Running with JCT

Thank you for reading! I easily average 3,000 miles per week when I'm out the whole week. I've had some 2,600 mile weeks that just worked out that way, but they are pretty rare. The last one of those had me sitting in Arizona for a day off which I really needed. For me to feel like I had a "productive" week, I figure a minimum of 2,800 miles. This gets me into the $.40/mile $1,100/wk range (with safety bonus). If you've suffered reading through this entire thread then you may remember me guesstimating that I make about $.54/mile after meeting my fixed expenses. Obviously more miles = more money, but it also equals more cents per mile. A 3,000 mile week is worth about a penny/mile more than 2800 miles. A nice 3,500 mile week gets me up around $.45/mile.

JCT puts up a calculator on their website for you to play around with the numbers. http://johnchristner.com/?r=drivercareers&drv=whyjct They conservatively estimate 6.5 mpg and fuel cost at $3.86. Also, their fuel surcharge number is low on the site: it's actually $.44/mile this week. We run on some good fuel price lanes. For instance, I'm running I-40 this trip from SoCal to northeast Oklahoma. I had to add 50 gallons in Kingman at $3.88 to get me to Joseph City where fuel is $3.74. I'll fill up there only enough to get me to OKC where it's running $3.59. National average this week is over $3.90 and I'll average better than 20 cents/gal cheaper before fuel rebates.

As for getting a bump in our mileage pay, I can't say. All I know is that they've been paying $.90/mile for several YEARS and their turnover rate is, in my opinion, HIGH. For now, they seem content to spend money on recruiting and training rather than driver retention. To be fair though, they ARE working on improving the fleet MPGs and our profitability. I just wonder how long they can justify posting "$.90/mile" on the back of my trailer when the competition is at a buck. If any of you readers can help me confirm some numbers from other companies please do! I've talked to Henderson Trucking and was told that they paid $.94/mile (short miles like us) but that their fuel surcharge was something like $.39 or $.40/mile. Total wash! Schneider, too has a smaller FSC.

Hope that answers your question, Frank. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want any more details.

In other news, the truck is running like a champ! It's nice to be able to shut it down without fear of losing the Jake or cruise. My tire misadventure in Nebraska took out a piece of my fairing, but I think that the truck looks better without it. I cobbled it back together with some JB Weld at home, and did a pretty fair job. I'm going to let it cure for 30 days or so on my work bench in the garage. (NO, I didn't forget it! Well. . . ok, I did!)

This load is a variety of produce putting me at 70k lbs gross. It was a nice drop/hook in Colton, CA that was, for once, a TRUE drop and hook. I was in and out of there in about 20 minutes. They were kind enough to have one of our newer trailers with good aero goodies and a low-hour T/K reefer (quiet). I managed to make 7 mpg climbing out of the L.A. basin up to Kingman, AZ today. I think I can beat that tomorrow running about 665 miles to San Jon, NM. I feel like eating some Indian food! Anyone know if Dhillon has WiFi?

 

Sitting in Sapulpa at headquarters. There is some required maintenance at 300k miles that I'm going to get done as well as some elusive air-leak chasing and an oil change. The JCT shop has discounted labor rates and they treat you well. . . like a customer, which you are. They can't really get started until I get back from making my delivery in the morning, so I guess I'm going to have the rest of Friday off.

I'm more and more impressed by my mileage lately. With this load, I'm sitting at about 71,000 lbs gross. Yesterday I drove from Kingman, AZ to Santa Rosa, NM - didn't make it to Dhillon and today was 530 miles to NE Oklahoma. I managed 8.8 mpg today with that nice sled run from Santa Rosa to Hinton, OK and 8.3 mpg overall today. That's 7.7 mpg for the week (which is 1400 miles all on this load)! Multiply that by our fuel surcharge of $.44/mile this week, and I'm getting a $3.39/gal fuel discount. Considering that I filled up today at $3.589 that's less than 3 cents/mile for fuel cost. $$$

I don't get to the JCT yard very often. In fact, I think that this is my second or maybe third visit here THIS YEAR! They have a lot of new trucks - Cascadias - being prepped for new owners. I found out earlier this week that they got five of the Evolutions outfitted with the new DT12 Automated Transmission ( http://www.truckinginfo.com/channel...dt12-automated-transmission.aspx?prestitial=1 ) I've lusted after this truck since reading reviews last year! Tomorrow, I'm going to the office and see if I can beg one off them. If so, you'll be seeing some truck reviews as I give my left leg a rest. Exciting!

