Company sent me on a bad route

This makes no sense.

 

hmm, ok. Whatever floats your boat. Watch those rising toll costs, often times shorter but cuts your revenue until you update that contract. At some point if enough time is offered it's going to beneficial to run around the toll to a certain degree.

 

Unless you pay the drivers by the hour, you are forcing them to work for less.

You are not out there on the stupid route with no tolls and takes longer.

 

I'm not saying it doesn't take longer, I'm saying P/L it is sometimes beneficial to run around a toll. Same with fuel discounts, sometimes running a bit longer it better for the saving, other times running around tolls adds too much time. So back to my earlier statement, a lot of factors go into determining the best routing.

 

The best routing is a joke.

You are paying the driver on the "shortest route". This probably includes the toll road. Then you have proposed "preferred fuel stops". These are not on the "shortest route" route paid to the driver. Sure, go out of route to the fuel stops to save a few cents, the driver is working for free.

You are right. From a P&L standpoint, it is good for the company and screws the driver.

 

I've been running it right for a lot of years...

I would like to know how someone like you, Who has no understanding of the "realities" of trucking can sit there with a straight face and try to tell those that are out here doing it how to do it.

All that has come from the "knowitalls" in the office is "students" and "unqualified" new "drivers" that are trained by other "unqualified" new drivers that necessitate the constant "handholding" that has become the modern transportation "industry".

We also get more and more "micromanagement" from the people that understand NOTHING about the day to day work required to run a truck and get the freight there on time and intact.

As I see it, All that the so called "big business" has done is destroy the "real" safety and efficiency of the "real business owners like myself that have been running the "competetive advantage" that you speak of but don't really have a clue about for years.

I've dealt with "knowitalls" for my entire career and the one thing that the "middle management" dummies have in common is that they are pretty much all gone and have been replaced with other "middle management" dummies that have equally ridiculous ideas about how to "efficiently" run a trucking business.
After these guys get replaced due to their own repeatedly proven incompetance....Somehow or other we always wind up getting the job done without them and their perpetual stream of dumb ideas.

The "industry is in the state that it's in because of the knowitalls and their minions of morons....Not because of the "real" owner/drivers!

 

Whatcha going to do out in the middle of nowhere, no shoulder, no where to turn around. Many of these type bridges have one little sign on the end of the bridge that you don't know until you are right on top of it. But like you said, they are usually short little ones. One that's clearly marked and you have advanced warning, you definately look for alternatives.

Arkansas is especially bad about it. You can look on your truckers map and roads are clearly marked a truck route. There's nothing in the front stating a restricted route. Surprise, restricted bridge.

One good example is VA off I-81. Many trucks will run, 7, 340, 15 up into southestern PA. A clearly marked truck route on the Rand McNally. You cross that long concrete bridge across the Potomac at the WV/MD line, it's either restricted at 15 ton or 22 ton. It's been awhile since I been up through there. The point is, it's loaded with truck traffic day in and day out. I've seen cops on the Maryland side several times and they never do a thing.

 

It's beneficial to the company at the drivers expense. Most drivers have to drive an extra 1-2 hours a day when you get up in toll country. Do they get paid for that extra time? Nope.

I use to hate running US20 doing 45 mph behind some farmer and you can look over at the toll road and they are just cruising away. Or get stuck in a Chicago traffic jam when the toll roads are wide open. I can go on and on about them situations. The only real savings was running across NY. But then again, you put the driver from cruising on nice safe flat ground to running across treacherous mountains. No biggie to the one sitting behind a desk.

Most of that northeast freight pays a premium because of the toll roads. It's like you are taking my lunch money away so you can stick it in your pocket.

Our fuel manager was tweeking the routing so bad, he was wanting drivers to jump off the interstate for 10 miles and back on. That guy wasn't saving the company anything.

 

Like this one? This is the bridge I came upon.. I backed up until I could turn down a side road, which lead to the other side of the bridge. The locals are familiar with it, but it's not marked as a truck route.