Any contract drivers for FedEx run "wild?"

I started out teaming with another contract driver for FedEx and really liked it. We had a good route, a good schedule, and I was happy with the miles and the money for sure. Then about 5 minutes before we were due on the yard to get our hook slip and build our set, my co-driver up and quits and leaves me in the lurch. I called the boss and she said the only options open to me until they get another team driver in the pipeline was to either run a dedicated route (home every night but I live 65 miles away from the yard and that means 130 mile round trip back and forth during the work week. I did that for a week when I was training with this company and it really cut into down time. After taking care of ordinary day-to-day stuff I was getting about 5-6 hours of rest a night) ...OR running "wild." She explained that meant being dispatched to anywhere. Guaranteed 1800 miles a week and if I don't get the miles the company pays me 1800 miles regardless. At $0.47/mile solo that's about $850/week -- just a little more than half of what I was making as a team driver.

I'd like to hear about your experiences from any contract drivers who run "wild." What are the advantages/disadvantages? Are the schedules really tight? Do you get routed to places that other drivers have figured out a way to avoid? Is it pretty much a regional thing (I'm in KY so for me that could mean the Northeast, Midwest, or Southeast) or do you get dispatched cross-country on occasion? Is it a lot of short runs with lots of building/breaking down sets? I might have some more questions based on the feedback I receive or the more I think about this. Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.