Maverick Driver general bs thread

E-logs were easy to get used to. It's that ###### OnGuard that's a pain in the arse.

 

Tell me about it!! Mine sees shadows and hits the brakes. Freaks me out.

 

But......in it's defense and the only good thing about it which makes it somewhat tolerable is... It does it's job if your attention goes elsewhere for a second and some arse in front of you decides to make a sudden turn. The bad thing is when you're still a 1/4 mile from him and you're pretty sure he's going to be out of the way long before you get close. Or that giant horse fly goes whizzing by in front of the sensor. I'm pretty sure if the "Ghost Hunters" on TV had an OnGuard, they'd have much better luck finding ghost.

 

Sorry...double post.

 

Lets not overlook another awaited software tweak needed to keep track of 392.6 !!!!

dont hear much about this but seems like it could be a B...

average 10 under to satisfy fmsca or take your BASICs meds...

the more I learn the more I want the 100 air mile rule work once out of school...

 

You just made me laugh out loud- seriously!

 

Is that being taught as a big deal these days? Never known it to be a problem (with Maverick) and I've had 650 mile+ days governed at 68 mph coming in just under 11 hours. Granted, those days are the exception. Drive only days, pre-fueled, 70 mph or greater speed limit (governed at 68 mph), load check and breaks at rest areas (easy on/off access) and minimal construction and/or interruptions.

Only once was I ever "required" to drive like this and I made it to a consignee with 15 minutes to spare on a Thursday before they closed until Monday (and the added bonus of minus 20 wind chill). This is one of the reasons hub mile methods cause the bean counters to cringe. Carriers can use their HHG calculations (or other grossly inaccurate and outdated method of calculation) to estimate time to arrival and be in compliance even if actual miles are upwards of 15% higher. Then carriers can use an arbitrary speed such as 49.xx mph to satisfy the demands of the law and establish plausible deniability. When done right, such as Maverick's methods, it works quite well the vast majority of the time (and is also a major good reason to update ETAP at least once during a trip).

The problem arises when carriers start over-optimizing their vehicles to squeeze every last mile that they can each day. This causes drivers to compromise their integrity in the name of making more cash (Maverick is not one of these companies, but they do, of course, attempt to optimize their vehicles the best they can). So the Feds once again have reason for existence and further regulate the industry, putting suspect high miles on the guilty until proven innocent list and creating new and fascinating ways to get up in our business until finally trucking gets so stifled that only unregulated foreign drivers in rattling crates bought from our own junkyards can make a lousy buck in the US.

Oversimplified and overgeneralized, and as always, my opinion.

 

Thank you for clarifying. I just threw HHG out there as an example because its popular and Rand McNally uses it along with practical routing (for routing not mileage estimation). I wish the route would be published to the driver. The qualcomm routing is consistently in the 12-15% range for me making it entirely useless. It's more accurate for me to use a standard GPS and modify the route for trucking (as long as I don't head south from Independence Tube in Marseilles).

I get off the beaten path frequently and when I do I find that tying a large rock to the accelerator works best for trying to get there on time. Fuel mileage sucks, arrival time sucks, achieving the "standard" 462 miles a day is nearly impossible, and overall cost to Maverick are actually higher. Of course, I don't have the luxury of seeing the consignee from the freeway. As an example, take the Edens, Eisenhower, or Dan Ryan during rush hours (now from 0600-2000 with very small gaps in between, oh joy) for your next delivery or drive Cicero for 70 blocks (the new I57 interchange on I294 will be a nice time gainer even if the stoplight derby is still shorter). Smile when you realize ALL of your miles within the city limits are UNPAID because most carriers (including Maverick) don't pay for the jaunt around town within the destination zip code, and Chicago happens to have a lot of industry at its heart and you're riding the big cholesterol filled arteries. I'm not even sure Maverick uses zip codes because Chicago has DOZENS of zip codes and has never paid me for inner city driving. Just one reason I am an advocate for FULL DISCLOSURE when it comes to how my pay is calculated and not just driver scuttlebutt.