How long would you sit empty?

as a former company driver, long before i went LTL line haul, then dedicated, i sat for as long as the company said so..i got paid to sit. did i lose money sitting..??

of course i did, but the freight went to the drivers that were waiting before i was, so it was a seniority thing. not much could have been done.

in all reality, i sat maybe 1.5 to 2 days.

when it's slow in some areas/markets, its slow...they would rather sit us then dead head us, costing even more money that might, or might not be recouped.

do as you think you ned to do, but when you leave your current employer, and the next makes you sit...what then.........????

 

Oh yeah very cheap to park this guy for nothing versus haul for a loss. For sure, they're tossing this guy $100 a day and paying for some fuel to idle, unless they are one of these cheap companies with no APU that doesn't allow idling? Definitely cheaper to let their driver sit for several days. They're not even paying for a hotel.

 

He needs to choose the next company wisely because just because what he's going through is normal every day trucking doesn't mean there aren't better opportunities out there for drivers where that kind of BS would never happen.

 

How long have you been driving?

 

Coming up on a year total. Four months last year and then the past seven months.

 

I just booked a load for tomorrow. 47 mi. DH and 296 Loaded miles for $900. I’ll net about $650 after fuel. So at least the whole weekends not a loss. Down side is I’ll be empty in Baldwin Fl. on Monday morning, trying to limit losses again and not lose another day. Revenue so far of $2900 since Thursday on a total of 1166 miles is above my recent average. Yet losing today cuts into overall revenue. This working smart as it’s called always costs me money. Lol.

 

"choose the next company wisely"??

so there are ABSOLUTE guarantee's, he will never sit, ever, and ever again..??

you an o/o..???

if so, then YOU can move, and lose money to get to the next load, especially if you are a 1 man operation.

his company by him saying, "seeing others driver stuck here at the terminal", tells me that company owns more than 1 truck, 1 trailer, and simply cannot afford to run them around for cheap freight.

don't "some of you O/O's say.....DON'T HAUL CHEAP FREIGHT"..???????

why should that be any different than a company..??

so please tell me, tell everyone that it's an ABSOLUTE guarantee, he will NEVER, EVER sit again, at any other company....

 

Ahhhh ok. You're experiencing the bull #### side of trucking early on in your trucking career. There are many dark sides to trucking and this is one of them. There are two things I would advise here.

First, you'll have to learn to eat #### and also learn to like the taste of it. Most days will be good if you choose to see the good in this career. Certain things cannot be changed. Shipper/receiver delays, traffic, and in this case, slow freight. Everyone's feeling the pinch right now. It's going to be up and down for however long. It's going to be tempting to want to make a change which leads me to number 2.

Second, if you like the company you work for, stick it out as it could be an anomaly. Sometimes trucking provides temporary inconveniences. If you're sitting week after week and you get to the point to where you can't even make enough to make your ends meet, then I'd suggest making a change. Take a look at companies that fall under the radar. Many can be some of the industries best kept secret. Don't ever switch companies if you're happy where you're at. Never switch unless forced. You'll probably get back rolling Monday. It sucks laying over, but get all the rest possible so you're fresh. Hang in there, driver.

 

I'm with you brother. Everyone will sit at one point or another. I've sat a couple of times this year myself, and we stay busy 90 percent of the time. There are quite a few drivers that think they should moving every single day. I remember one guy working for us. He was pissed because he reloaded out in Nebraska on a Friday. The load didn't deliver til that following Monday in upstate New York. Sounds like an opportunity for a 34 right? Not to him. The minute he gets up there he should be unloaded and reloaded. Each day and week is different in trucking.

 

the best (for me) never sit and wait long job, was when i went dedicated....

salaried, same hours, same freight ,same customer, same truck/trailer, same route/stops, same truckstop on the way back, same roller dogs and coffee (well fresh ones each night)

oh we guys sat at home, when the boss called and said "stay home, the blizzard is coming up the coast"

but again, it was salaried, and we got paid to sit at home.