Does running hard make any difference?

What i dont like is getting to the reciever at say 1500 and then i have to sit untill my unload time at midnite. I never get a good nite sleep when that happens.

 

Dispatchers have to have some sort of base line to work off of. Nobody has the ability to see into the future with a magic ball. Google and eLogs and better computing data analysis has vastly improved most places ability to plan and dispatch from where they were 15 years ago, but it will never be a perfect science. Never mind "the human component" of those who like to live in a fantasy world and that you live and operate in that same world. Nothing you can do with those if you're unfortunate enough to have to work with them.

 

Agreed. But I want to impress upon all newer drivers this concept because at some point, hopefully they will work themselves into a better carrier with other options. And no matter what sort of carrier you are with, you will be graded by performance amongst your peers. Be it hours worked or widgets produced in an hour, or hours extracted from a shift, it all comes down to work ethic. There are three types of workers

"Slow" workers
"Medium" Workers
"Fast" Workers

Employer management will figure out who is what, and they will do so in the first 3 months. Granted in some positions, the hard workers will be kept down by upper management for fear of loosing their own job, later ... but in the truck driver world, I don't think this is often a possible reality

 

The planners/dispatchers use a scheduling tool in which each driver/truck has an ETA for that load based on an average mph and when the consignee wants the cargo to show up at their place. They use a number that includes everything, fuel, breaks, even unexpected or unpredictables like traffic, crashes and construction. Customers hate late loads, so they plan on some flextime. Some places, if you're late at all, you have to reschedule or wait for a no show or an opening...terrible. Live on and/or off means you might as well plan on being in there maybe an hour early for a no hassle unload. Note: we're often told not to call the customers, but I do it, all the time. They have been more than willing to tell me their shipping/receiving protocol - every time. It saves them trouble and keeps my trip planning close to realtime. If it's a D/H, you can usually get there when it's good for you.

Point is, say you're dispatched for a 09:00 live unload. You figure you're going to be in there at 16:00 the day before, so you call and ask them what's their deal. They say, if you get here, we'll unload you, no problem. At that time I'd call my FM, DM, dispatch, whatever you have and tell them "change my ETA to 05:00." That way, you'll be closer to landing any loads that come up in the meantime . It works, believe me, and it's a lot more fun getting a load out of there than it is sitting around waiting. Another note: A lot of times, often, you'll get a showup time like it's a hard appointment, when in realtime the customer uses the "first come first served" method. It's not unusual for the CSA or sales rep to not understand how it is out there in the daily reality of trucking.

 

IMO, the driver's habits and work ethic makes up half of the "daily reality of trucking" and real reality makes up other half. My point is the DRIVER makes his own breaks as often as nature and good luck makes them.

 

That's a terrible occurrence for me as well. But it does and will happen from time to time. And it sucks. But nobody [who wasn't BS'ing you] says trucking was like a vacation. So long as this (or other similar anomaly] doesn't become the norm, it's not too bad.

 

Well, STexan, the driver might make his own breaks, but he's not the one unloading his truck. Not on OTR work anyway. And he doesn't plan on crashes, weather delays, or any of that other stuff either.

 

It's really all how you rub the chicken. If you want the chicken to lay golden eggs than you gotta talk to her nicely and tell her you want a JIT load to make most your money. If you want one of those I'm gonna drive like I'm paid hourly loads, then there's that too.

 

Getting to an appointment 9 hours early is not that smart if you haven't cleared it with the customer first.

You may not like the wait time, but it was due to your own poor planning and communication skills.

 

I disagree. The driver CAN see weather approaching and in a cross-county scenario can make or break himself depending on how they run and stay ahead of a system. A driver can go in 12 hours ahead of an appointment and hope to get unloaded, and get lucky. Lot's of things that are in the driver's control that many choose to assume the worst. I am not one of them, and have found that 65% of the time, you can/will get breaks, but you have to get there first.