Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

Yes wheathauler it sure is. Also RC trucking was pulling end dumps out west now there hooked up pulling hoppers. The s&d bunch is cousins to robles trucking and they also run under sd&s. lol

 

Until 3 days ago it was very hot WH. Been showering around and raining us out last 3 days. I know it's hot alot of places. We were running 104-107 for several days. That plus the normal Louisiana humidity is tough. We blew 2 tires last weekend. This weather will sure find weak tires. Plus we run 100K gross down here.

 

Yeah, seems like a huge relief that it's "only" in the '90s right now. I've been driving a bit slower than usual, as my truck's owner ain't real quick to buy new tires and these are getting just a little ragged. Not out of spec yet, but enough that they're in the back of my mind.

 

I am with you on this one Bill. We have qualcoms and when I get to the customer I punch in a message showing that I am their and when I leave I send in a empty call, its all recorded, getting paid is another issue. We are going to loose some drivers and owner operators over electronic logs and that will be okay because some don't like change and it is coming. I have to fudge and redo my log to make sure the customers load is their on time after waiting to unload or load.

We are all just going to have to stand up and say you want me sit in your lot as storage or wait because you messed up that is fine sign here because you will pay me to sit and wait. I AM TIRED OF WORKING FOR FREE. They may refuse to sign and we will need a back up plan but something needs to be done. You will never get paid for it unless you ask.

I am like Bill I am here to stay and nobody is going to take anything away from me. When I was in my twenty's I just went along with everything, if I had to sit for hours that was just part of it, you wanted to make sure you kept the customer happy. Know that I am in my early 40's life is to short. When flatbed freight was plentifully two months back and not enough trucks to haul it we could double and triple the rates but now that freight has slowed again and lots of trucks we are back with lower rates.

 

One thing I noticed since I started hauling regional freight: the wait time, as a percentage of the whole load, is HUGE compared to a longer haul. If I logged like I'm supposed to, I'm on duty well over 16 hours a day, with anywhere from 8 to 11 hours of actual driving. The broker and fleet owner don't seem to charge detention pay, and the shippers don't seem to care how long I'm waiting for their load.
In the meantime, an easy haul that oughta give me plenty of time for meals/showers/relaxation ends up being a push to get there on time at all.

 

Would it make sense to have them put the time information on the bills before you load??

Or does that just screw up creative logging latter in the week??

 

You should see the circus when they are loading cars at the auction,.....

Crash and Bang are familiar sounds when they are loading,...