Is it time to leave?

This is what scares me about going into OTR trucking it allmost seems you need some money saved up to get you through at least six months in the beginning.You sound like you just started going solo so you really haven't been out there that long if you were trained by Swift. I would try to hang in there a little longer, 3 months is really not that long to get the full picture of how it's going to be plus if I was under contract I'ld think twice before leaving just my 2 cents.

 

Have a serious talk with your Driver manager, and if that doesnt work, your fleet manager. When you jump jobs, even under good conditions you will loose income. Have you looked at your performance to see if you need improvment. Are you sitting two days waiting on a drop and hook, when you might be able to drop early? Are you not accepting loads? Do you have a good realtionship with you DM? What do beleive are the reasons you sit so much?

I wish you luck and safe miles,

Larry

 

Does your DM know your name, or have you developed a reputation with him/her? It's important your DM knows who you are, and wants to keep you happy. If you've done that, and your DM just sucks, then fire him. Before I quit, I'd fire your DM if you're sitting 4 days per week. You have a good argument if what you said above is true. DM's want good, and reliable drivers on their boards. If yours isn't keeping you happy, find one that will. If that doesn't work, turn in your notice.

Like another driver mentioned, you may want to do some soul searching, and see if there is something you could be doing differently. Are you causing your DM to do a bunch of extra work or something like that, or driving only during bankers hours?

I'm fairly certain I make less than the majority of the drivers around here, but I feel like I have the miles to make up for it. What's .42 cpm if you're only getting 1200 miles per week? If everything goes as planned until Monday, I'll turn in 3,250 miles this week. I made it a point to develop a good level of communication with my DM. I make it a point to be on time, and be reliable, and in return I save my DM a lot of time tracking my truck. When he gets to work in the am, he can skip tracking my truck, and deal with more pressing matters. He never has to ask my eta, or remind me that certain loads are drop'n'hooks. Just because I have 3 days to drive 1000 miles, doesn't mean I slow down. If possible, I drop a day early, and he knows that. In return for doing a good job, all that I ask is to stay busy, and get home every 3rd or 4th weekend. In my opinion, if I'm going to bust my ###, and always be reliable, the least he can do is keep me busy, and get me home when it's time. If a time comes when he can no longer do that, I'll get a new DM.

 

I'd say stick it out for another 3 months and pretty much any of the other big OTR's will hire you on as an "experienced" driver. Or you can try to get off the road altogether. Heck I found a gig with a smaller LTL with only 6 months OTR experience. Doesn't pay big bucks per hour like the nationwide LTL's but I consider it an upgrade from the OTR roller coaster. I'm sure working for Swift sucks but use it as a temporary learning experience. At least you'll know what a bad trucking job is so you'll be better able to appreciate a good one later on.

 

A lot depends on the fleet you run in. If you're on a "regional" fleet, this can mean fewer miles. Are you getting home? If you're going to sit AND not sit at home, then maybe you need to transfer to the "national fleet" or whatever they call it. Also, get your hazmat endorsement and perhaps your TWIC if those will do you any good at Swift. Give yourself as many advantages as possible. So much depends on how you "position yourself". You are in competition with other drivers for a limited amount of freight, so get unloaded ASAP and whatever you do, DON'T miss appointments. An unreliable driver will ALWAYS be passed over for time sensitive loads that are already "up against the clock", and there are many. And, yes, they (their software system) do "grade" driver performance regularly and it does show up on planner screens. If you're trying to stay "close to home" this can severely affect your mileage potential. But if you want to be home regularly, don't expect too much in the way of consistent high mile weeks.

 

I started OTR with TMC. They have a 5 week paid training program and pretty good pay the first year. I'm on track to make over 45,000 gross my first year. I've only been driving for 3 months. If your sitting 4 days without a load i would jump ship.

 

Yeah you don't make a lot of money the first 6 months. Ideally you have very low monthly expenses and don't have anybody but yourself to keep fed and entertained if you plan on jumping into the field as $.25 cpm rookie, which is exactly how and where I started. The first 3 months were laughable as far as money, but it was such a new and bewildering experience to wander around the country in a truck that I really didn't care about the money. After 3 months I volunteered for a northeast regional run out of NJ and got bumped to $.28 cpm and $20 stop pay delivering furniture, which led to some significantly better paychecks particularly due to the stop pay.

 

This is where you need to make a phone call and find out if you have a drop yard/terminal where you can get off this load and on to the next one. Don't just accept that you are 2 days early and now you have to sit and wait. Be proactive...if they say no, well nothing is lost but keep letting them know you are more interested in running not sitting.It never hurts to look for other work...but don't leave this job until you have another job confirmed