Indian River

I have been with IRT for a month. I have found everything Tanker_82 has said to be spot on. I had one week of short runs that grossed me $600.00 for that week, I made a phone call to my first dispatcher and he now helps me get good loads because he can trust me to deliver. I run hard and I am always on time or early with my delivery. I do not have the mindset of “working smarter not harder”. If the opportunity to make more money is there and I have to run harder to get it, I run harder. If you do your part at IRT you will make above average pay. IRT, so far, is a good company to work for. They just had an increase in pay that shows they want to get and keep good drivers.

 

You have a dispatcher?. I was told that we are dispatched by whoever is available depending on the terminal we are closest to.

 

Yes, that is correct; we are dispatched from whatever region we are in at the time. No, I do not have my own personal dispatcher. I simply called the person that dispatched my first load and explained that I would not stay at IRT, or anywhere for that matter, for 600 a week. I do understand that on occasion we will have a bad week, but I have to run hard and earn more than 1K on average. If I can’t do that at IRT I will go elsewhere. Since that conversation I’ve had really good, long runs.

 

I agree with you there. I have had checks that low, and lower but my overall average is over 1k take home. Still makes it hard to swallow an individual week that low.

 

Mine so far have been over 1k take home. Been getting long runs. Granted I’ve only had a couple of checks so far.

 

Awesome! What’s your home terminal?

 

Yes, but I think that won’t happen very often. What’s your home terminal?

 

Visalia.

 

Well, I hope it doesn't continue to happen, but in 4 months I've had 4 sub $500 checks now and only one of those were due to home time. I think its just the nature of the business. Can't really blame the company when a consignee won't unload you for 2 days even after you arrive 2 hrs early for your appt. 500 mile loads with 3 days on it are all on the company though. Would be good if they paid a decent detention rate to compensate, but I, like all the other drivers I speak to, have given up on that. The recent CPM bump and Canada pay should bring checks up to a decent amount, but its still rough sitting around with hours to run and nowhere to go. Two 34hr resets in one week tends to test my patience.

Home terminal is Winter Haven, but lately I have been spending most of my time out of Bensalem/NE.

 

I heard Bensalem needed some local drivers to cover all those short runs they have there. That’s where I was when I had a low paying week. I don’t mind doing my part and bouncing through there and grabbing something short but I simply can’t afford to stay around there very long. IRT so far, for me, has been one of the best companies to work for otr. I hope to stay for awhile and see how it goes.