company sweating me about my idle time

Well, maybe these tightwad companies should just disable the A/C units on their trucks entirely and see how long the drivers stick around for what most of these companies pay... LOL

If you can afford a race car and all the big money motorhomes etc that goes with it, you can afford to make your drivers comfortable. The clown that owned Arrow Trucking couldnt pay $100,000 in back taxes on one of his terminal properties, but he had a zillion dollar home and had just purchased a new Maserati right before it all came tumbling down just tells me there is more money in trucking than these people would have us believe...

 

I agree, and if I owned a company, I would have trucks with APUs, without a doubt. I've been there, done that, and hate getting hacked on about idliing time. With that said, at the same time, I knew it wasn't my equipment and I didn't make the rules.

I owned my own truck for a while, and once I saw what it cost to idle... even though I have to have some air flowing to sleep, there were many times I just stuck it out, or I got a motel room.. It was cheaper to pay $35 at Motel 6 than to idle the truck all night, plus at the motel I covered the shower arrangements, had a big bed, and usually had a desk for my computer work.

Fuel is over $4 a gallon in most areas - the small Shell truckstop 1/2 mile from my place (I-35 and O'Connor Rd) shows $4.07 today. That means, if you stop at 7 pm, go in, shower and eat, get back to the truck at 9, and then run your truck until 0600, that's 9 hours of idling at $4.07 a gallon...$36.63...

 

Well for all the down talk from you. you seem to feel the same way I do.
Here is what is gets down to drivers no matter how good and hard they work, deliver on time and do as much as they can to make the company money. alot of the companies treat then like crap and pay then crap.

I work very hard and get rewarded for it by my boss. Good pay, APU, great equipment. His Quote. ( I take care of my drivers, they make me money )

AS for way back when. I lived with out running water in the home, Had a well hand pump out front. out house out back. wood stove for heat windows for air. then I grew up and started working in the army. still no a/c
but now had indoor water and crapper. now to today a/c water, heat, indoor pluming, big screen TV, and all the nice things you could ask for.

I can go back to living the way I did back in the day , But why we moved on this is 2011. so let stay in today Yesterday is long gone.

Companies should look at what they are doing and change. then the turn over would not be what it is. you know the price of this can not be cheep.
Keeping drivers good drivers just makes sence. don`t you think.
When it comes to pets if I want to take mine with me in stead of leaving it al alone for 4 weeks at a time it is my business. Iknow I should just leave it home to starve to death. as I have no one to care for it for me. but thats ok right?

 

I think it all boils down to choosing the right company, and that means asking current drivers, not a recruiter speaking a tape recorded message. Let the slugs work for the bottom feeder companies, and the folks who run strong, clean and professional can work for the companies that take care of their people.

My "down talk", as you said, comes from dealing with what I'm dealt, and not constantly bytching and whining about everything - deal with it, or move on.

My previous company would run you, but you had to run illegally, almost never could plan a real 10 hour break, truck was always broken, they wouldn't fix things on the road, etc... instead of coming on here and flaming them for 12 pages of forum, I quit.

Just saying that a lot of drivers love to whine and complain - in fact, there's quite a few jokes about how drivers whine... it gets old when they'd rather whine than fix their situation. Some need to grow up and strap on a set, for sure.

 

I am a company driver for all my life sash ex now, i pulled ever box they gave me behind , even the junkers headed for the scrap yard, myself cant stand too idle a truck, if you go too any truckstop , i could drive a year with all that fuel they used too idling , but anyway since i had ex wife points card for trips and we couldnt use it ,becuse her work and mine , i used it and build up points by staying in motel when i could, most idle time comes down to pre planning your trips and lots phone calls, this worked well for me , i call shipper or rec , tell em exactly were i'm at , back truck , in a hour im out there , with no idle time , didnt cool off enuff to worry about ,but if i did have to sit, and waiting for the rest of load , i dig out my lawn chair en sit in the reefer , no idle time there too put on truck, but if you ever go east, there real bad out there , i did a day trip too wallcott, Iowa I-80 truckstop, went too musem of truck's if you want too complain , talk too them drivers from years ago , no air, no power steering, that dash was sark bare as compared today, in tructh i dont how they did it, but neverless my hat off too them hardworking truckdrivers with no whinning , like today, and yes i went thru houston tx , when air cond belt broke and pop the mercury out my little thermoter in my cab and went to the ta there on north end, and call the dispacth, that is the key word here, gotta talk with dispacth and explain why you at the ta and not tooling down the road, he had anthor truck there in about 4 hours, again told my dispacth what i was gonna do, grab a motel, he was kool with that as i had a hour left too drive anyway, the load got there on time, my truck got fixed overnight while i was in sleeper time at the motel in a nice cool room with a hot shower, of which i payed for and got 456 points on our card, got new load in morn and headed back too lardo,tx, then i got home , took card with us too eat out and got a steak dinner and was all paid by our ponts i saved up on the road, so see you have too talk with everyboby from shop too dispacth and no whinning or they will make you sit in that muggy truck,and better trip planning and keep your foot off the throttle , go slow , no need too go fast and get there first and only too sit 6 hours as they go by the number system on some of the docks , like some place do,

 

There are good companies out there that fix things but there are also ones that could care less. I have driven broke down junk and did my job. did I like it no. but it was what it was. but it should be noted that with all the new things to save money. the company would be in a better position to keep the good drivers and save alot of money if they just use them and that is the bottom line. save and make money. I have it good and I like my new toys.

 

if u can't sleep because of heat seems to me that would lead to unsafe driving condition due to fatigue.Tell your saftey dept.that they are creating an unsafe situation by not letting you get your proper rest.Be sure to fax it to them so that you have a record of you informing your saftey dept of your concerns and demand your saftey dept reply to you ,in writing,so you will have a record,what they have to say about having a sleep deprived fatigued driver operating their equipment,and what they say you should do about it.Switch the onis to them.That way when the inevitible occurs,and it will,sooner or later,that you will be involved in a crash with possible fatalities,maybe you can at least appeal to the jury that you TRIED to inform your saftey dept of your concerns about not being able to rest properly.Maybe it will help.Also tell your saftey dept that you intend to report their unsafe and inhumane policies to any trucking watchdog agencies like dot,crash,matt.See what the have to say about that.PROTECT yourself.Be safe.Also my advice is to think about what kind of a co. would even WANT their drivers to have to sleep or try to in the summer with no air?That alone should tell you that they are scumbags and don't care about you.Time for a new job.

 

If only it were that simple. Safety is going to tell you that if you do not feel rested you should not operate the CMV. They aren't going to change the policy for you. The safety personnel are also a cog in the machine. As fas as I can tell the reason the OP couldn't idle is because they maxed out their idle time for the month. find ways you can reduce your idle. Putting it back on safety does not excuse you if you operate while tired.

 

I smell a troll...

 

Don't get too close, I haven't showered today. I'm just posting my version of reality, you don't need to like it. I think my argument is valid.