Sit or bounce?

It all comes down to how the market is where you're at you have to look at everything waiting one day for a really good load sit no loads available bounce

 

I bounce all the time. It it is a little different for me

 

I won't sit and wait. I regularly deadhead out of New England 250-300 miles to get back to PA for my next round that actually pays well. The loads pay well enough going into New England that I factor the deadhead miles in before accepting the load.

Based on the loads I have access to, even if I have a backhaul available, it doesn't pay well enough to warrant the extra time and hassle for me. I would rather run empty back to the high paying areas than haul cheap freight.

 

If I'm empty and there is no return freight, I go home. I don't sit & wait. Been that way for over 11 years. That was the 1 thing I hated most about being an OTR driver in somebody else's trucks...having my time wasted. I don't mind sitting around waiting for a dispatch AT HOME. If I'm NOT home, my patience grows thin rather quickly. No load? I'm heading to the house.

 

Revenue is the answer to the question. If loads go into an area that is difficult to get out of, the load rate in should reflect that. The revenue the loads create should cover fuel cost to do a reasonable DH to a good lane, or say up to 24 hours to load local.

The thing about looking at revenue, is you can't just look at "this load" you have to take more of a big picture view.
Looking at all booked loads over a period of time. weekly is a good measure, like Monday to Monday.

Another part of this is booking freight. If you took a load going into an area that has little outbound freight without having an outbound plan, then you get what you plan for.
If you have indications that a return load is going to be a problem, put your broker to work, and make them find the load.

this really did not directly answer the question. of sit or bounce. the only one who could directly answer that is the one making that decision.

 

I'll be heading home today from Caldwell ID. No way I'd find something up here on a weekend. But they paid for it on the rate coming up. I'd say about 25-30% of my miles are empty.

 

If my company has an oversize load going out west to any state around Colorado, they will bounce that driver to Texas or to the oil patch in the Dakotas. They'd rather pay a driver floor bouncing than have them sit and wait, they aren't making any money, and neither is the driver

 

I did that all the time, by the you get dicked around loading and unloading you have lost money.

 

Really good thread with excellent responses. It is really helpful seeing how others solve this problem.

Rolled into Dallas Wednesday am and made my delivery. No problem.
Spent the rest of the day at DMV. This continued into all of Thursday. Inspection, registration, IFTA and license change. Took all day.
Could I find a load Friday?
Nope.
Saturday now and Sunday looms ahead.
Then I saw this thread and I am contemplating driving to Oklahoma City.
Everything I am looking at wants to (or did) lock up the truck for 4 days for $2,000 for a trip that involves maybe 2 days.
I opted to sit as I am being told the entire country sucks just now.
I sometimes think I would be better off as a company driver dropping and hooking at Walmart. It is getting harder and harder to make a living at this OO stuff. They want you to take loads at cost or even less and push you around into the bargain.
Driver shortage my rear end!! We are up to our necks in drivers. That is why the freight rates are so insulting.
You would think DFW would be overflowing with freight but it ain't.

This talk about 'choosing' and freight lanes (Kevin Rutherford makes me sick on this subject) is hot air. I take whatever I can get that will actually pay something vaguely profitable. There isn't much choosing going on it is constantly a case of surviving. I would love to go from survival to building my small trucking business. Everything is always a compromise with me doing the compromising.