Moving on.

I mean anyone with a degree probably would have been smart enough to realize there’s no money in a large dry van carrier. You also live in a terrible area to make money in this industry. But I digress seeing how you’re smarter than everyone.

 

If you're capable of doing flatbed you should be doing it. But now you need a starter flatbed company to get trained in that. Try Melton in Tulsa, OK.

 

Why don’t you try their tanker outfit?

 

The real money is in lease purchase.!

You can thank me later..

 

There are 6-7 left as of July 2024

 

According to whom?

Hitting bonus is child's play, as its maxing out most non-bonus driver metrics.

Last year I did a run out to LA with another driver - call him Bob. Bob was a newer driver, but thought he was an effective driver because he ran on the 10 and burned out his 70. Bob's DTL liked him because Bob looked good on his reports. But Bob was driving hard, not driving smart. On the way out to LA, the first day we stayed mostly together but I was parked about 15-20 minutes before Bob. On the second day Bob started 30 minutes before me but I was parked for more than an hour before Bob rolled in. I got nervous at the rapidly filling lot and uncoupled so I could save a spot for him. Third day, I had him lead through the mountains so I wouldn't out run him again and could help him if we needed to chain. Day 4 I lost him in the first 30 miles and despite taking an hour long nap still made it to the truck stop ahead of Bob. Day 5 I again made him lead until we got to LA as we weren't going to a 'truck friendly' area and he was a little apprehensive. Offload and he goes to the hotel for 2 days while I head to some friends. On the day we leave, I supervise the reloading of the trailers between 2200 and midnight. At midnight, he wants to roll and I'm "why?, it's not going to change the end time of the load", but he wants to 'run hard so he can get another load before the weekend'. I help him get out of the lot and go to bed for 6 hours. I took a nice midday nap and then decided to call it an early night, and as I rolled in to the truck stop I saw Bob's truck. We talk about our plans for the next day and he's planing on running early, and I'm going to start at 0500ish. I catch Bob as we're approaching Denver. We both stop at the Loves on the east side of town - me because I need to pee, Bob because he's out of hours. I run another 100 miles up the road. Same story the next day - Bob runs on his 10 while I take a 12 hour break and I'm shut down further up the road. On the last day I get up early because once this load is done I'm going home, but have a relaxed trip, was dropped and waiting before Bob rolls in.

When all was said and done, we drove the same number of miles with the same loads. On the return, I left six hours behind Bob, finished 30 minutes earlier while using less fuel and having more time on my 11/14/70. By the time we were done, his 11 and 14 were at a point that there was nothing he could move on until the next morning, and by that point it would make more sense to finish a 34. Bob drove hard - not smart. In short - it's not just picking up and delivering on time, it's about using your time efficiently and effectively to set yourself up for success.

There are times a driver needs to put on his big boy pants and push things to the limit, and there are times when it makes more sense to take it easy.

I had a load into Dallas, I'd originally set my eta to delivery for the morning of Day 3, but midday on Day 2 I realized I could get in and make delivery that night and then rush over to the yard to shut down. Instinctively, I wanted to push and deliver that night. The smarter plan was to lay up short and deliver in the morning. Why? In part, because I was dealing with a short 70 - pushing in would mean having to drive from delivery to s/l parking whereas if I layed up I wouldn't burn any time on non-productive miles. Secondly, I would have pushed my 14 to the max, which is stressful and tiring. Shutting down early allowed me to be better rested for whatever came next. Finally, there was a good chance I could pick up at the same place I was delivering into - but only if I had hours to run. If I left, the chances of reloading dropped dramatically.

So the question remains - are you running hard or running smart?

Beyond all that - the trucking industry has been facing an over capacity problem for 6 years. That problem is becoming acute due to recent macro economic issues. Tankers generally gross more, but you're going to have to go through training again - same with flatbed. As a faster route to larger income, you can look at line haul ltl carriers, they might take you if you interview well. But be forewarned that you're going to eat poop for a couple three years - short runs with a lot of dock time, not to mention sitting 2-3 nights a week.

 

You think a union would be better than insurance companies requiring experience before a company can hire a driver? Because the requirement would still be there, and you would just be bottom of the board and get laid off constantly until you had time in.

 

6 months experience and you think experience is overblown? LMAO! You ain't seen #### yet man. You barely got the training wheels off. Just because you got 6 months, that doesn't mean you get vaulted to the top of a list of candidates, of which includes drivers with many years experience.

Actually man, you've got the ego. You're talking an awful lot of ish for someone still wet behind the ears. College degree? Congratulations on getting your degree. I got one of those too. Many members on here has one of those, and guess what? There is not a single person on this forum, in the industry, or in the world that gives a ####. You over here throwing it in everyone's faces about your degree, but yet you're in a "luxury prison" like all of us, picking up loads and ####. You're a trucker. Nobody knows about your education so you're viewed the same way as all of us, which is disgusting, nasty, fat slobs, with no teeth. You're taking showers at a truck stop dude...probably eating roller grill items.....pissing in a jug, maybe even hanging your ### off a guardrail to take a dump. Yet you think you're above us. It's crazy when people job shame the industry they work in.

Sure you could learn to back up, but I hope you never hit anything, then you'll have to eat ####. We all have screwed up in a truck in some form or fashion, and your day will eventually come. Wait til you gotta back up off the street in Manhattan. Wait til you make a wrong turn and you gotta figure your way out of a pickle. You think being the "analytically best driver at Schnieder" makes you God? I can't even stop laughing at you man. What the ####, you must think you're going to have your picture on a trading card or something. "Panthers Fan Trading Cards" by Upper Deck....on sale at Walmart. I'll pick up a pack next time I go to Walmart. Most drivers, it takes years before trucking becomes to real for them. They develop egos over time and think companies are supposed to treat them like free agents in professional sports. Wine and dine them, run up behind them, roll out the red carpet.....you already got that attitude 6 months. Bro, you ain't even been potty trained by industry standards yet lol

 

If you got options, why are you here seeking options? You got the degrees with all the answers right?

 

A degree is nice, but the true measure one's intelligence is how well they understand and navigate the world around him/her. This man didn't use his degree responsibly. In college, a lot of research is required. Perhaps he forgot to do that. 4 ½ more years, he should be more informed about the industry.