How long is it 'okay' to leave a driver without miles???

Show off!!!!!!

 

Yet another reason all companies should pay a decent amount for layover. I can sit at a truckstop or terminal for an entire week, I don't care. I'll gladly make $1150 to do nothing.

 

There are times I wish we could sit for a few hours... Our company keeps us hoppin if nothing else

 

Van and reefer rates are negotiated on a one way basis. That's why you wait...and wait until they find another load with minimum deadhead. Pull a tanker and most of it is billed at a round trip rate. That's why 50% of our miles are empty. I run 2490 miles per week from Texas to Fargo, deliver and return home empty. Takes 4 days and the pay is much better in tanks. It's a race to the bottom in van freight and for me to earn $1000 bucks a week net pulling van freight....6 days of 12+ hour days? No thank you.

 

That's why very few companies pay by the hour. They know there is lots of unpaid down time involved.

 

I rarely have to wait more than an hour for a load, unless I'm out of hrs and going down for a 10. In which case, I'll have one waiting for me on the QC when I wake up. Smaller companies can't afford to let trucks sit, optimal utilization is my companies goal for all trucks. I average about 2500 miles per week, but that is because I'm home every weekend, for the whole weekend (fri night to mon morning).

 

The only time I sit is when the clocks are out. Or Tuesday mornings waiting for the planning meeting to finish.

No load when I have hours = drop empty @ nearest yard and Bob tail home. I have only made that phone call once @ this place. I have also told them where to load me the next day if they are scared to make the call.

The advantage of owning the truck: They work for me finding me loads using their trailer and DOT number. If they mess up I hire somebody else. It's a cut throat business we are in.

Drivers are expendable and so are trucking companies. And employment is a 2 way contract. Most drivers would do well to learn these points

 

To answer your original question, Vic, I suppose that it's ok for a driver to sit for a lifetime as long as he is willing to put up with it.
There are so many driver jobs available at the moment; why would anybody worth his weight in diesel fuel continue to drive for any of the big megas, let alone actually keep defending them? Sometimes almost fanatically.
Really, most of the large companies consist of a huge base of new drivers; the new driver to experienced driver ratio grows larger every year.
Eventually, if not already, all the megas will consist of any more will be drivers with less than a year of experience. All other experienced drivers are basically being "forced out" unless they remain due to desperation and/or ignorance.
Over and over on these forums, I keep reading about how a driver can work "the system" to his advantage, provided he works hard and works smart.
To which I impolitely say, "baloney".
It's "their" system, not yours, and everything is carefully designed to make as much money as possible for a couple of guys at the top. Lots and lots of money.
At your expense, I might add.
Of course, the only way to really move up is to move out. And to move on.

 

You guys that have to bust a nut to grab that dough STILL DON"T GET IT. It's quality - not quantity...

 

Its not how many miles your getting, its how much your getting paid to run'em