Graduate Student with some questions

Just a few of my observations/experiences:

-In the last 5 years, I've never been asked for my BOL by an officer. In those rare few times I've spoken to an officer, it's never gone beyond "are you loaded or empty?" followed by "get out of here", or "I'm just going to check the weight on your drives with this portable now, OK?"

-I've never lost or misplaced a hardcopy BOL.

-the average truck driver now is around 59 years old. I can't speak for the other old farts, but if I get 2 texts or fewer, and no phone calls, it has been a GREAT day. That happens about 3 days a week for me. At the end of the day, I'm just hungry and pooped.

-Apps? OK, I use a weather app on those days I might run into some weather.

-I feel that my tired old brain can figure something out faster than poking a screen 300 times for the same answer on an app. And I always wonder how much snooping and data grabbing is going on if I use an app.

Your target market is most likely the 25 to 40 year old group of drivers. They love apps because they will think for them. A lot of those drivers can be found working for the mega carriers. No diss intended, just an observation.

 

We carried a stack of spare BOL. Should one get destroyed (And it has once in a blue moon) we build a copy from the blank company issued BOL forms and courier that in with the remains of the original. The office girls will put two and two together.

I don't care what miles with two execptions. One is the dispatcher appt date and time vs everything needed to complete that run in the realm of time. Including getting loaded and deadheading etc. All of it. I will know within a few moments if your intent to load me in Little Rock for say Bridgeport CT will be doeable say from this morning loading by noon and rolling for delivery on Friday evening in CT. With the current winter storms setting up the problem becomes the shenandoah to race through before the main storm arrives. Its iffy. It will be there Friday, just don't know exactly what time. Traffic is the other problem up there.

The other thing about miles is I don't do little trucking. 250 mile overnights and loading all day? Forget it. Just hand me a load of onions in Yakima WA for Boston Market in Chelsea due in 6 days. It will be there in 5 and change in any weather.

Communications will be near zero. Once you hand me a yakima load information on 49500 pounds of onions going to Boston Market to deliver at so and so in the compound with many so and so's for meat, seafood and produce you do not hear from me until I am empty ont he 6th day in Boston. You do not bother me either. there is no point. There is a little dot on your computer that represents me. It will be moving when it's legal to move and then some. Otherwise leave it be when it's not. Im too busy resting against the next 700 mile block coming up. You get to go home tonight to the kids ball game. I don't get to anything until that load is empty in Boston and sleep next week without having to fight it too.

I am not much for surveys. Appreciated the other poster for linking questions etc. Most of it is academic. Not really reflecting the true reality of trucking.

Truckers are under a incredible pressure from dispatcher. You rolling yet? Why have you stopped there for two hours what did you do break the truck? you better not have broken my truck. It would be very stupid of you. Always something with you breaking our stuff. Never ends etc.

*Click* hangs up on unhappy dispatcher. We don't have time for that while the alternator is being replaced. Any highschool kid can and have replaced those in 40 minutes. I can do it myself as well but I prefer to let the shop hook it wrong and burn the truck down. They can afford it. I cannot.

One truckstop the old 76 in Breezewood occasionally took payphone calls (Before computers and Cell phones) from the side of the interstate early in the morning direct to the kitchen order counter, order up a particular breakfast fixed a particular way packed just so in two bags and it will come out to about oh...8.70 with tax in those days (More like 20.00 today)

We will be there to pick it up in about roughly 19 minutes give or take 4. We made it in 17, bags were handed to us with change presorted and recipet preloaded into it when we hand them a 10.00 plus two for tip and tell them ty! The time it takes to pickup and out on the road is generally 4 sets of lights in Breezewood. About a 7 minute loss. Since we were two minutes early arriving up there and then pulling out onto the TPike for Bedford and Altoona in winter ice it was pretty important to have that breakfast stowed and ready to eat while getting unloaded. (*And don't forget your three stanley thermoses of fresh coffee you built at home before leaving at 1 am. Those will be good 24 hours.)

My fishertown account off 56 and Babcock Ridge was a small independant hardware and lumber store in the height of the housing boom building homes all over the mountain up and down. That particular reciever demanded his loads to be there exactly 8 am. Not 8:00:20 Not 7:55. Exactly 8. That gate opens 30 seconds prior and your rig will take over the entire yard getting in and getting out making contractors stand around a hour wasting time. You will be on your way back down the mountain empty in any and all weather, particularly ice.

This is where Mack's New C model day cabs came in in the early 90's Little 350's with short legged 10 speeds And everything a model of a modern major general but no real applicable real world trucking benefit. It was the first of the computer trucks and for us it was ungoverned. However the company automatically fired anyone caught recorded at 70. Ive put Mack to the test a number of times, broke at least one that I know of and got away with certain things in other macks that fortuantely took the abuse. And so when I am confronted with ice with that new C model mack while barefoot things get pretty interesting. But she came down off there as safe as you were in your grandparents porch chair. No stress.

 

I'll respond for $100 an answer or all 9 for a $1,000.

Send the money to Dave_in_AZ, c/o TTR. Cash. PayPal accepted. No credit or debit cards.

 

Why dont u do something useful with ur brain and mit education and fix the broken adminstrative side of trucking. It is one of the few industries left that does everything by paperwork. There should be a better and more effiicient way to do business than old school paper trails and phone calls. I know there is some agencies trying to apply blockchain to the industry to streamline it and make everything more efficient , and essentialy eliminating brokers from the equation. where as a shipper is posting loads on a central system and the carriers is picking off loads from that system and all the paperwork and legal documents are in that system as well so there is no paperwork and phone calls needed. I am actually amazed at how one of the most important industries that exists, that our livelehoods depend on , and it is stuck in the stone age. That is either a testament to how inefficient and unreliable modern day technology is, or it is because there hasnt been anybody that been able to put their brain to work and figure it out yet .