Leonard's Express gamble

Nope. I did encounter about a 2 hour shutdown on I90 near the Montana/Idaho border for an accident caused by slick conditions. Other than that I've been quite blessed with good road conditions so far this season.

 

Update

L88) Auburndale, FL to Lk Wales, FL (41 mt); to Hopkins, MN (1,646 ld). 1/8-1/11.

L89) Hopkins, MN to Eau Claire, WI (100 mt/shop); to Hopkins, MN (112 ld). 1/11-1/12.

L90) Hopkins, MN to Gaylord, MN (60 mt); to Puyallup, WA (1,671 ld); to Centralia, WA (60 ld). 1/12-1/18.

L91) Centralia, WA to Clackamas, WA (103 mt); to Boise, ID (442 ld); to Caldwell, ID (35 mt/ shop). 1/18-1/20.

L92) Caldwell, ID to Parma, ID (28 mt); to Everett, MA (2,733 ld). 1/23-1/28.

L93) Everett, MA to New Bedford, MA (56 mt); to Orlando, FL (1,414 ld); to Polk City, FL (35 mt/home). 1/28-2/1.

L94) Polk City, FL to Orlando, FL (42 mt); to Mt Pleasant, IA (1,208 ld). 2/8-2/10.

L95) Mt Pleasant, IA to Mt Pleasant, IA (6 mt); to Bettendorf, IA (125 mt); to Shakopee, MN (365 ld). 2/10-2/11.

L96) Shakopee, MN to Le Sueur, MN (41 mt); to Woodburn, OR (1,802 ld). 2/11-2/16.

L97) Woodburn, OR to Wapato, WA (211 mt); to Yakima, WA (21 mt); to Plant City, FL (3,063 ld); to Auburndale, FL (25 home). 2/16-2/21.

L98) Auburndale, FL to Umatilla, FL (67 mt); to Hopkins, MN (1,642 ld). 2/23-2/27.

L99) Hopkins, MN to Gaylord, MN (56 mt); to Sarasota, FL (1,708 ld); to Palmetto, FL (28 ld); to Tampa, FL (40 ld); to Auburndale, FL (44 home). 2/27-3/3.

 

Yeah, my boss left in February or March I think, not really sure, he didn't want to talk about it during that time. He went back to Smith out of KC where he was leased on before.

The way he did things left me in a tough spot trying to dodge the questions from my dispatcher, which I really like and appreciate.

The old almost 2 million mile truck I have been driving for 3 years had been breaking down pretty frequently, so when I broke down again in mid-April, I gave notice and turned the truck in when I got home.

Talked to my dispatcher about just going company with Leonard's, which everybody was cool with. But some things came up here at home and I'm still here at home for 4 months.

I'm planning to finally make a move after my eye appt on Sept 3rd. Probably to Leonard's as a company driver if I can be assured of the same dispatcher. He manages both company drivers and O/Os.

 

Final Update running with the O/O. Sorry it took so long to get motivated to post it.

L100) Auburndale, FL to Lk Wales, FL (18 mt); to Hopkins, MN (1,598 ld). 3/9-3/12.

L101) Hopkins, MN to Gaylord, MN (56 mt); to Orlando, FL (1,622 ld); to Orlando, FL (3 ld); to Auburndale, FL (41 home). 3/12-3/15.

L102) Auburndale, FL to Lk Wales, FL (23 mt); to Maple Grove, MN (1,609 ld); to Alexandria, MN (121 ld). 4/5-4/12. This load was the straw that broke the camel's back. 8 days total due to another breakdown on the road.

L103) Alexandria, MN to Gaylord, MN (144 mt); to Port Orange, FL (1,711 ld); to Auburndale, FL (152 home/turn in truck). 4/12-4/16.

Overall, the Leonard's Experiment was a failure. Partly and mostly due to the O/O's poor conditioned equipment. All three of his trucks were breakdown prone. The O/O also didn't feel as though he was making enough at Leonard's and went back to Smith in KC.

Personally, for me, it was so-so. 100 percent due to the breakdown prone truck and the O/O's inability to get repairs done in a timely fashion at home. The loads, length-wise and efficiency-wise, were the best I've encountered in my 10 years on the road. My dispatcher was top-notch.

I was shocked, when I, at my 1 year anniversary at Leonard's, realized that I had only run 120,000 hub miles. When I studied it out, I realized that I'd been home 100 days due to the inefficiency of getting the truck repairs done.

 

Overall numbers:

168,597 hub miles (that's how I was paid);

367 days on the road;

155 days at home;

First stretch, before I started running regular to the PNW, 11/11/19-7/5/20:

79,185 miles in 184 days on the road. 430.41 average miles per day. Mediocre. 54 days at home.

Second stretch, once I started running regular to the PNW, 7/7/20-4/15/21:

89,403 miles in 183 days on the road. 488.54 average miles per day. Better. 101 days at home.

Hoping by going company with Leonard's, with the same dispatcher, and much better truck, and much more efficient service, that I can get back to about 300 days on the road per year.

If I can average about 465 paid miles per day x 300 days, that would put me around 139,500. I'm getting .53cpm base pay, before any fuel and safety bonuses.

So hopefully, if all goes well, roughly 140,000 miles of mostly easy running @ .54= $75,600.00. I'd be pleased as punch with that for OTR no-touch Reefer running pulling mostly juice, eggs, fruit.

 

Amen