Advice on working with dispatch

Im not at all calling him a slacker but he does need to work on driving more then what he does.Hes considered part time.If every driver drove what he does they'd go out of business.Companies are out to make money and hire drivers to deliver loads for them.Customers come first in this industry and some actually charge the carrier for late loads and then some carriers lose the customer due to too many late loads.You have to look at the companies point of view on this.If he can't handle driving his hrs every day then he needs to find local part time driving.He has 4 yrs under his belt,no reason for it.If its too much for him,not a problem,company will understand if he quit.

 

That's what I was thinking patty. Is that 4 years or 4 months of experience. Now before I go super hard on you. Are you overweight? Have you been tested for sleep apnea? Now if you are healthy.

Rule number 1 Stop listening to these cyber yahoo's who say they never take a reset and drive and on duty time is 8.5 or 8.75 a day junk. On the internet it works, but in real trucking unless your company is set up to only run you 300 or 400 miles a day. It not going to work. Now for a certain load if you can trip plan it that way and still be on time. Then go for it. My goal has always been get as far as you can. That way if you have mechanical issues and load needs to be relayed. You driven 600 miles instead of 300. Or Your company see's you sitting at your 300 mile spot and needs you to relay a guys load who is out of hours. Who has 120 miles to his destination. So the guy takes your load gets your 300 plus miles and you get his 120 mile load. Set yourself up for success not failure. Don't be afraid of restarts. Learn how to make them work for you not against you. Running on 3 and 4 hr a day recap is for the birds dude.

 

Regarding the term "Driver Leader", that's the euphemism for dispatcher used by Swift. I've been running solo at Swift, getting an average of about 2500 miles per week, running 4-6 weeks at a time without a reset, averaging about 8-10 hours per day, with an on time percentage over 99% . In order to average 2500 miles per week that means I need to average about 357 miles per day.

There will be days when I have less than 200 miles and chew up hours waiting at shippers or receivers or get stuck in traffic. Then there will be days when I'm on long hauls. On a long haul day, with a governed truck, 600 miles is a spectacular day that maximizes my 11. If I have a 700 mile load I DON'T park it after 350 miles and then try to run the rest of the 350 miles on the second day, I run as many miles as I can on the first day so I'm close as possible to delivery, then when I make delivery I have maximum hours available to get the next load and run as many miles as I can.

I rarely try to use up all my 11. When I get to 10 I'm definitely looking for a place to park, and usually starting to really nail where I want to spend the night after 9 hours.

One thing that gives me greater flexibility than some fellow drivers within Swift is that I'm willing to park for a 10 just about anywhere. I don't have to park at a truck stop. I can survive and thrive parking anywhere that is safe and legal. If you are cutting your day short in order to have a cushy parking spot close to the restaurant and pumps at a truck stop, then you need to rethink your survival skills.

 

what does being overweight have to do with it I would bet money that 95 percent of ya are overweight even if it is by only 10 pounds im 6'5 265 lb overweight by the government standard by about 40 lb and would bet I'm healthier then some of you no high blood pressure no diabetes no sugar problems no heart problems or lung problems and I smoke I workout 4 days a week and walk 2.5 miles the days I don't workout so I just don't see why you had to bring that up GUESS WHAT MOST YOUR PRO ATHLETES ARE CONSIDER OVERWIEGHT BY GOVERMENT STANDARDS AS WELL overweight is define by weight not bodyfat percentage if you don't believe me look it up

 

That's how I am,drive as much as you can incase you have a brkdown or whatever.At least you'll be that much closer to the customer and hopefully get a relay and still be ontime.You make it a habit to drive 7 or so hrs frequently that could possibly cause a 2 day late load.Customers won't put up with that too much.They need their product and trust the carrier and brokers to get that product delivered to them safely and ontime.

 

EVERY chance you get - SIT DOWN with a knowledged Log book teacher at your company, at the driving school, etc (I have seen some schmoo's out here that quote a lot, know little, but "want YOU" to hear only them)!!

I got to spend 2 whole days with the manager of the logs department at one company I worked for & that is where I learned the most! Then when you are OUT on the road - take time to talk to the OLD truckers out here - I did & still do - they have kept me paper legal! YOU need to talk to the old boys because "everything" YOU WILL need to handle all weather conditions, truck repairs do's & don'ts, legal issues - you will learn from them!!!

*shout out* to them all - LOVE you guys & thanks!

 

Overweight has a lot to do with this profession.Companies give forced sleep abnea test.We take physicals.We don't know what this op looks like so its all speculation.I see you ar a student and Dinamite has 14 yrs ,hmmm wonder who knows more as to what might be going on here.Sorry dynamite this quote is meant for silverdrifter.

 

and I still say most of you are at least 10 lbs over weight get mad if u want but it is the truth and I know we have to take physicals so that is nothing new and I never said I new more I was just making a comment

 

When you have sleep apnea sir. Your body needs more sleep. Because it is constantly waking up in the middle of the night. I was asking the Op because most with sleep apnea are overweight well morbidly obese is I guess the correct term. I know you can have it and not be over weight, but I know from my company and others. They test those who have a certain size neck and or bmi.

It wasn't taking a shot at him for weight. As a young dude. I suggest you be quick to listen and slow to speak. I see you asking a lot of questions on other threads. Your type is what scares me about training. You seem to no everything, and want to give everybody instruction. Instead of sitting down and taking instruction from those who have done this for a minute or two. Slow ya role green horn. You have a lot to learn. Enjoy your day Kemosabe

 

if I new everything I wouldn't be asking questions now would I ? if you don't ask u never learn kemosabe