How is the economy treating you as a driver?

oh I guearantee I can get 2500 a week. problem is I expect 4000 a week. I'm getting it but not every week. at 2500 miles for the week I'd park the truck, i'd be loosing my house at that point anyways.

I agree it's not a good time to be job hoping. trucking companies in general all suck and you are VERY likely to find yourself in a much worse position

 

IT has been tough. I am leased to a small company that historically has done very well, I mean $2+...Now they are dead in the water. I took off on my own and I'm getting by studying the internet crap loads. I basically have to kiss the wife goodbye for a month because getting back to Chicago not easy. A fair amount of deadhead too. One thing I've been doing that helps is try to save 10 feet or more on the trailer (flatbed) and pick up a partial on the way. That partial is usually what makes it worthwhile. I hope the stimulus works...God bless us all

 

MedicineMan, 4K miles a week? Are you running solo? If so, obviously there's no governator on your sled.

 

I can run 4k a week at 65mph. just keep the #### door closed. People these days all think 2500 miles is a big week. I used to run 5k as a solo but I have no desire to run that hard anymore.
667 miles a day 6 days a week is 4000 miles. what's so hard about that? My last job in WI i'd run 3400 miles a week. I'd leave out about 8 or 9am on monday and be home thursday night or friday morning. the key is to not be doing 200 and 300 mile trips like most companies these days do.
My last round went something like this.
grabed my loaded trl in Desmoines friday morningm deliv3ered in ontario CA on monday morning, reloaded monday afternoon in LA(unfortunatly had problems and cost me the whole day)left ontario tuesday morning and delivered in Northern WI on friday morning. picked up a loaded trl in southe central MN sat morning droped it in Ft Worth sunday morning and was home in east TX to watch the superbowl at 5:30

thats something like 5500mi in 9 days

 

I agree the secret is to stay steady at it if you want to
get any where by the end of the day. Its like the fable about the rabbit and the turtle, all that speed won't win the race if you keep taking pit stops.

 

Stay away from travel centers, do the pit stop at a rest area where you can get back on the road. Don't hang there, get out, do your thing, and get back into the truck.
If I do less than 600 miles per day, I feel like I am slacking on the job. I was hired to drive, not take walks. But for me, I am relaxed while driving, and tense when around people. Thus I have no problem staying in my truck and keeping the wheels rolling. Keeps me employed also. 3500 per week while it is slow.

 

I just got home and have been out since Jan 8th. Kind of a specialized hazmat tanker deal. Short 400 miles one way and could load and unload 24/7.
Log is at 65mph and 15min to load and unload. Run the he** out of the 5% that is allowed and I was running 44-4500 miles a week.
I grossed just a little less than 11K dollars in those 5 weeks. Wish it came available more often.

Wish you all the best in your search for miles and work.

MO

 

I don't run the massive number of miles like you guys do, but freight has dropped off for those of us in the specialized heavy haul sector as well. Normally we would average a load, maybe a load and a half per week. I have had three loads since January 1. Not good. I am learning to be very frugal on the road. Just hoping things pick up soon.

 

I can't wait for Psanderson's comment on this .

 

dont they use pcmiler at the scalehouses or something similar

theyd tear apart that "4-5%"