On the verge of being fired, need advice.

I agree with this 100% when you have some flexibility built into the load. But when you don’t and you do your math on it when you get the load and you realize you’re gonna have to run between 10 to 11 hours driving every single shift, barely enough extra to squeeze a 30 in and maybe one 10 minute stop during that entire shift for three or four consecutive days, taking only a 10 hour break on the dot, that appointment time dictates your life for the entire week. Then for the last day you’re 70 runs out at say 8 AM in the morning and you sit in some truck stop in the middle of nowhere from 8 AM to midnight, then have to hit the hammer right at midnight to make that 8 AM appointment and you better drive nonstop to get it there. Get three or four loads like that in a row? And it will drain the life right out of you real quick. I run like that in chunks. Last month I got three or four loads like that back to back. And let me tell you it kicked my rear end. Especially that last shift when you gotta start driving at midnight after being awake all day.. I’ll do a load like that once in a while, but I’m not gonna run like that all the time. No amount of money is worth it. It’ll rob you of your health and everything else.

 

Regardless of who is at fault, there is still no excuse for a service failure. In the case of a load with an unreasonable delivery time, if the broker/carrier accepts such a load, that is still an error on their part that leads directly to a service failure.

Many times during my career, I was asked to take such a load. I was also the one to catch heck from the people at final because the load was late, even though new delivery appointments were made.

In my first comment, I was addressing the OP's situation where they admitted being late a lot. I was not talking about loads from hell!

 

What you said about they don't want you making U-turns even when that is your "only" option, that is hardly ever your only option. Sure, you might inconvenience yourself going a few to several miles out of the way but surely you can find an alternative to making a U-turn. I am speaking in terms of making U-turns on the road, not in a truck stop parking lot or shipper or receivers lot. Are they that strict, not even then can you make U-turns, in a big wide open parking lot?

I do my laundry when I can. Sometimes I end up having to go through my clothes in my laundry bag and just pick out the best looking pair of jeans and shirt I have and wear it again. As far as making excuses when you are late, next time try just telling them there is no excuse good enough and you apologize and will do your best to work on it. They aren't going to like hearing that either, but they will probably be more receptive to that than hearing what they have already.

 

Ahhh, the loads from hell, the loads where your late before you get it picked up, have gotten too many of those and earned a title of attitude problem because I would either refuse it or just tell them when I'll get there legally.

brokers would call my company and cry about my attitude, most companies knew I was a good driver, but some gave me crap and I'd just leave.

But this was after I had 15 yrs experience running the roads.

 

This is why all company business must stay on the Q-com. If a Fleet Manager/Dispatcher attempts to do business over the phone, make sure you stop them. I have lost count of how many times I have heard drivers sitting at a truck stop having these types of discussions over the phone.

 

yup, I'd tell them send it to the Qualcomm or whatever I was using at time and that way I won't forget the details.

 

I think you’re doing the right thing, sleep. It’s more important to be safe than sorry. I like your attitude, and keep doing what you’re doing. Someone needs a good driver like you that will keep them out court. Good luck