Help for not getting miles

Sounds like some CRAP that Transport America would pull. I saw that's not your hubby's company, but that is still BS. Like others have said, have hubby call in, stay in contact and see what he can do to grease the wheels, so to speak.

It could be as simple as asking where the freight's running harder (they keep trying to send hubby to the Eastern side of the country where he would sit if he didn't crank at them) and asking them if they could try to get him routed over that way to where they have more freight available.

Right now it seems like a lot of carriers are booking those "loads to nowhere" and just letting the drivers sit. At least T/A will pay you for layover, but they dropped the amount they'll pay, which is crap, because if they were doing what they should be, ya wouldn't be sitting in the first place... but I digress. LOL

Communicating w/ the FM is a good place to start. I wish him well and you, too!

 

Well he could hop to another training company right now, or at 6 months might be able to find a small company. After a year he'll definitely be able to go just about anywhere. The issue you two will have address is whether or not you can make it that long. Generally speaking I have always stressed the importance of staying with the same company for at least a year, and that's especially important for those in their first year of driving. Unfortunately a lot of these under-handed training companies, like US Xpress, make that an increasingly difficult goal to attain.

I wouldn't bail just yet, and I know neither you nor your husband are seeking that option right now. Let him try approaching his FM with a touch more assertion and see how that works for a few weeks. If you don't see any significant changes in income by the time he reaches 6 months, then I would actively start seeking another company. I highly recommend small companies, but that's just my preference. I've received a great deal more appreciation for my work from smaller companies than those conglomerates out there.

 

Well in my time it was the same with every company accept one.. They all showed the new drivers the money for a few months then slowed almost to nothing... That's when you just need to settle down a little and learn to play the game... Never just get mad right at first.. don't get you nowhere.. Try the approach I suggested before showing that your not going to put up with it..

I haven't read threw the post so I am not sure what company your talking about... But most larger companies work on this scenario..
They track how much freight came out of a certain area for several years.. then what they do is come up with graphs where most freight came from that time of year, and then tries to flood that area with trucks to pick up much as possible.. The problem with this is people get stuck because they send way to many trucks, or there is just not the same amount of freight coming out of that area for that time of year...
That is just a little info on how things work a little and why you may end up sitting a lot..

The drop that he is doing now.. happened to me all the time.. when I was with large companies.. I was pretty good with talking to people and trying to have a load set up by the time I arrived.. That may be another problem with the company.. they may not pre plan.. I always was trying to talk to them about having another load soon as I picked one up.. They need to fill that they can trust you that your going to get there when you say you are.. I was there and it helped me out a lot..

So basically it would go like this.. They send me a load.. I accept, I would always say thank you by phone or qual comm, after picking the load up I would send it in that i picked it up or called, I then at the same time would say I will be there at so and so time so lets try to keep this rolling and have me something to go get after I drop this one off..
Sometimes you have to teach you dispatcher this.. (some companies will not allow them to as well, they do not give out pre plans)..
After a little shaping they get to know how you like to run.. Ya it does not always work out where they have something but if you have been making your dispatcher look good with on time delivers.. Not complaining much ext.. They will take care of you (if they have a brain that is.. Some are just lazy and could care less).. The best thing to do is show that you have initiative and want to run.. And of coarse BE ON TIME

 

From your original posting, I gather this is NOT an ongoing thing. You made referance to this past week only.

Is that the case? If so...just hang tight and see if it averages out for the month.

Based on the company history and model. He should expect no more than 9500 miles per month. If that's difficult for you to get by on. He should consider looking elsewhere around his 6th month. But not one of the majors, as many use the same model and expectation of monthly averaged miles.

 

another thing Hubby might try - talk to his FM/DM and see if he can't see the load all the way through to delivery.

I work for a different company, so it may not work. But twice I've had loads to drop in a yard - but I've talked my DM into letting me deliver it (I've also had a couple loads that, well,m I dropped in a yard) Never hurts to ask.

 

Every time I tried that they pulled the excuse somebody needed it to get home

But it didn't keep me from trying...
Communication(civil) is very important if you want a lot of miles..

 

I left Arnold for the same resons. Arnold is a usexpress company now by the way. If you unload saturday you will ALWAYS sit sunday. they are chock full of 150 and 200 mile loads. I kept telling them I couldn't afford to give them 2hrs of my time free on the front and end of a 4 hour haul then have to sit all night. Heck I was still managing to pull in 1600 to 2000 miles a week and complianed about that. If he asks what he can do to get more miles they will tel him to go to the OTR fleet instead of the regional and then he will never get home. They take advantage of the guys who want to get home like that and always use it as an excuse.
FInd a smaller company for him to drive for, they don't even pay well AND have bad miles. it's a good way to line the bankruptcy lawyers pockets

 

He won`t be the only one seeing less miles,either.Two things -economy and election.Might be sporadic for a while.I feel like things are going to get worse.All of a sudden grocery warehouses don`t look so bad.

 

I gotta disagree with this. I'm still getting miles. I'm not getting what I want, but I can still live off of the 2700 I've averaged in the past month. This specific issue described in this thread is just an example of one of many screwed up companies, not the industry as a whole.