The Thrill of Victory

When I got parked outside the shop, I ran into Ryan, one of the moderators of a JCT Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/JCT-Drivers-United/230770963259 Really nice guy, and he was excited to show me his brand new Cascadia Evolution. He went through the lease program with a Peterbilt, which he paid off in 3 1/2 years (5-year lease). He made extra payments along the way and was really driven (sorry for the pun) to pay off his truck. Once he did, he talked to the Peterbilt dealership and they made him an offer he couldn't refuse (his words) and he's going to put over $38,000 in his pocket! Now he's going to lease the Evolution and see how he likes it. He said that he'll use the money for a down payment on something else if he doesn't like the Freightliner. Nice to have options! Good luck and WTG Ryan!

The Agony of Defeat

Also on the yard was a driver who finished his last load and was turning his truck in. He was behind me in the shop looking for someone to come inspect the truck. The shop asked if he was quitting and he answered that yes he was, he couldn't afford to drive for free. Now THIS was the driver that I really wanted to talk to. He was pretty busy though and I didn't get the chance. The reality is that this is a business. If you don't take care of your business you will fail. Maybe your household budget is out of whack, or you don't have the discipline to set aside money for taxes. Maybe you don't budget your time well and are constantly needing relays to get your loads delivered on time. I don't know what his story was, but as I've said, JCT has high turnover. It seems to me that they'll give almost anybody the chance, and they'll do everything they can to help them succeed. But there are still some people that can't make a go of it.

That's one reason that I started this thread. You can see my numbers and how I hit them, not some pie-in-the-sky "recruiter" pitch. Hopefully you'll be able to make a more informed decision for your next career move.

I have some $ figures for the last couple of weeks, but a dinner date awaits. Later!

 

Had a pleasant meal (good company, lousy food. Review below.) last night to celebrate Ryan's new truck. I waited for my friend Terry (http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/members/26302-trafficcontrolxl/ on here) to show up at the terminal and drop his trailer and we rode over together. He managed to snake me into driving and I found myself being the unwilling designated driver while some chilled adult beverages were tossed down.

If you ever get the chance to stop in Sapulpa, do yourself a favor and stay away from Freddie's Bar-B-Q & Steak House (http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/58/630579/restaurant/Tulsa/Freddies-Bar-B-Q-Steak-House-Sapulpa). I ordered the ribs, their "specialty", and got a generous portion of cold bones. I mean, the meat was warmed up a bit but you could still estimate the temperature of their walk-in by how cold the bones were! The sauce was a hideous ketchup-based disaster with a total lack of either sweet OR spicy. The only redeeming quality was that it was cheap, but I wouldn't go back there if it was free!

Ok, time for some money! I was home last week, and didn't want to think about trucking at all so I have to play a little catch-up. I knew that my settlement for Aug 7 was going to be pretty small. I only turned in 2,183 miles after the previous 3,400+ mile week. I also got charged for 445 gallons of fuel which would equate to about 4.9 mpg, lol. So, with that perfect storm, I was pleasantly surprised to have made $445.45. Whew! A profit of almost 21 cents per mile! Hey, it's lease-purchase. For you new company drivers thinking of going this route, this is a good example of why you need to have money in the bank. Shoot, NEXT week I'll have a NEGATIVE settlement, lol.

My August 14 settlement recouped some of those missing MPGs. I turned in 3,285 miles worth of trips, and got dinged for just 413 gallons purchased. 7.95 mpg. If only! The bottom line said $1,504.88. I'm rich again! The calculator says $.458/mile if you must know. Well, I DID manage to go home for a few days. That's what happens though. I had to drop a nice 2,900+ mile trip from CA to FL to get home, and then bob-tailed 200 miles to get there when I wanted. It will be nice to get settled back in after this maintenance and pound out some miles!

I've said it before (ad nauseum!) lease-purchase isn't for everybody! I'm going to have a weak August, but I'll be another month closer to having this beast paid off, (or maybe even driving a NEW truck. . . Stay tuned!) and with the valve adjustment and new engine parameters they're doing today, I expect to get a bump in fuel economy.

To summarize: fuel economy is king, Terry's a snake, home time is a necessary evil, and Freddie's sux!

 

I DO have Excel, but the numbers I post on here are directly from my weekly settlement and a calculator. JCT has a simple Excel spreadsheet available to their drivers.

Here's a quick and dirty image of my recent settlement:

 

That's cool. JCT has a system that works if drivers will just stick to it. Good luck to him!

I've been hearing these 8+ mpg claims from the shop and a couple of drivers. I hope they're true! I'll believe it when I see some actual fill-up data. I use Fuelog on my Android, so my fuel numbers are right on including fuel burned by my APU. The Qualcomm numbers stay pretty close, but I like to go to the horse's mouth!

P.S. Hope it wasn't YOU that got stuck in Ochelata this morning, lol.