BIG COMPANY OTR solo drivers don't get long runs - do you agree!?

Huh? That's two loads. The 2980 was empty from Fairfield CA up to Redding, pick up partial load, head over to Reno for the rest of the load, then to Hazleton PA.

The load I'm on now is 119 empty 1680 loaded miles.

 

I drive for Knight, 500 miles are their LONG loads.

 

I've been with Swift for nearly 2 years now.
The runs have been getting shorter in distance over that time.

I've also heard that the longer distances were going more to rail.

So I get shorter runs, but keep running.
Is there really a big difference?
I'm still averaging around 9-10k miles per month, either way, which is where I like it.

 

Pulling solo flat for Roehl, I have seen quite a few 1200 to2400 mile runs.

 

most loads during week are 500 ish then on weekend get around 900-1500 miles bring week out to 2500-3200

 

I went to work for May Trucking in Brooks, OR right out of trucking school in 2008. I worked for them over 2 years on the refer division. It was very common for me to load in the Salem/Portland area and run to PA, NY, GA, FL, etc., all the time. My average weekly mileage was about 3,000.

What's interesting is that now I drive regionally on the west coast and still average about the same, however, I'm home every weekend now, usually home Friday afternoon or early evening and leave Sunday afternoon. I don't sit waiting for loads or to live load and unload much. Makes a huge difference.

 

Even if you got 500 miles a day at the end of the week you would get 3500 miles. It is work to do those runs but it makes more money than the longer runs

 

When I was with Watkins Shepard it really ran the gamut from short milage/high aggravation crap loads to 2,000+ mile sweet deals that I would be chewing on for 4 days straight. I liked those since it meant a nice little break from dealing with customers or the dispatchers for a few days, but I usually took whatever they offered me and made lemonade. It was more about the adventure and experience than the money for the short time I spent on the road.

 

Logistics is also playing a big role in things. If it can be made or grown in Florida then you don't have to ship it on a truck from Cali. The other factor is many more trucks on the road. JB Hunt can now ship a load all the way across the country without having a driver drive more than a 10 hour shift. They drive 5hours in one direction and then turn around and drive back.

Nowadays we are striving to save on fuel consumption so these companies are doing everything in their power to reduce that. Its cheaper to have a factory on each coast then to have one factory and have to ship to the other coast.