Impossible runs given by dispatch, cannot make appoinment time.

Yeah no. You are going to have to average 70mph if u base it on driving 10 hours a day plus extra time to find parking... Thats if you know 100% where u can park and if you can make it there in time while mainting 650+ mile a day minimum....The mountains on i80 and i84 are going to slow you down , doesnt matter if ur truck is ungoverned or not... Those interestates this time of year , you are not running full speed anyways, because it is always snowing somewhere.... Maybe during the summer, with a little bit of experience on this route. Know where the quick fuel stops are at. The rest areas for most efficient 30 min break and truckstops that have parking anytime of day and night, you may be able to do it... But still gonna be tough in 3 days... Why is it such a big deal to add an extra day onto a load ?

 

Because the company probably booked a team load and think a solo can do it while they pocket the extra cash.

 

The simple answer is desk jockeys punch the route into Google and it spits out a 70/75/80mph trip time. Desk jockeys don't account for variables outside of "the calculator says" and are busy creeping on the new secretary while you're expected to be white knuckling ice covered roads at any hour of day or night.

 

How are ya making it on that load?

 

Nothing and I mean nothing pisses me off more than to hear this. Do not compare me to another person. God made me an individual, a very unique individual, so get off of that wagon, I

 

Hmm.




541 miles driven today with7 hrs 58 minutes left to drive.

 

Isn't Oregon speed limit still 55.

 

Most of i5 is 60mph if I remember correctly . Haven't been out there in year or so.

 

I just accept the loads, give them my actual ETA, run my hours as hard as I legally can, and it gets there when it gets there. No other advice to be given, really. When you run your 11 hours driving and the only stopping is for a mandatory 30, no one can really complain. Hasn’t happened to me, but when I get ‘impossible’ loads, I’ll send an ETA in writing on the Qualcomm, and then I’ll take a picture of my miles driven and my logs showing that I did everything I legally could. If a company ever considers that a late delivery and lets me go, I’ll have proof that says otherwise for future employers.

Only factors you can control is keeping your left door shut and taking exactly 30 minute and 10 hour breaks. You’d be surprised how few drivers actually do that. Just look on forums and social media and see how many drivers think 600 miles is a record setting day

 

Long haul trucking is something everyone does differently. Some drivers like to take a nap half way through, others may stop to eat lunch at a restaurant, still others like to drive relentlessly throughout the day like the 6th Panzer division. And that’s ok. Everyone has their own way of dealing with the rigors of long hours in the seat, driving. Whatever gets you through the night.
This entire industry is structured on a “get it there yesterday” mentality. Hurry hurry hurry, go, go, go. Don’t stop, must continue. That seed of urgency has been firmly placed in the psyche of many OTR drivers to compel them to run loads (ostensibly under the guise of safety)… and yet be on time “Safely” in spite of extremely tight appointments. I get it.. customers have the right to get their goods delivered in a timely manner. But where is it safe? There’s nothing safe about coercing a driver to run extremely tight load’s just because it’s been normalized in this industry.

Timely!
That’s the operative word here. There’s a difference between timely and the absurd.
Seriously! You can’t make this #### up. You don’t have to kill yourself driving a #### truck to earn a living!! Who wants to drive like that ? That sort of UPS style of logistics where every second is accounted for. Planning your bowel movements, calculating unexpected urinating stops. That relentless non stop mentality day after day after day. Burned out, driving at someone else’s pace

YOU DRIVE THAT TRUCK, you set a pace your comfortable with. Just because a load can be delivered legally no matter how tight it is doesn’t mean every driver can physically do it.

“This job ain’t for sissies”

You’re not a Sissy if you can’t run like a bat out of hell because “other drivers do it”.