Running with JCT, Part Deux

I usually have better miles and longer loads after a restart, I've been told it's easier to plan an 14hr/11hr day than a recap day because not all of the recap is drive time

 

Feel ya there. There is some logic to that too. But unless you recap more than 11 hours, all recap time is drive time - well - kinda. You got 3 mins pre-trip, 3 mins post rip and maybe 7 for fuel if ya need it. I only show 5 for checking in and out at any customer or 7 for a drop and hook. So, you PTI (3), fuel (7), check in (5), check out (5) and PTI (3) and you got 23 mins of your 70 burned not driving; on a day you p/u or del. The rest you can use for driving; that day. Shave that down to 3 and 3 for PTI's on a straight out all driving day and you are only dipping 6 mins out your 70 tank. It doesn't seem likely to me that planning is THAT tight. Lord I HOPE not, anyway. LOL. So, basically, if you are p//u or del that day - you either have a full 11 to drive OR recap minus 25 mins, or if you don't have to p/u or del that day you either got your full 11 or recap minus 6 mins that you can drive. Figure that at 60 MPH (a mile a minute) and the math really ain't that hard.

All they gotta do is say: He's running recap. What does the trip take outta on duty time? 1,800 miles is 30 hours driving and 1.5 of on-duty-not-driving. So that's 31.5 he needs, shaved slim (600 miles a day times 3 days = 1800 miles plus minimum ODND time). Three recovery days. He's got 9 on his book now. He's gonna get back 25 on recap. That's 34 hours back and 31.5 to do it so he's got 2.5 hours wiggle room, but for appt time at door to work he'll have to get up and be rolling at midnight on the last day (as soon as recap recaps that day's hours). Tight, but doable. Let's offer it and see if he's up for that.

Of course THEY won't offer all that doable math to you and the how you will have to do it. They just offer the load with the p/u and del times and THEIR mileage (not slammin' them on that - they ALL fall short on real miles: If ya don't know that tid-bit and how to factor undisclosed miles in by now, no disrespect, but you REALLY are still too green to try any Independent gig. LOL). YOU have to determine and cipher ALL the REAL miles math the computer modeled you as a "doable" truck for and whether you are willing to do that run. If it's too tight for your blood, just let 'em know up front. ON THE QUALCOMM. "That's AWFUL tight. I'll try if you need me to, but no promises on OTD on this one. I can keep you posted as I go, though. Fair enough?" Then use the comments section of your Macro 1's to REPEAT - This is mighty tight. You wanna re-power or reschedule?"

CY Thy A!!

OK: NOW for the Aminal Show you all have come to expect. Some with disregard or dread; some with mild amusement anticipation;

It's like THIS:

PSYYYCHE!!!!

Going to bed now. The square root of PI times the sum of number of the moon's rotations as a cosine of the factor of a 34 hour restart divided into the taxable rate of depreciation on an APU minus the cogent of driving time of the tangent of the mean average of the yellow haired girl in Arizona's Uncle's ages divided by the off-shift of the earth's rotational axis, with an X cubed variable minus a Z coefficient for Global Warming over an 11 to the 7th (cause I am in Florida) compensatory factor of 17 to the 12th for MPG with a wind and rolling resistance drag coefficient of 34.1414114 cubed to the square of the square root on the Pythagoras-Hypatia-Aristotle model of the ultimate reason for man's existence and place in the universe as relative to TIME . . . .

Aminal's head hurt. Someone call Ken Jennings - or Kevin Rutherford, or just call it a night. I think that's prolly the best call. So;

Nite all.

Edit:
Tarjeeeee Floriiida!! So close, yet so far. Could they really fit any more Useless Express bobtails in this lot??!! I thought hiding behind the Hoodlum Hussy House might spare me. Nope! One of them farted and Darla sneezed. If that one to my left would get his knee outta my ear we might BOTH get some sleep til his (be NICE if it was a her) p/u time and my del time part our ways. Know what I'm sayin'? Sardines get more space than we do.

Oh well. I guess serving in the military DOES have collateral skill set transference. Still; SHEEZE!!

MOVE OVER!!

Sigh. Night again - I hope.

 

This is beginning to get really old, time to start contacting recruiters. No company is worth a loss of income.

 

Why are you losing income?

 

I'm about 30% down from my weekly/monthly average and I've been very vocal about it because I'm not pleased especially when it's 100% on JCT. And I'm just tired of the frustration and stress and it just makes you wonder.....
I haven't slowed down my miles are low because of the loads I have been getting and doing a restart doesn't help, nothing helps.

 

Well, keep this in mind......March is traditionally a slow month and almost everyone has been affected.

What do you mean you "haven't slowed down?"

 

I usually run around 670+ miles a day, sleep at my stop when possible, stay out 6 weeks at a time, and plan my route for the best time not necessarily fewest miles.

 

1st off, let me ask you what make and model truck you have

 

I'm in a 2014 Cascadia getting 7.1 on average.

 

OK, I see a potential problem right off the bat. If you are running 670+ miles a day, that means you have to be running around 65+ miles per hour. That right there is cutting significantly into your profits. The sweet spot for that truck is 1200 - 1300 RPMs which means that is a speed of 55 - 58 MPH. Getting 7.1 MPG is nothing to brag about in that truck. You should be hitting 8 MPG average in that truck. That right there is translating to less money in your pocket each week. Let's do some quick math:

2500/week @ 7.1 MPG = 352 gallons. 352 gallons @ $2.864 (current national average) = $1008 in fuel expense
2500/week @ 8.0 MPG = 312.5 gallons. 312.5 gallons @ $2.864 = $895 Right there is a difference of $113. That's for 1 week. That comes to almost $490/month.

Now if you run more miles in a week, that difference becomes even bigger. Fuel is your largest controllable expense. Control it!

I assume you are taking advantage of the Pilot/Flying J & Loves discounts. Pilot/Flying J earns us $0.08/gallon rebate. You get 3 points for each gallon of diesel. That's a savings of $0.11/gallon. Yes, points on a card is like cash in hand. Loves doesn't offer a rebate, but they are giving JCT drivers 10 points/gallon PLUS the points for current loyalty level. That can mean up to $0.14/gallon. Again, its not a check, but its money that is useable in the store which means its not coming out of your pocket.

Now for a major eye-opener. More miles per week DOES NOT mean you make more money!!! I cannot stress this enough. If you run your business properly, you can make more money with 2200 - 2500 miles than you can with 3300 miles. This is a fact. Remember, the more miles you turn in, the higher the truck payment. Now if your goal is to pay off that truck, obviously you want to turn in more miles. I would not recommend paying off a 2014 Cascadia. They are not spec'd out to maximize profits. Of course, that is your call. One thing to remember, just because you complete a trip that week, doesn't mean you have to turn it in that week. Hold it out for the next pay period. Get ahead so when you take home time or are getting shop work down, you have that cushion to absorb the loss of miles.

Now, if you say that you have to run that fast to get there on time, I call bull ####. NEVER EVER let a load dictate how you manage your business, which includes where,when and how much fuel you buy, and how fast you have to run. Simply tell JCT that you can't make it on time. They can swap you or reschedule you. You are not a company driver.....you are a business owner. Run your business, don't let someone else tell you how to do it.

I know that doesn't answer all the ways to improve profit, but fuel economy, fuel purchasing, and speed are your biggest factors.