Snackbar is chillin'....at Shaffer

You stuffed yer pie hole a 100lbs worth? I think I can now explain to Big Maude why Loves seemed to always be out of those chili dog roll ups.

 

I gave up on roller dogs years ago. I barely eat fast food either

 

This is the sad truth of CPM pay and I've started to point it out in threads when the claims of how much these OTR companies are paying starts to get outlandish and is essentially the equivalent of lying. I've seen other forum members start to run the math in various threads as well, I think this is a good trend on the forum. The math doesn't lie and that's probably why statistically speaking you'll rarely see OTR drivers staying out over the road for more than 5 years.

As for Snackbar, he is one of few and rare drivers who are cut out for the OTR life for a whole career. The road is his way of life. And I'm sorry, but Crete Carrier Corp isn't it. Hopefully Snackbar gets to work for that company he's been trying to get on with until retirement, where he will finally get treated with the respect he deserves and not have to beg for miles every single week.

 

All I’m going to say is the industry is what you make of it. I’ve been out here since 2004. Hasn’t always been roses but mostly it’s been enjoyable. Spent 10 years at one company doing regional flatbed in the northwest. Hauled livestock as an O/O for 5 years, did dry bulk and other stuff as an O/O, and now I’m hauling fuel as a company driver.

As far as gaining weight, that’s not the industry’s fault. My weight has fluctuated 10-20 pounds, up and down, over the years. I’m roughly the same size I was in 2004 when I started pulling flatbed. You have to park 10 hours a day. There’s plenty of time to get out of the truck and move around.

 

That’s the problem. They don’t take the time to exercise. Wore out from chasing miles.

 

Back in 2019 our detention rate on food grade pneumatic was $110 an hour. He was paying his company drivers $30 an hour. There was a company driver who never turned in for detention pay because if he did that then the boss was making $80 an hour for his truck sitting there while he was “only” getting $30. Cut his nose off to spite his face. I have no idea what they’re getting now but $30 an hour for watching YouTube was nothing to sneeze at 6 years ago.

But I agree the hoops that the larger carriers force their drivers to jump thru to try and get any money for lost time is ridiculous. With ELD’s it’s easy enough to track. Mileage pay for line 3, and hourly pay for line 4 should be a good place to start. That would cure the clock milkers versus straight hourly pay.

 

That’s the catch 22. Tired from pounding out 600+ miles a day but if they got out and moved and got fresh air at the end of the day they’d sleep a lot better and feel better the next day. I was out of the truck probably more than average because of my dog but now hauling fuel and being in and out of the truck all day and getting tons of fresh air I’ve been sleeping a lot better at night.

 

Arctic blast coming later this week potentially.. windchills as low as 30 to 40 below zero in some areas, the air temperatures are supposed to be close to 30° below normal

 

I’ve been wondering the same thing.