My Experiences as a driver for Millis

Okay...not complaining...just stating facts. This load I'm on kinda sux. Two drops, first in Philly, second in NJ. The first drop delivers on Monday at 11, second between 1 and 2 same day. 1541 miles paid. I picked up Thursday, could have delivered Saturday, and that was my initial plan, until I called the first stop and found out they were closed on Weekends...okay, I know it goes with the job and I know it'll happen again, but unless I can close out another load, the 1541 miles is it for me this week....so I've been taking my time getting here. Pushed hard the first day, then its just been cruising easy since. Only pulled about 260 miles today. Now I'm sitting 26 miles away at the Valley Forge Travel Plaza, don't deliver until 11 am tomorrow and its only 11 am today...so I was wondering on a subject I have thought about before, but honestly can't figure out.
1.) Millis only runs Easern U.S. with a few runs south. Why? Why not tap into the entire U.S.? Why limit the carrying capacity to NorthEastern states? I mean, I know...we go to Cali every now and again...I personally would rather not, but Why not Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado...ect? Why restrict yourself to beer, paper, and glass, with the occassikonal odd load thrown in. Why not maximize the carrying potential? I don't get it...honestly. There is so much freight in Texas where I live that its a free fest, Prime, Schneider, and Swift are all over the place, I-20 is non stop trucking, same with I-35, I-45, I-10 and I-30...The freight is there, why isn't Millis tapping into it?

2.) Why does Millis ONLY do dryvan? I can understand not wanting to mess with HazMat, I mean that is a pain all the way around, but why not tap into the Reefer, and Flatbed market also? Its kind of like...they are where they want to be and have no more desire to grow...I don't understand that. Reefer and Flatbed would add some diversity that might appeal to some drivers, and Reefer never slows down, its constant all year...People gotta have the burger, you know.

Maybe someone can give some honest insight here. To me...it just doesn't make good business sense to refuse half the United States, and ignore two profitable portions of this business.

 

Sure...Honest enough, But doesn't change anything. I still wonder why, and I'll still wonder why regardless of whether my input counts or not. Honestly, don't remember asking Mike to consider my input...Now that I think about it, I don't recall even bringing the subject up to Mike at all. In fact, the only thing I remember is adding it to an open discussion in a thread I started about being a driver for Millis, because as a driver for Millis its one of the things I wonder about. Now, sir, YOU can just drive the truck and not worry about anything but your next load, hometime, and fuel stops, but My mind continues to work even while driving, and when I consider business, and how it functions, I have an honest concern, and that is that in this day and age,and in this economy, businesses fold every day. Freight is constantly changing. Millis has created a foundation in Beer that will keep them rolling pretty much forever as long as they don't lose the Miller account, but it won't cause growth and a business that does not grow stagnates and eventually fails. In any business you must continue looking for revenue if you want to succeed over time, and I am curious if Millis is going to do that, and I am curious as to why they are not doing that with so many untapped states.

Now for today, I am parked. I am 26 or 28 miles from my delivery...which is closed today, so I can go no further until tomorrow, so I have the freedom and the time to consider EVERY aspect of my job, including my miles over the next year. Since there are some people complaining about miles, it is obviously somewhat of a concern...a concern that makes me wonder...why don't they look for more avenues to pick up freight? Why don't they tap into the Texas Market more than they are now? I mean its not hidden knowledge that if you deliver in Texas you might sit a day or two before they find you a load to get back north again. Why?

You don't have to answer the question, nor do you even have to care. But it doesn't change the fact that I would like to know a REASON for the decision to not move freight in Washington, or Oregan, or Idaho, or Wyoming, Or any other state that moves freight.

 

One of the things I learned as a kid, and its served me well in life, is to set both short term and long term goals for any major thing you do. In this case a career change. Back when I was a teen job hunting the big question potential employers would ask is: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years" They were asking, in essence, "What are your long term goals"?

That is one of the things that has stuck with me my whole life. Many of the people who have known me very long describe me as inherently stubborn. That's not really true. I CAN be stubborn, but what many consider stubborness, I consider focus. I set goals and I stick to them. This job is no different, but as of yet, I haven't really set any definite long term goals. I do have some short term goals but that list is far from finished also.

1.) Learn everything I can about every aspect of the industry, from driving, trip planning, to deliveries, and dealing with recievers, to understanding load boards, dispatching, and freight lanes, to learning about Reefer, Flatbed, and Hazmat (Though I currently and adamantly refuse to deal with it), ect, ect, ect. Because I've learned that nothing lasts forever, so though I currently have no plans to move on from Millis, I understand that eventually that will probably happen, so I want to know everything I can know.

2.) Learn the roads, including the lesser travelled roads. I want to be like some of these drivers that seem to have a map plastered inside thier brain pan, I want to know what roads go where, what roads are best...and why, what roads to avoid, and which routes have the fastest time. I want to know which cities are faster to route around and which are faster to just run straight through.

3.) I want to learn how the business works. How to maximize money both as a driver, and as an owner...If I do ever leave Millis, I may consider becoming an O/O, I don't know yet...thats where long term goals come in.

And thats kinda where I am right now. Not real sure where all this fits in, but I have a wife and two kids, one with Chronic health issues, and behavioral problems, so I can't afford to NOT think about it. I've met drivers that don't care about anything but moving the truck from load to load, but my brain bucket doesn't work like that.