When they gave you sit and standby?

I’ve been a driver out there over the road for about a year and a half. I feel like I’ve come along way but of course I still have questions that pop up. The latest is based on something I feel that falls outside the parameters of normal downtime.

Example. I get back to the yard after a delivery. My dispatcher doesn’t know what the appointment time is for my next load yet so he tells me to wait. OK I don’t mind sitting and hanging out while they figure out their stuff for an hour or two but when it becomes an entire day or 3/4 of a day or all the way into the next day I kind of have a problem with it. That’s my time. But I can’t really go do anything off the truck. Can’t go out to dinner, can’t go have a couple drinks even though it ends up being the amount of time that I could’ve taken some time off but because they tell me to sit and stand by and wait because they might need me immediately, it turns into wasted time. No I don’t know what the rules are, but that just doesn’t seem fair to me. My time is valuable just like theirs. And what ends up usually happening is I’ll get sick of it after sitting for six or eight hours I’ll go get in my vehicle and go somewhere. And sure enough as soon as I make plans there blowing up my phone, we need you to run 580 miles. “HURRY HURRY” it will ticks me off. I plan my stuff, I trip planned very well and when other people can’t do their job until the last second, why should I as a driver have to pay for it?

Now I’m trying to avoid getting pissed off and telling my dispatcher fictitiously “I’ll be at the bar or at the brothel look me up in the morning“ because technically I should be able to do what the hell I want when I’m off. The problem is I don’t know how long I’m going to be off because this guy can’t get his crap together.

so I’m looking for advice how to communicate to this guy that this isn’t right. Like I said if it was an hour or two I’m good with it. But usually when he tells me to stand by it ends up being anywhere from 6 to 24 hours thinking I could leave at any second. I’m not cool with that. That’s time that I could’ve spent for myself. I’m certainly not making any money.

 

They will paid attention but only if it goes more than 24 hours that you’re not dispatched. A lot of times what happens is they’ll give me a load that’s really laxed and I could sit in the yard and wait till 24 hours is up but because “they dispatched it” you don’t qualify for detention pay. This company can make me sit for up to 24 hours between loads with no pay and believe me they do it to to three times per week.

 

I thought most companies only start paying detention after 24 hours unless it’s at a shipper or receiver and you’re waiting to get loaded?

 

This is what I’m looking for! Some kind of way to let them know, I’m not their “B****” they do this crap all the time. Sit and wait at the yard wondering. Then when my phone rings it’s, “Crisis” we need to hammer down non stop, rub this super tight load” I’m thinking maybe just tell them after several hours I figured nothing was coming so I left and just turn my phone off, and leave.