Is it common or rare that you are late for a load?

So the shipper holds you up or you get stuck in traffic or bad weather, How do you manage to do it? Toss the log book out and just run?

 

If that's what you have to do

 

it sucks to be you

 

You know, I tell that to my guys all the time. I've got a couple that come to me a wonder why they haven't got a raise or whatnot. I tell them that they haven't got a bit better since the day they hired on, why in the world do they think they are worth more money?

There are just some that do the minimum amount to keep from getting fired, and they wonder why they never get ahead in their job. They think they will do more when they get paid to do more, sorry, it doesn't work that way with me.

 

Why is that? Because I'm making money while you're on your 30 minute brake

 

cancel

 

It seems most of my late loads were going to be late before they gave them to me. Once the load is going to be late, no amount of worrying will make it un-late. Traffic tickets and accidents can only make things worse.

I've pulled Just-In-Time loads over 15 years. The plant builds in 2-4 hours of cushion on their delivery times, depending on which part they are waiting for. They also have warehouses around town full of "safety stock", in case Godzilla shuts down the roads. The plant is often responsible for loads being late by telling shippers to hold a truck until some emergency parts are added to it. The "emergency parts" are often replacements to the regular parts the plant has lost in one of their drop yards next to the plant. If the plant finds those missing parts before the emergency parts arrive, the emergency parts will be parked "over there, next to the other hot parts."

If you don't cause the late delivery, don't worry about it. Don't cause an accident, don't run out of hours, don't get a traffic ticket, don't accept a dispatch you can't do unless you document you are advising dispatch you cannot be on-time for whatever reason. You can send a Qualcomm message and take a pic of that message with your phone. "This message is to confirm our conversation where I advised I will be unable to deliver on-time due to being dispatched on a 9 hour trip with 6 hours available to drive. My ETA is 15 hours from now, 2135 ET Feb 12."

 

How many miles a week does these two guys get that don't deserve a raise?

 

"The better driver makes more money. More money doesn't make a better driver." The old hands used to say that.