Truck Drivers Need To Wake Up!!!!

And he apparently does it in a Con-Way A-train. Why is it that I see newbies wondering whether the likes of Con-Way are good enough for their incredible skill levels? On other threads, I've said that jobs like jakebrake12's (and mine) are not for inexperienced drivers because they won't recognize what they have, until they quit for the shiny new Pete and empty promises. (Of course, just 'cos I said it, doesn't make it true, but I believe it nonetheless.)

A couple of weeks ago I managed to drag my sorry butt all of 200 miles in a day. It was a good, profitable day which served the needs of my business more than adequately. High-miling is not the only way to make a living, and it may not even be the best way. It really depends on the driver.

 

It's a good thing the HOS don't apply to them. You have to work a lot of hours in a week to make $1000.00 at only $10.00 per.

 

No, your numbers are not accurate or even presented in a manner that makes any business sense.

Not all loads come from brokers.

Your numbers for brokers mean absolutely nothing. The numbers do not compare to the number of loads or the rate per mile.

Dispatchers and load planners are essentially the same thing. Good ones deserve every cent they can get. Horrible job and it really takes some crazy big set of skills to do it well.

As far as your rates goes, if you don't like it don't do it. But don't sit there in the cab of your truck and pretend you understand the entire trucking industry economics from your lofty perch and research from channel 19.

Sorry for being harsh but your post is really nonsense.

 

Where else can you drive 11 hours to work.. blast your music as loud as you want, sleep for 10 hours, meet some really strange people (me included), not have to pay for a hotel and get paid for it...

Ohh yeah I get bonuses too..

 

I think it's because they have to DEAL with drivers...

I just read a few days ago where the big companies are finding out that home time is important to many new drivers... so they are looking at ways to PAY LESS and give the drivers another day or two off per month... way to go....

 

In the area of the States I now operate in, we don't designate types of sets since this is the only one allowed but yes, they are A's. The closest B's are in Michigan and the closest triples are slightly to the West of me on the Ohio and Indiana Toll Roads..

I really like your take on appreciation of a good job. It has always struck me since the day I started here that the biggest whiners here are those with no OTR time. Many of them have been here for 15+ years and have been in LTL for 20 or 25 and have no clue how good they really have it in the big scheme of driving jobs - this company did alienate some people in the last few years but steps have been made by long time management figures to fix some of these things. Similarly, I've seen people start here on the dock and become drivers only to quit after a year or so for greener pastures. I've also watched them come back after giving up those two years of seniority and benefits after they realized how good they really had it in the big scheme of driving..

Great post man - really like and respect your take on things..

 

think about how much ##### he has to deal with though...

the driver has to fight ONE dispatcher and ONE load planner....

the load planner has to take ##### from hundreds of drivers!....

thanks... but I will take the open road....

 

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I can deduce two things from this post of yours...

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Don't know whether this will work as I've never tried it before, but there is supposed to be a picture of my truck in this post. If it's there, you can see that it's a daycab classic Freightliner, tri-drive pulling a tridem straight-arm trailer. It has a Detroit Diesel 525hp lump and Eaton Fuller 18-speed. For any more info you would have to ask a mechanic. The monstrosity sitting on the front of the trailer is a self-loading fork-lift truck, which I use to unload and reload myself in various locations around western Canada, mostly oil and gas, and mostly off-road. Fully laden, it runs around 120,000 pounds and is governed only by my right foot.

There is nothing fancy about this vehicle, and it's probably not what any newbie would aspire to as he joins this industry, but I can tell you I've never been so well looked after in the last 25 years. I sleep in my own bed at night, or in a hotel. I'm well paid, clearly way above average from what I read here. I have a cellphone which is more for me to call my customers than for my supervisor to call me. No Qual-comm. There is a GPS in the truck, which will give my speed, direction and location, but it's never used to "spy" on me, so far as I'm aware. It's occasionally used if another driver has a problem, so that the nearest of us can be sent to assist.

The best thing about this truck is that it doesn't need to make a cent. The load is owned by the company, and I am directly employed by them. I don't have to worry about backhauls either since I drop bins off at customers sites, and reload at the same sites. When my list is completed, I just head for home. When I get there, I dump the truck, unstrapping if I have time. Other people unload and reload, ready for my next run.

I do not know where I am going next, and neither do I care. The next job is the same as the last one. Only the area changes.

If anyone had told me 20 years ago that my perfect job would be as a waste driver, I would have told them they were nuts. I would have been totally wrong.