Maverick Glass Questions

Just got the word to head home once my hours are back. Looks like I'll get a 3-1/2 to 4 day weekend. Won't have the best paycheck this week, but I have lots to do around the house and can put the extra time to real good use, so I don't mind. As I mentioned before, when it gets close to time to go back home, it can be tough to find the "perfect load" that will maximize miles and still get you back at your requested time.

 

Up until recently, 75% of my assignments have been live loads, but lately I've been getting nothing but preloaded trailers. It really depends on which plant you are getting your load at. Certain plants only do preloads for the dedicated drivers, such as Carlisle. There are other plants where I have never done a live load at. Laurinburg and Church Hill do a lot of preloads. In my opinion, you do need to run at least 700 miles to make up for a live load. You will always load glass indoors, and usually in a heated building. Once you have the tarps on and the four corners tied down, it's not uncommon to be told to vacate the loading bay and finish up outdoors, regardless of how bad the weather is. The faster you get at securing and tarping, the less of it you will have to do outside. Unloading can be worse. Some places unload outdoors, in all weather conditions, even though they say that the glass isn't supposed to get wet. Sometimes you have to roll up your tarps outdoors in terrible weather conditions when the place you deliver doesn't have enough room inside to lay out the tarps.

 

Read Blind Dogs thread if you want to know about miles per week. There's a lot of info on his thread.

 

There's no question that getting home every other weekend cuts into your miles. I was just talking to a glass driver that stays out 3 weeks at a time, and he ran a ton of miles over the last 3 weeks. He went from PA to Texas, then got a run all the way out to Washington State and back to PA, along with a trip to Canada. Maverick's regular flatbed division will get you home almost every weekend, so will TMC, but I don't know if you are in the hiring zone for them. General flatbed loads tend to be shorter runs, but there are so many loads to choose from that it's a lot easier for them to find the right loads to get you to the house for the weekend.