Home daily-ish? I think I live at the shipper now…

I just switched from OTR to local a little over 2 weeks ago. I run my guts out while I have time to do so, then at the end of the day I am under a load that I can take the truck and trailer home. So far this has been the case all ut about 1 night a week, when i get a load that requires me to stay in the truck... Usually a few hundred miles from home.

I am in constant communication with my dispatcher, and he goes out of his way to try and make sure I get home most nights. I'm one of only a few guys that have a place to park the truck at home, and my home is between the yard and most of our local customers. This works out well for both myself and the company.

Each of the last 2 weeks (week 1 was 6 days, week 2 was 5 days) I have run about 2650 miles and been paid for 67.5 hours. I'm very happy with the change to local.

There are good local gigs out there... But just like any job, the good ones are hard to find.

 

Good deal. Its very very hard to find a good local job. Everyone wants the FNG to do the horrible duties, which is totally fair. I don't think I should go ahead of local drivers and get the gravy routes, so I am happy for you. Not that its a gravy route, but that you can do it and are fine with it. Your posts seem to be, to me anyways, that you can hold your own physically on these jobs. I think that's GREAT. (I run my guts out while I have time to do so)... thats what I mean. Fantastic.

 

I'm used to running an average of 3700 miles in 5 to 8 days, so 2600 miles in 5 is a cake walk for me. And 99% of the time it's no touch freight... Lots of drop amd hooks though. One day I think I was under 10 or 12 different trailers.

The biggest benefit is being home WAY more, and the difference in pay is minimal. Amd i didnt even have to switch companies, just changed from CPM to $/hr. and now I never go more than about 400 miles from home.

 

No offense meant personally…

You drivers are getting together talking about what a bonehead your dispatcher is. None of you were able to come up with a solution? That’s a sign of weakness.

Back when I was a company schmuck, when I would deliver a load, dispatch would tell us to “stand by.” Fine, heading to a truck stop. Dispatch would tell me to wait where I was at. No. My clock has started. There is no STAND BY.

I try to start early and end early. If I empty, I’m going to park. If I am in a major metro area, and do not have a dispatch by 1pm, the dispatch will have to wait until tomorrow. I am not going to try to load in a metro area and deal with the evening rush, and try to find parking and run against my 14 hour clock.

Dispatch gets mad. You knew that I was coming into an area. You knew that I would deliver as early as possible, you tell me to stand by after my clock has started and I have waited around for a couple hours, now you want me to mad dash through a city right before the afternoon rush, and figure out that there’s no parking for the next few hundred miles after 4pm. Not happening. Will talk tomorrow. Adios.

 

Very good. Great job. Cheers. Have good one.

 

Why don't you change companies?

 

Tell that dispatcher what he can use to go duck himself, seriously talk to a manger and see if they can sort this out.