Shutting down for the night: a challenge

While I agree with much of what you say, I'd caution anyone starting out in this industry or being new with a company from "making a stand" in a manner that will flag you as limited in what you can do. One example that comes to mind was a fellow new driver at a terminal that was complaining because he only averaged about 1800 miles a week, then almost in the next sentence he proudly proclaimed he "put his foot down" right away and let dispatch know he would never drive "east of the Mississippi". He'd been running solo for about six months and had already shot himself in the foot.

While it may very well be that a given driver's biorhythm is so rigidly set in stone they can't function at night safely, in my experience (which included a lot of international travel and jet lag) you sleep when you can and where you can. Sure, I think we all function better during daylight hours, but in THIS job there are huge advantages for anyone willing to run at night. Customers requirements for shipping and delivery may require it, and if you've already pegged yourself in the company system as the guy that can't cut it driving at night, then you lose the opportunity to get that load. Night driving means more miles per hour, and your hours as a company driver are your asset.

When I ran solo I'd often get a dispatch that had plenty of time between shipping and delivery, such that I could "flip" my schedule to my preferred time as needed. For example, getting a 700 mile load with two days for an appointment time on delivery, I could stop early the first day if that meant I could get back into my "normal" schedule.

The thing is, for getting the most average miles (and bigger paychecks) you need to be flexible with how you run, get sleep often whenever you can (including extending 30 minute breaks with a nap if you need to), and be willing to run as many miles as you can when you can ... even if that means getting to a truck stop that is full and waiting for a spot to open up.

 

The "only" way?
Not necessarily so.
I have several ways at my disposal. Which way I utilize depends on the circumstances of the situation. Here, where I'm only hieroglyphics on a contrasting background I'll admit I'm somewhat limited. But in real life I come alive with spoken words and animated body language presented as originally intended. In written form my humor is dependent on the readin' abilities of those readin' what I've written. Sometimes those with weaker readin' skills miss the humor. Then again, sometimes those folks find more humor than I actually intended. I really appreciate those with excellent readin' skills 'cause they'll tell me what I wrote that made 'em laugh. That helps me understand myself as I rarely ever actually read what I write to prevent myself from becomin' angry with me over things I might have said that I'm offended by. Occasionally folks find me funnier when I'm attemptin' to be serious. That makes me laugh.
Go figure.

 

I think there is a difference between "putting one's foot down" or "making a stand" and advocating for yourself. Find a polite way to say what you need and put it in a way that sounds best for the customer and the company. You are in a way negotiating, the same way a lawyer does during a divorce.

Remember it's a business, you, the company you work for and the customer's are all in it to make money. Time IS money.Your wasting money if you aren't running the hours that you could be if pick-up & drops were at times that made sense.

Your a business man or woman, dealing with other business people. That receiving clerk probably isn't a witch with a capital B, but had to deal with other driver's who were probably jerk's.

In real estate it's "location, location, location" in business it's Presentation. If you come in looking like a slob, you are probably going to be treated like one. I'm not saying a 3 piece suit, just being clean and well groomed.... and not looking like you are going to the gym or beach.

Stop by and talk to your dispatcher. Maybe not the 1st conversation, but find out about spouse, kid's, maybe birthday. Remember or write them down. Notice the flower's on her desk...ask Birthday...anniversary? Give a complement. Remember the adage about flies and honey?

Back on topic... If you are like me and can't remember squat about a T/S 5 hr's later ( or in my case 5 minutes) A simple digital voice recorder work's well. "MM 123 on U.S. 101 XXX truck stop medium parking, mom and pop food, 2 am plenty of parking". Then when you stop for the night you can write it in you pocket truck stop guide. So the next time you are in the area, you will have a clue. " Abandoned strip mall at mm 123 on us 101 with 24 hr gas station out front". I wrote those thing's for my husband, he drove, I planned out route and where to stop, which changed, a lot sometimes.

 

I thank God my wife and I run team so we don't have to deal with this anymore. If one of us is running out of time the other just takes over, I feel sorry for the solos out there trying to find a parking spot cause there just aren't any out there at night. Thank Pilot and Love's for putting the small Mom and Pop shops with parking out of business and hen building their 7-11 type truck stops with 25 parking spots or less.....

 

So very true one of the stop's that we liked, had great food, was at one time open 24/7 for truckers. They changed to 6am to 11 pm, mostly sell food, fuel to some local semi's and the "T/S" store is not worth mentioning. The parking lot was a cratered mess, but when I talked to them ( the owners) they said they just couldn't afford to get it re-done as much as it needed to be done.

lol....my husband and I talked about us going team at one time, but he fusses about my driving in the pick-up. I can't drive to the yard, 4 block's away, without him gripping about something. ya don't wanna know. I couldn't imagine trying to drive a semi with his fussing ( not the word I would generally use, but that one would get censored anyway).

 

um no. parking is first come, first serve. you can stand out there and beat on my window or door all day long...but a pair of earplugs and nascar grade earphones will drown out even the loudest of noises. any person who beats on my door telling me to move out of "their" spot by a certain time, will be ignored without further adieu.

 

You forgot the part about driving up hill both ways in 6 feet of snow while being low on fuel.

 

U need Jesus! ROFLMAO!!!

 

Yeah someone beat me to it but you can't park on the ramps. Heard some driver did and got rear ended by a 4 wheeler. Got Mark preventable accident.
I start early and I wake up to jam pack truck stops and drive by rest area all cluster up. I hate to be in your shoes. Today for example I only have less than a hour on my 14. I picked out 3 truck stops on the way to my next stop. First two was jam and the last was empty! That's was trip planning, kinda. But while I was driving to the third truck stop I was looking for abandon buildings or big outlet stores. Spotted an abandon gas station and told myself that's my last option.

OP you need to "lie" on your etas/nat to prevent yourself from running it close to your appointment times. I gap myself two hours for weather/traffic/30 minutes break. I usually get there on time, even with the two hours gap!