Training pay $$$

While I don't personally advocate it, the best way I "turned down" loads was to not reply to the pre-plan. After half an hour they'd take it off, and you have some plausible deniability.

But if you can do the short runs, if you have a cool DM he'll set it up so you have a large one after.

This is also why I've seen so many problems with the Laredo terminal. I was there every few months as an OTR driver and ran into people every time that said they had been sitting there for three or four days waiting for a load. Every evening one of the planners would come out to the lounge and say for everyone to hear "I have half a dozen loads that need to go to Dallas. Any volunteers?" Nobody would take them because it was such a short run. I always did, and right afterwards I would end up with a dispatch to one of the coasts.

 

i'm the same way.after afew short runs,i'll say something to my dl and he'll do something. my theory is, if your gonna sit for 4 days waiting for a long run, you already lost money cause you could of done about 2 short trips already.my dl told me when i first started, that never know whats next. usually they are putting you in an area for a longer run.

 

There's not supposed to be favoritism, but in all honesty, when the 3000 mile load comes up, who are you going to give it to? The guy who turns down everything that isn't over a thousand miles and complains constantly or the guy who does the 300-500 mile stints without complaint?

Taking the short loads also helps with your record. If you're not running great miles but you're accepting all the short loads, when the evaluation time comes up, you have documented evidence that the reason you're running short loads is because that's all your getting. 99% of drivers with a bad review will claim that, but you'll be one of the few who can actually document it, and afterwards, you WILL start getting longer loads.

 

If you do refuse a load, try to do it with time.

They sent me a pplan that was a live load at 1400 tomorrow, and (live) delivered at 0700 the next morning - 400 miles away.
If anyone can tell me how that is possible, please chime in.
With Mac9 I said I would deliver at 1300. It was taken off me.

The next pplan was picking up even later - another live load at 1700 - delivering 200 miles away by 2145.
It is short, but doable if the loading doesn't take too long.
I took it, hoping for a better run next time around.

 

2 hours to load ... less than 7 hours drive time, but let's call it 7.

Load at 1400, loaded call at 1600 ... drive to 2300 or less, as close to the receiver as you can get. Shut down 8 hours at the receiver or close by, drive in and deliver .... tight but doable, any delays MAC 22 due to traffic. If you load in less than 2 hours, it's cake.

Also show up at he shipper early ... always chance to get loaded early.

Take 2 hours after unloading, finish your split and you're ready for another load.

 

I was going to say the same thing, perhaps start your clock about 1100 head over to the shipper, send Arrival and log Off Duty while checking in, see if they will load you early. If so, you're getting loaded Off Duty for x amount of time say two hours, then drive out your time and your next break is 8 hours in the sleeper. Do Arrival at final and Off Duty again for 2 hours after the drop or live unload.

 

I guess training pay has changed since my training days about 2.5 years ago. I was getting $500 a week for the 6 weeks with the trainer. After that, I started out at 0.26 cents a mile and was making 0.32 within 6 months.

Definitely take the short loads. I started with swift when the economy was at its worst. I sat in Phoenix for days waiting for something. I'd grab a small load and be right back at Phx again. I once went home for my days off and ended up being there for 8 days instead of 4. I never turned down a load unless there was a time issue. And be patient with your DM. Communicate everything that happens. The better relationship you have, the better your job will be. I followed this to a T and even though the economy was horrible, I was still moving some. Unlike others that sat and sat at the terminals waiting for that special load. If you're sitting, you're not making money and most likely spending it at the truck stop.

 

yeah pay has changed, trainees were getting paid to even sit on days without loads so they changed it to the hourly. Solo changed too starts $0.25 and takes a year for $0.32


and yeah dont turn down the short runs, if you help the planners they help you back, yesterday I got a short run 18 miles to Dallas and then a hour later I was picking up a load at Home Depot in Dallas heading to Colorado Springs.

 

Can you explain what an on duty versus off duty? Looks like Swift requires hours behind the wheel training.
Thanks!

 

I meant to say 240 hours behine the wheel.