How would you handle no detention pay for something out of your control

You are in a whole different ball game from everyone else in this thread being a owner operator. I can totally appreciate what you are saying and it's all 100% true but you have a level of control these guys don't. You also I would hope have a level of income that reflects that amount of control. I would imagine sitting all day for free or even for $90 would seriously dent you because you have bills to pay as far as the truck is concerned and you can +I would imagine) pick and choose what and where a lil more to keep that from happening. If you show up somewhere at the time they specified and have to wait and get a load cancelled you gonna be okay with that? These company drivers get it rammed up their ### constantly if I'm to believe what I read on here and it doesn't sound like much they can do about it. Hence the hourly thing...for company guys. You have a sweet ### truck and I doubt $90 for 7 hours or getting cancelled on because of traffic in the yard is what maintains it.

 

I was a company driver for 10 years at the same place. We didn’t always get paid detention pay, but it also wasn’t a mega. He had anywhere from 15 to 20 trucks during the time I was there and we were treated well.

My original reply to you was just to say that some of us don’t fit the hourly local mold, just like some don’t fit the OTR mold. And I realize that not every beverage joint is managed like the one I worked at, also.

But I agree that sitting all day for junk pay is ridiculous no matter who you are. But it sounds like if the OP had handled it differently he could’ve gotten some pay and also could’ve possibly started earlier. The problems with big companies is they have to make rules for every little thing and they have to be followed exactly. Like the one poster in this thread stated, they don’t want you thinking for yourself.

 

Some drivers get "screwed" more than others. I rarely run into a lot of the "mega carrier issues" because I know how to problem solve, think, and take ownership. A lot of the guys on here moaning don't do those three things.

Hourly and the HOS don't play well together in an otr setting. Line haul and local sure, but otr? Forget about it. I would make less being paid by the hour than I do being mileage. I just made $60 for my last load, it took 1:15 from getting the dispatch to parking the truck for the night. All told I am looking at just under $300 for an 11 hour day. Local guys by me average $55-65k. I make $80,000 with the roughly the same amount of effort and total time invested.

But beyond the money there is a job satisfaction factor.

The last two weeks on November I basically ran linehaul Gary to Milwaukee, 2 turns a day. Money was good, work was easy, but I was mentally drained by the end of the day. I slept like poop because physically I wasn't tired, and the two weeks were exhausting.

Since Dec 1 I have been running local(ish). 150 milre radius, 2-4 loads a day. I am now physically tired but mentally bored to tears. The worst part is I feel like I am on a treadmill, I have done a bunch of work but haven't actually gone anywhere. I am going to be on this account another month as I get guys trained, but I am already counting the days.

When all is said and done you look at how much you work, how much you earn and how enjoyable your personal life is and then ask "is it worth it?" and "is there anything else I would rather do?" If you wre happy with the answers, bully for bixby.

Problem is too many drivers won't or can't think for themselves.

 

I honestly don't understand how different otr is from line haul. Just being honest here so please educate me. When I was on the line haul I would run 550-600 miles 2-4 stops a day in high traffic areas (Tampa, Miami, Jax) then I would go to the hotel. How different is that than running otr? Same ish miles? Same not being home everyday (why I don't do it anymore, I have chirltens)? Paid every second I was in that truck, almost never got held up at any of the plants because that turns into overtime at $42/hr billed to them they keep you moving like crazy. If the bottling plant didn't have the trailers ready (has happened a few times) they don't expect me to give away my time or get paid any less than normal....I get paid more for people holding me up. @gentleroger that's some good money for that run you posted, how many of them a day do they give you?

 

The easy question first - it depends. I am on mileage pay so they don't like to give me those, but I run harder than the daily rate guys so when there is a short run left at the end of the day I get it. Last week was $1,400 on less than 2,000 miles, Monday thru Friday.

The difference between otr and line haul for me is change. Not running the same load, the same roads, the same everything everyday. Finding the most efficient and comfortable way to get the load done is pleasurable to me. Being the Dunkin Donuts guy, not so much.



Its also one of the reasons I hate automatics. There is less thinking, less responsibilty, and fewer opportunities to elevate your game. Some of my best memories are running two lane roads grabbing gears left and right trying to maximize time and minimize fuel. There was one trip that the flatbedder behind me came on and said "dang Schneider, I could barely keep up with with you".

then there are the moments of serenity - the times when the view out the windshield is gorgeous and you know that God is in his Heavan and all is right with the world. Its harder to have the moments when you see the same dang billboards every day.

 

I can totally see all those points of running otr but as far as hourly pay not working with it....what's so different than what I was doing on the line haul? #### I was getting more miles than a lot of guys on here that are in mileage pay lol. I like the Dunkin donuts guy video, haven't seen that in a LONG time. Wonder if he's still alive?

 

The difference is you had a set route that you were expected to get done in a certain amount of time. How long would your manager have tolerated you taking a full shift but ending 50 miles short of the last stop?

You know guys at your barn that milk the clock, but managment has some visibility and control over the shirkers. OTR they have none.

"Yeah, I know I only did 300 miles but logged 12 hours on duty. Ya see, there was a HUUUUGGGGGE mess trying to get out of the truckstop this morning and that took an hour. Then there was a line for fuel and that took a hour. And you would not believe how bad the customer was - it took 3 hours to do a drop and hook, doncha know? I had to drive hard to the truckstop and got the last spot, it was so tight it took 8 hours with 3 guys helping to get in the sucker. But don't you worry, I only have 300 miles to go to delivery and I'll make sure it's in by the end of the delivery window day after tomorrow".

So what companies do is have a split pay structure - Driving is $23 an hour, on duty is $15. Which helps, but the driver ends up averaging $20 an hour when all is said and done and he is still incentivized to log more drive time, this reducing the trucks potential revenue.

So they do cpm for driving and hourly for on duty, but once you do the math you realize that the driver is only .making $19 a hour for all logged time.

On cpm the driver was making $25.

Oversimplified and the numbers are just from my head, but you get the idea. Sometimes piece rate is better, sometimes hourly is better. It all comes down to the specific scenario.

 

Now dat is funny, I don't care who you are. lol
You just have to love computers, when we have no backup plan. lol

 

Absolutely no backup plan. The day drivers weren't able to leave until 6:30. The bulk guys head out at 3 and the city guys head out at 3:30. I'm actually kinda surprised that they all got everything done, I was expecting a bunch of returns from guys not getting it done but everyone came back clean.

 

It is the same in most businesses these days, try buying a fuel filter when the computers are down at any parts house these days. lol
I went through the Yukon a few years ago and the computers at the scale house was down, they had to go back to paper to sell us our permits, it took a while to get one. lol