What do Drivers need most?

That's 95 fuel ups at 300 gallons per truck and 3.50 fuel price.

You can burn through that if you had say 30 trucks In a month and change running teams. Our team truck fuel bill was actually 85000 dollars more or less a few thousand in 10 months with FFE which had like 1200 trucks. It never stopped running except a few hours weekly all that time. Filling both tanks between 22 and 30 hours depending on which side of the USA we were on. (Rockies or Smokies)

Im strange thinking that way. Money is easy to spend.

Bottom line, I am a name, a person. Not a unit number or a dot on the dispatch screen. If the dispatch team does not know what I am already doing requiring me to brief them for 10 minutes and then put on hold for a hour while they decide what to do next (Despite real time qualcomm messaging on their stupid computer screens...) One gets cranky easily.

 

You mentioned wage, equipment, driver issues( after they are hired?) , honesty and following through, suppose on promises etc. My thoughts are on screening out the drivers before hiring. Be gentle roger!

 

The op asked what do drivers want in a company, thus my answer.

Companies need to screen their drivers, but drivers also need to screen the company. Even after everyone does their due diligence, problems can arise.

How many posts do we get on here about load information being intentionally wrong or missing salient details just to get the driver to take bad risks (fcfs turns into strict appt ot vice versa)? How often are drivers advised to do all communication with "dispatch" via text, email, or Qualcomm type device so there is a record? Big Bad Bill opened up a "driver friendly/focused" company and then turned around and hosed the drivers.

 

Its really difficult to screen a company. There is a small truckstop where you can get piles of recruiting material. All glossy crap. Searching out a company's MC Number, comes up with fatality, injury and other violations records etc is one way a driver can screen a company. There are also other ways such as State Labor Board in Maryland offers a current page on settlements reached with specific trucking companies for very specific behaviors that broke the law in some way. For example failing to ensure a fully licensed driver. Listed by name and address and specific violations (If more than one) and amount paid to settle. That's a second way to screen a company.

Ultimately if you hired me for example to run a Van across Chicago all day back and forth from a rail yard. I get bored and bored easily. I would not be a good fit. You need someone else to do it. The nature exact of your actual work with 18 wheelers will determine your drivers best fit once you filled all the trucks with GOOD drivers who do not mind my hypothetical yard van scenario.

I quit so many companies within a week or two without hard feeling strictly because I was bored, not told information, not told anything and unable to sometimes make a decision except that I will make something decided that will cost me or company or both SOME money somewhere.

Maybe Im like a high strung horse. Or a wore out tired farm draft horse. I don't know what to think. But all companies that do all sorts of specific work need very specific drivers.

Take Lepton1 for example. He posts video where he's off road or someone off road going to a oil rig taking a moment to cross little streams in the gravel path without spinning drives or splash. Those are the kinds of drivers I would want. The kind that will take time to be easy on equipment.

 

I’m not hard to please, I work for chicken wings and #####. That’s all I ever wanted so I’m livin the dream.

 

It's what made me leave your company.........dang near 15 years ago

 

A safe place to park.

 

GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!

 

Personally ...
1. Good pay with Deadhead, Bobtail, Detention & Layover compensation. Especially getting PAID for those. Maxing out at $65k per year gross is not “good pay” based on a low average of 65 hrs p/wk $65000 / 3380 hrs p/yr = $19.23 p/hr straight time.
2. Good equipment. In my case, that includes an assigned unit with a manual transmission, no-idle required a/c & heat, comfortable mattress & good condition trailers.
3. Pet policy. If they want a deposit, okay but a critter helps keep you feeling human when you’re out for days or weeks.
4. Dispatchers who honestly try to keep you rolling and, if you keep them apprised of your schedule and hours, have a next load ready somewhere nearby. My biggest peeve is resetting your clock, getting 4 or 5 hours and being told to reset my clock ... I’m wide awake ... I might reset my clock, but I’m not going to get any sleep so if I get handed a 10 hour run I’m not going to be my best. Also, if the weather is really bad they have to stretch those schedules a bit.
5. Rest when you have to. No excuse. Most time a 15-20 minute catnap can fix that eye blinking head bobbing ... yes you’ve only been up for 2 hours but ... your sleep cycle is all upside down and backwards.

 

A case of Busch on Saturdays will be satisfactory hahahaha