Thinking about team driving

Home - Leonards
Runs teams and solo 48 states.
@xlsdraw can give details.

 

Check with USA Truck which is dry van.
USA Truck introduces Drive Your Plan company self …

 

Every flatbedder has his own system, his way of doing things. You did not develop a system.

1. Racing the Clock.
Start early, end early. On days where you have to load/unload, the goal isn’t maximum miles, it’s to get loaded and secured, and get parked early. The next day, the goal is maximum miles. Set all ETA’s accordingly.

2. Drivers at the same company that are Unfriendly. If anyone is going to stab you in the back, it’s them. You have been warned.

3. Losing Sleep Worrying about the Company Truck. Park strategically, where everyone around you can back straight in. Go get your shower. We do not worry about what we cannot control. If you stopped early and parked at a truck stop and didn’t get a shower, that’s your fault. Own it.

4. Local Job at Lowe’s. Sucky job. Nuff said.

5. Running team. One team mate is ALWAYS stronger. The stronger driver will have to do the majority of everything. That will build animosity between the drivers. Are you wanting to be the stronger teammate or the weaker?

 

Man try to enjoy your job. Relax. Take it slow. Count your paychecks.
Find your groove and system. Park early. Eat well. Shower. Company truck gets damaged while in a proper place is not your problem. Get a Dashcam.

Your overthinking it. Slow down take a break for a week

 

Getting a shower and eating and getting rest are only important to you. Customers, mechanics, dispatchers, trainers are not building the tasks you need to do into their schedule. EVERYONE wants to use all available time for their one task. If you had a timer on your forehead showing how much time in the next 224 hours is not already taken up doing something, each person you deal with will plant to take 100% of that "unused time" plus 30% more. For some reason, everyone outside the truck thinks as long as they say "why don't you get something to eat or drink some coffee" they can waste as much of your time as is convenient for them. Don't be a nice and mild guy waiting for everyone to take their sweet time, ask how much longer? I always wanted a shower in the morning, which might not work for flatbed, I was always van or tanker. I got up 90-120 minutes before I started driving and got my shower early 4,5,6 am. The apps for the truck stops let you reserve a shower or see how long the shower line is. At that time of day it's rare to have to wait for a shower. MOST drivers are trying to get a shower in the late afternoon or early evening when they gate parked. There are long waits. My system worked for me. I had a way to wash up in the truck if I couldn't get a shower. I found I could get a shower every day or every other day using my system. I concentrated my fuel purchases at one chain of truck stops so I would buy enough fuel to get unlimited drinks/showers next month. It depends on what part of the country you run and where you can buy fuel. Truck stops are often short-handed so late night and early mornings they may only have one employee to do everything, which means cleaning showers is sometimes the last priority.

Nobody is going to give you a gold star for skipping showers or never eating and getting less sleep than you need so they can waste as much times as they want. Look after you own tasks, they look after theirs and never ask you for permission. Also don't ask Dispatchers to answer driving questions. They aren't drivers and they don't know how to do your job. It's easy when you are new to see the one person you talk to the most as some sort of authority are extra knowledgeable. They might be, but it's not likely they are more than a clerk who never pays attention when they drive and have never driven a big truck. My answer to almost any question is "let me run the numbers and I'll send you my ETA. No matter how desperate they or a customer are, your HOS and safety are more important. Nobody was hurrying when a customer took 5 hours to load you. None of the customers skipped lunches or showers, etc. Drive it like the cops are following you, even if the company will go out of business or Timmy won't get his heart transplant are whatever the excuse is. Nobody is going to protect your CDL but you. Good for you for standing up for safety with the Lowes job. If the dispatch was given to you late, you can't make up for their delay. They will all be happy to blame you for their delay if you put it in a ditch or get delayed for a ticket. Cover yourself. Also, don't eat like you are a hero every day. High BP and diabetes is what takes out many drivers. Eat just enough not to starve. Most of your day is sitting. Food is just fuel.

 

OP,
Why are you so set on Flatbed specifically? Why not bump docks for a while and see if you like that instead?
As for creating a system...outside of this website, do you utilize anything else for development, learning, research, etc...?

I am a new Flatbed CDL driver but local and I thought I wanted to do OTR, but I can't grasp getting that messy and sweaty all the time and then having to drive hundreds of miles alone without a shower, proper rest, being able to settle down for a bit, and I don't even throw tarps at all. So I can't imagine throwing tarps into the mix. I have been told in the winter time when they get wet and freeze up, they are super heavy and a ton more work and hassle to deal with. I am not really enjoying Flatbed myself and now wishing that I had gone into bumping docks instead, but like you stated earlier, I hate to walk out on things and feel committed now and struggling to know what to do next, especially since they took the time out to give me a chance as a new CDL and spent time training me. There are a lot of things nobody ever told me ahead of time about crap you deal with as a Flatbed driver and I find most of the people you deal with are idiots are just horrible human beings which makes things so much harder than they have to be. I don't suspect bumping docks would be much better, but my guess is it will be slightly better than dealing with the jarheads I deal with at construction zones all the time.

 

If you like flatbed go for that. I hated the reefer loads I ever had. Customers are the worst, lots of waiting. A customer with 20 doors will schedule 35 trucks to deliver at 6am.