Starting to get burned out or bored

It's not oversize, but come be a car hauler. It'll be fun they said.

 

Ive been getting burned out. Not bored, it's just been very very constant busy. Time for some down time. I'm gonna load up here in 4-4.5 hrs, deliver in early am and start my vacation. I've never been on vacation. Never taken a week off without working on the house or something. Not this time.

 

I had a opportunity one time, I was introduced to my car hauler with it's rack and cab over etc. I stood there and asked the owner, when do you epect me to be in Miami with this thing loaded? Asap. It;s 150 mph truck.

I ran. I know I was a bad boy in my day but no way. Toxic.

 

Yes. They are a sister company of ours. They even keep some 13 axle trailers in our Wichita yard.

 

Felt the same way with regular steel hauling that I used to do. So I talked the bossman into buying a tridem bigger bubba with a sidekit. Run the same route as I did except I run two loads up and bring two big master coils back down. Yea you have to have permits but for me its something new and challenging.I wanted to get in on the heavy hauling side of things but didnt wanna leave the steel alone. Plus it looks good on the resume' too no doubt. Hope you find something that works for ya brother and stay safe out there.

 

LOL

Been there done that.

Not sure whats worse,.. waiting on that green light because the receiver is still counting your frozen food or walking the auction lots looking for your cars, or walking the rail yard looking for your cars, then inspecting said cars to make sure not even a scuff or mark is on them (I had a set of 64 color permanent markers for anything I missed). Then waiting to get someone to mark off any damage you found. Mean while the dealer 2 hours away closes in 2hr 15 mins. Or picking up junkers at the salvage yards to take to the port.Waiting on some union guy at the port to off load these beasts with out ripping your trailer apart.

Oh yes,.. lets not forget the dealers,.. and how happy and eager they are to inspect the vehicles you just delivered. Can you get Dan Morgan please? He's on the phone. 48 minutes later,.. I have a delivery of cars for Dan Morgan. She pages Dan Morgan. He still on the phone. Me: Tapping my foot and counting to 100.

Or the small town dealer where you have to off load out middle turn lane of a 2 lane road. Fun fun. Crunching the roof on a band new Jeep SRT8. I wanted to crawl into a hole and pretend I didnt exist that day. The only challenge in car hauling I ever got was to not get myself killed.

$100 bet. I can get 5 cars on a 4 car hauler. No you cant,. wanna bet?

Me: Cha Ching.

I dont miss any of that. All you.


Hurst

 

Hell, just change up the roads you drive on. I pretty much run from 1/2 hour southwest of the house to about 4 hours northeast...2 or 3 turns per week. There are at least a dozen different routes I can take for a change of scenery...ALL are pretty close on miles, and only one is faster by 45 minutes, but there's 2 scales to cross and 1 of them is a real MF. Needless to say, I run a lot of 2 lanes, because 1) the big road bores the hell out of me and 2) no harassment at the scales. If one road starts getting old, I take another.

There IS something to be said about running the same kind of freight on a regular basis, though. You get to learn how it should be loaded and the best way to secure it...both work in your favor where efficiency is concerned. If you're racing that 14 hour clock, that could mean the difference between making it where you wanted to go or having to shut down early. Granted, an oddball load every once in a while that makes you scratch your head for a few minutes or even look up the regs to make sure you're securing it properly is a welcomed change...but the bottom line still remains the bottom line. I work in order to have a life, not the other way around. When I signed on where I'm at, I told them I don't care WHAT kind of wagon I'm pulling, just show me the money. If the money is good, I can deal with boring...but all the excitement in the world won't make up for crap pay.

 

Holidays and hobbies. They are the best cure for burn out.

If you are in desperate need of a new challenge, ask your company for some new freight. If they aren't hurting for drivers, they could easily check the load boards and find you something weird going somewhere weird. You might find the mundane stuff is actually what you want.