TransAm Trucking, Inc. - Olathe, Ks.?

You can use the express, watch your speed though someone else is!

 

Hiya TransAm funseakers. I have been a swapping fool! Since my return, I have picked up at shippers, made deliveries at receivers, but never both in the same load!

I have actually been getting good miles but have had to do a lot of running around to meet swaps, dropping and hooking up, etc. and running a lot in the wee hours of the morning to get those miles. A lot of clock management using split breaks.

I don't mind hustling to make my money but the early morning hours do bother me. I dropped off an empty last night at 4am, Nebraska meat plant, put myself on a 8 hour sleeper birth break so I could get started ASAP again with this meat load but now the load is late in being ready. I wanted to start running toward Ohio at noon, however, now they say likely not ready until 3pm. More late night running it looks like <sigh>.

 

There is never any reward for "helping out" with a swap or recovery. The system is dominated by automated logistics management software. The loads we get are what the computer spits out, always in TransAm's best interested. There may be a few execptions but that is the rule.

Always best to remind your DM to put you in for a new preplan once you are switched up on a swap. No reward for a swap, etc. only the risk that you will fall through the cracks and end up with no miles to run after you are done with a swap, etc.

 

Well put, Sir Passport. I was sitting here thinking about this. Waiting on a load is part of the job, unfortunately. TransAm is one of the few mega carriers that does make an effort to get you home when you are scheduled for it.....swaps are part of that equation, not all swaps but a percentage of them....but always the freight comes first.

I am so glad that you brought up putting in for a preplan! I had forgotten about that ....the King never has to do that anymore. Always put in for a preplan as soon as possible ....it moves your name up the list and as Passport said, it makes sure they don't forget that you are available. In George's case, I think he simply delivered a load to the yard to get another driver home, and had to wait for another driver to bring the load to the yard that would get him home .....simply a matter of logistics in getting drivers in the area for their time off.

 

The Senate bill that would have suspended two of the 34-hour restart provisions included in the 2013-implemented federal hours-of-service rule was pulled from the Senate floor June 19 after disagreements over procedural rules prevented the bill from moving forward for debate.


The whole article has some very good industry information, but was too long .....so you need to do your own research on this.

 

I had to wait 8 hours for a late cardboard load out of Omaha going to the Dakota City meat plant. I could see the trailer was 85% loaded but had to wait 8 extra hours for the last two pallets to be loaded on. I got 101 paid miles or about $31 for that 10hours of my life. Me thinks because I arrived late with that trailer of cardboard, my outbound meat load is now running late.

The paper warehouse was having some problems and the yard dog told me one TransAm driver just left due to the delay. Said it was BS and was not going to wait around to take his load. I don't know what happened to him, maybe he just skipped the paper load and reported to Dakota City to get an outbound meat load.

 

^ Swaps are part of the job but there is one TransAm practice I would like to rant about. I have had it happen about 3 or 4 times with TransAm. Here is the latest example:

I woke up around 8am, showered, had breakfast & coffee, started driving and about two hours on the road I got a swap order. The plan for the swap was for me to stop at a nearby truck stop, go on break and wait 10 hours for my swap partner to arrive and then start driving again. TransAm has it documented that I had been up, awake and driving but now thinks it is reasonable that I will just be able to shut down on a dime, get good rest in a busy, loud truck stop and be fit to start driving again into the wee hours of the morning.

Sending a driver out on a 2nd shift, driving into the early morning hours after it is documented that driver has been up during the day, running on a day time schedule is an accident waiting to happen! If we can not figure out the common sense stuff on our own, maybe we deserve to be one of the most regulated industries in America.

 

That was the case, HTQ, that George was waiting for another driver to bring a load on the yard. The waiting game is understandable but it just doesn't make it any easier to accept considering time is money. 'Course I'm sure every truck driver can tell their share of hold ups both on the road or at the shippers even if the load is on time. All part of the stakes in the job. On a side note, George actually drove all night last night. He attempted to stop a couple of times but couldn't find any open parking spots. He pulled in at a Flying J truck stop in Kentucky this morning to sleep and take his 10. Plan is to drive straight to the shippers tonight once he's on the road again: East Point, GA.

 

How about some rehab photos. I am actively seeking a small house to rehab. I will swing by and take a look at one on my next run through Iowa.

 

Totally agree! TransAm does this all too often.....and I am sure other carriers do also. This is one of the reasons for tired drivers. I think the reset regulations were directed at the wrong problem....so they came up with the wrong cure. If the studies had been done before the regulations had been put into place instead of afterward they may have been able to direct a solution at the real problems within the industry. Many drivers prefer to begin their day at about 4am and stop before dark .....they can avoid rush hour traffic better, plan their break to benefit their drive and stop early enough to be able to find a parking place, eat a good meal and unwind so that they can rest. Planning is part of driving and on time deliveries, it needs to be left in the hands of the driver......and there needs to be a solution to carriers attempting to switch a driver's days and nights on a whim because on time delivery is more important than safe business practices.