Dedicated runs

That's a lot of miles over the same asphalt. I do something similar, 440 miles there followed by a rest period then 440 miles back. I do that run twice a week. It makes for a 42-44 hour work week for me, and I'm paid by the hour plus per diem for the layover.

I drive for a grocery distributor, though, and they do things a little differently.

 

I ran a coast to coast dedicated for six months. I'll admit I'm an OTR junkie. I do like to see the country and that was one aspect I missed. With my account we did have some variation as the pickup and delivery locations varied, all the pickups were somewhere in the LA area and the destinations ranged from Boston to Miami. However, I missed seeing the rest of the country. I'm back OTR again and happy for it.

 

The same drive week in, and week out, has it's perks---biggest one being "consistent and predictable home time". But it can also be boring as heck. I can not put up with the boredom...so I have always turned down dedicated work.

 

yup some people like a steady routine and a steady paycheck at 6600 miles every 2 weeks that is a pretty good gig BUT boredom and burnout is a hazard, most drivers think they want the security of a dedicated run until they get it then after a while it becomes a grind same excrement every day the only variable is when something goes wrong and no chance of doing better, myself I prefer a little variety it keeps a sense of newness in each day and the chance to hit a homerun every so often kinda keeps the thrill of victory within my grasp sorta the reason I became an OO in the first place. So if you are wondering if burnout can happen to you YES human nature is a fickle thing we all want different things at different times.

 

I did a dedicated from Charlotte to Huntsville AL and Birmingham every Monday.
Did that for 2 years and it got boring. The great thing is you know every good place to park,fuel and eat...
I still would rather do the same thing all the time because you know pretty much what time you will finish every week.

 

Actually running the samev route over and over again is pretty safe. Companies that have majority dedicated runs have a higher safety rating. My company runs the same routes over and over and we have countless 1 million plus accident free drivers.

 

YUP, Did OKC to LA, Dallas to LA, Bay Area to Long Beach (the most boring thing you can ever do. ) The best was Balt-Sea-Spo-Chi-Laf (Lafaytte IN) Sea-Spo-Chi-Balt. 9000 miles then a week off and do it again.

If you aren't the lead dog, the scene never changes.

 

Had I had a reliable truck a Dedicated with a GM plant in upper NY to a place in Shreveport, LA was a super nice deal. NY on Thursday Afternoon and Shreveport on Monday morning.
Never more than 28K in the box. Knew where I could park. Had time to smell the roses.
Lost it when my 06 Century after doing two different docks in NY wouldn't recognize the transmission.

Would have lost out anyway because Shreveport is still several hours from home. But I loved it while it lasted!

 

Big question is are you in it for the money or do you want to drive around and see the country, Steady predictable work is usually a money maker long term plus has some security , Variety has it's good points but as with any kind of trucking it gets to be a job. Variety and not knowing where you will go and when you will be home is something to consider, OTR also exposes you to many different regs and dealing with many different scales ,,each has their own gimmick to screw with drivers, An then living in different truckstops some good and bad, but if you don't run a route regularly finding the good and bad places to camp out each night is a crap shoot,,same as dealing with the same people loading and unloading and dealing with different origins and destinations,
If you are making good money and have job security long term best suck up hang in there.