Looking for advice

Detention pay. Then you get 10 to 20 bucks an hour usually. Come on...

 

Remember, to go on detention pay, you typically have to sit for a certain number of hours (some companies, upwards of 5 hours) before you start receiving that detention pay.

But, that load has to deliver on time, and the only way it's going to work is if you go off-duty and re-set your 14-hour clock. After all, you want that performance bonus, don't you?

So, you have to suck it up and go off-duty while you wait to make it all work-out, meanwhile, you'll also be driving tired, because, chances are you might not be able to sleep much during that 10-hours off-duty.

But, the freight has to be delivered. So, you got another load delivered on time, but, you didn't get the detention pay, and you're having to wonder how many more times you're going to do this to make sure you get that performance bonus.

Not to mention, you want to keep that dispatcher happy, don't you? Because, you don't want black marks on your DAC report keeping you from getting another job on down the road.

And, so, the cycle repeats itself.

 

10 hours at a shipper..? If that every happened to you, then you're talking about the rare exception, not the rule. I don't understand why you have to try to make driving sound so ###### when you're still doing it. Someone asks you what it's like and you only describe the most terrible things that could potentially happen. I mean, yeah, it's good to know, but examples like this are pretty exaggerated.

 

10 hours at the shipper would be unusual, but, not unheard of. The longest I've spent at a shipper/ receiver was 20 hours due to a clerical mistake on the load.

Spent 30 hours waiting at a truck-stop to pick up freight.

Spent 9 hours last week waiting on local loads. Only reason it worked in a 14 hour day was each load only went an hour down the road.

But, I do a lot of local work, which is hourly pay, which means sitting around doesn't bug me, because I'm getting paid for it. Doing OTR, you're only going to get paid for it if you sit a certain amount of time. If you take 5 hours as the time it takes to go onto detention pay, and you do two loads a week, you can lose 18+ hours per week, sitting in the truck, to waiting, which is never paid. But, you have to be at the dock, ready to move. 4.5 hours at the first shipper, 4.5 hours at the first receiver, 4.5 hours at the second shipper, and 4.5 hours at the second receiver.

And, yes, that would be a normal time to spend waiting at a shipper/ receiver.

 

Don't assume the industry average is the highest minimum detention pay start time you've ever heard of. I haven't talked to a company yet that didn't start by 2 hours.

 

So, you're still comfortable with potentially working up to 7.9 hours a week without pay? Nearly a full days work for someone with an office job without pay?

 

Do I really have to explain to you how your pay system works? That would be a little sad, wouldn't it? Ok, here goes... Waiting at a shipper isn't work. It's a pain in the ###. I've said this a few times in regards to the hours argument, but here I'll ask again, would you rather do a job that's all physical labor for an hour, or drive for 2? Did someone tell you driving was going to be a 40 hour work week when you joined up? I already know it's not, but it still seems to be pissing you off. You get paid more for working more and being away from home. That's the deal. YOU chose that. I am choosing that. You can whine and cry about working as many hours as you want. Now, after you dry those tears off, go look in the paper and see what kind of work you can get, not driving. You think you can get 800 a week at one of those places? And again, you're still whining about first year driver's salary. Now I know you like to throw around how much valuable knowledge you have. Do you think you deserve what you're paid now? I'm assuming you're making more than these places pay, otherwise I'd understand why you're so #####y. Anyway, assuming you work at a place that pays you well for your experience and knowledge, what would you say to me if I walked in the door, brand new driver "Hey, just got my license, worked here one week. Boy, look, my checks the same as yours "?

 

I'm asking you these questions, Chase, because you need to honestly ask yourself what your reaction will be if someone tries to cheat you out of money on your paycheck? If your dispatcher, receiver, or shipper treats you like dirt?

Because there is a very real possibility of that happening, and it is dangerous to simply shrug it all off and say "detention pay, etc."

I do this job because I love it. Do I have crap days? Of course I do. But, I've loved trucks since I was a kid.

I hold a BA in English Literature, I could seek employment in other fields. But, at the end of the day, or more accurately, in the morning, I enjoy getting in the truck.

In a roundabout way, I'm trying to help you here, Chase. It may sound mean, rude, offensive, or what have you, for me to say you don't have the experience to talk about X, Y, and Z. But, it is the simple truth that you don't. And you need to consider the dark and ugly side of this industry. Unless you own your own truck, at the end of the day, you, as a driver, are a means to an end for a company. You are a means of generating profit, and profit outweighs you in the business plan of the company.

 

Not trying to be a dick, what kind of jobs are available that require a BA in English Lit? I am asking out of genuine curiosity.

 

You can't take the image of the very worst trucking companies and display that as the image for any new driver. I'm not working for Swift or Werner unless I absolutely have to. Now, hearing about those places does make me weary, but I just plan to avoid that while still being prepared. Trucking isnt' the only kind of job that will try to cheat you out of pay either.

Oh, this has absolutely nothing to do with our "arguement", meaning I'm not trying to be insulting, but you brought up an English lit degree? What are you going to do with that, work at a library for 9 dollars an hour? One of my good friends is an English major. She's still a secretary, and trust me, she has put in plenty of applications (she has a good resume too).