Hi, I am a new driver. I started with Schneider on the dedicated jcpenney acct. I was very happy through training and everything went well. I was aware that this position was a night driving position. When I did my training in st.louis with my trainer we drove every day then took our 10 hr break at the stores before the delivery time at 5am. We ran like this all week and it was great. When I got back and started driving here in Atlanta, it wasn't like that. They say that if the load is ready I can take it early so that's what ive been doing but some days they don't have anything ready so they tell me im going to have to wait till 9 at night when it is ready to take out. This completely throws my sleeping schedule off and I told them that I would rather be safe and wait till the next morning then to try and drive that tired. I asked if I could be switched to a different acct because I was told that this was a predictable work schedule and they basically say not till after 6 months on this acct. Yet they hire unexperienced new drivers to other accts every day. So my question is, how do I go about solving this issue? I tried to tell them that I am not worried about the money that I can go a day without a load as long as I stay on the same schedule and they just want to accuse me of refusing the load. It is a safety issue and they wont listen. I can drive during night with no problem, I have found out though that I can not sleep during the day. Someone please help
Am I getting screwed?
Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by mxkx48, Sep 5, 2013.
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As much as I hate to say it, you are never going to have a set schedule as a truck driver unless you're in a local job where your day ends at the same time every day.
No matter what company you go to, you're going to have a very mixed up schedule. You'll deliver a 3am, 3pm, and every time in between. I would venture a guess that this is one of the most difficult adjustments for new drivers to make, because it really does screw with your internal clock.
It doesn't really sound like you're getting screwed, but I don't see why they have to throw a fit about when you actually drive, as long as you pick up and deliver on time. Now if you're being late on your loads, that's a problem, but as long as you're on time, I don't see why they would have a big issue.
However, this type of situation is the big factor in time management. If you pick up a load at 9pm and get moving immediately, you'll have the maximum number of hours available to get your next load after you deliver. This is what makes you money. When I first started, I was just like you - I would go back to sleep and then get up the next day and run. This was fine, except that when I delivered I was out of hours, so I had to sit until the next day. If I had just driven straight though, I could've gotten my next assignment and kept rolling.
When I first started, I was doing pretty much what you're talking about, and my mileage sucked. For 3 months I averaged only 1800 miles per week. Once I changed my habits and started using every available minute I had, I'm now averaging 2800 miles per week, and grossing over $1000 each week. It makes a hell of a difference.
If I were you, I'd try to make the most of it for 6 months and then switch to an account that works better for you. I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but it's an honest piece of advice. If you leave and switch companies, you'll run into the same problem anywhere else - a mixed schedule is just a fact of life for an OTR driver. 6 months is nothing in the grand scheme of things, and you'll be a lot better off staying with your current company as long as you can stand it. A stable history and a perfect record are going to be worth more than gold in the next few years.
You're definitely not getting screwed though, at least not as far as scheduling goes. Now when it comes to driver pay, we're all getting screwed on that one
Good luck, and hopefully the other guys can give you better advice about how to adjust. I've always been a weird sleeper so I got used to the changing schedules pretty quickly. But I bet some of the experienced guys out there can give you some good advice on how to adjust.unloader, SlowPoke44magnum, 68Goat and 2 others Thank this. -
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