rookie in a new work environment, trying to adjust. Thankfully, God provided me with a mentor who would guide me through the next 23 years — someone who kept me sane and taught me what I needed to know.
Stay with me, because from here on out, things get even more interesting.
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