Maverick .... from a wife's perspective

Me typing makes molasses in January look like an NHRA funny car going down the strip.

 

In some states you almost have to cut thru the woods to get where you need to be, or you will add 100+ miles to your trip.
I haul allot of flat freight in Western parts of PA. My company is near Warren. So to get to an interstate you have 40+ miles.
I can save allot of time taking the roads thru the hills, instead of the shortest route to the interstate. There are only 2 major interstates running easy/west thru PA, NY, and several other states up here, and it is many miles between the North/South ones.
If you try to stick with interstate here, 1 it will take longer, 2 there are tolls on some of the roads.
Many states are like this though. It just seems to me more prevelant to me in the northeast, though that is where I spend most of my time lol.

 

Avoid the I-77 corridor through VA and WV as long as it doesn't add more 50-75 miles or so.

Another thing to keep in mind is idling. I've heard you burn between 1.5 to 2 gallons per hour of idling. So I split the difference and here's what I got.
Based on traveling 500 miles and idling (x) hours
Baseline (0 idling) mpg of 6.48
1hr idling 6.34
2 hrs idle 6.20
3 hrs 6.07
4 hrs 5.94
5 hrs 5.82
6 hrs 5.70
7 hrs 5.59
8 hrs 5.48
Bookerz out

 

My idle has been high lately (around 40%)...its been hot. I'm still getting good enough MPG's to get my bonus this time...but barely.

They did, in fact, up the requirement to 6.85 mpg...we got a message on the QC today saying so.

I'm at 6.859 mpg right now (my average over 27,891 miles)

 

Lets hope so. They do advertise a lot in magazines. That is not a good sign. Hopefully there will be a good outcome for RC.

 

From what I have read, LP is not good for anyone but the company. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong about OOR miles, but what I have noticed so far is that my OOR miles seem to be the difference between paid miles and what I actually ran. Considering that so far I have stuck to their routing and still always gone over what they paid me for, I don't know that OOR miles can be avoided completely. Though I think starting next week I'm going to start comparing different routes to theirs to see if I can make it better.

 

I m not a otr driver but why does fuel mileage count?

As a company driver some companies will pay a bonus for reaching certain mpg results. As a company or owner operator fuel is your 2nd largest expense number one being paying the driver.

I am assuming that oor is out of route miles? I think I have heard about this before. Aren't most otr drivers paid by the mile? What difference does that make if you get your load there on time? Don't you get paid for the miles you drive

As far as getting the load there on time alot of the time there will be a penalty if the load is late.Excessive out of route reduces the amount you earn. There will always be a difference between paid miles and the miles you actually have to drive. The idea is to keep them as low as possible.

For example
paid miles 1000 * .38 per mile $380.00
380.00 / actual miles 1120 = actuasl pay per mile .339

Bookerz out

 

fuel IS BY FAR the biggest expense in OTR trucking.

I only WISH I was paid what it costs to fuel the truck!

 

Well I will say this Maverick will not hire just anybody. They have to advertise to get the qualified drivers they need. This has to be one of the best O.T.R flatbed companies out there.