Rookie loads and dealing with dispatch

I'm not giving you advice but you shouldn't put up with a job that doesn't treat you right. That's what's wrong with trucking everyone has the mentality to just put up with what the company gives you. You shouldn't expect for a job to cater to you but you should expect to be working and making money for the time you are gone from home. I call BS on putting your time in until the company thinks you are worthy of good runs. This is not a right of passage you are out here to make money and be comfortable. You can be miserable at home around your loved ones. At least sleep in your own bed and relax at the end of the day

 

Welcome to first year truck driving !

 

I agree with Old School Trucker. That BS of “having to put your dues in as new hire” is crap. Let your dispatcher know that you want the miles and you can run the miles. I drove for a carrier that would tell me if I was in the Southern US that freight was slow. The next week if I was in the mid-west then freight was slow. I finally went to their regional headquarters and had a sit done with my dispatcher and their supervisor. I was nice but direct and let them know that I was hired to drive and I wanted the miles. After that I had no problems.

 

I agree with those of you saying the so called putting in your time etc. Allow Me says it best. If you are going to bark, you better put up when it's coming at you. No whining and hiding tail.

Now if we can rock the dispatch and get them to treat a driver as a driver unless proven otherwise. I remember one company had me on solo 3000 mile runs from Yakima (Just getting there after unloading is worth 5 hours sometimes) then to Boston Market in asap 5 days preferably. 6 is appt schedule. That was my favorite way to run. Even though getting back west is a little difficult, but not too bad when loading to Arkansas and then Fayetteville to Seattle again. (Tyson) that's 3 days plus two or three more.

However.

If you ever become a problem, all that rain from dispatch will stop in a hurry. Worse case scenario you load apples going to CA out of Missouri for someone leaving home after his time off so he can grab it and go. You go back with another trailer to load some more not yours to deliver. It's a form of punishment through rest at work. Hardly any miles. But savings is what helps here. IF you still have a job.

Too many companies in my life time has demanded that I play rookie games even though I had just left a hardened big mile OTR outfit the previous week before orientation. That was not the case with say JBH after they learned what I was running prior to them. Even though they were a experiment they had matched a dispatcher to me and I endured none of the BS. I still have his signed card in the wallet in the pile somewhere. A good dispatcher. Not just good, but #### good. Very few of those.

But I am getting on in years, old and slow. The spirit remains.

 

^^^ THIS ^^^

When I drove for Swift I regularly called the receiver. "Hello, this is Mr. Mo with Swift. I'm inbound with a load of widgets from the ACME Widget Company. My dispatch says I have an appointment on Monday morning at 8:00 am, but if it would help you I can be at your warehouse Friday afternoon by 3:00 pm."

"WHAAAAATTTTT!!!??? I told your dispatcher we needed that load no later than Friday at midnight! YES, as soon as you get here we are going to unload you! Our factory is going to shut down if we don't have those widgets!"

True story. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Call. Always call. Be professional. Don't complain. I often call just to find out if they allow parking on site, or if they have a first come first unloaded policy.

Thank them for their business. Not all drivers do that. It makes a difference.

 

you can be early and plan to park nearby if they won't unload you

I show up early frequently and usually its not a problem. If they can't get me loaded or unloaded I park the rig and come back.

As long as I'm nice and friendly to the customers no one seems to care if I am early even if I end up leaving and returning later.

 

One other thing. If you make that phone call and manage to change the delivery schedule, be sure you let dispatch know asap. That way they can start planning for another load. Communication in this business is critical.

 

^^^this.

How to get ahead and make money 101.

 

Keep in mind that freight is slowing considerably for most.. The trend really started to become noticeable in the Northwest just a couple of months ago. 2k mile weeks dry van may become the new norm, especially for newbs.

If things do not improve, many of us will be forced to do things we do not want to do. Like mentor, reefer, or whatever it takes.. Greyhound bus drivers do OK. I was clearing $650 a week working the same hours as now delivering food in Dallas, working my own schedule. Last year was really good though, only wish I would have put more $$$ back and prepared for the coming hard times dry van west. Hopefully it's just a lull created by pre China tariff hoarding.