Running with JCT

Trafficcontrolxl · Aug 17, 2013

Do you even have to make such a silly comment, lol. Of course it wasn't. P.s. I am back at the yard now

MachoCyclone · Aug 17, 2013

Sharpp---I found Fuelog-Car Mangement on my droid. Is there another one or is that the one you use?

Sharpp · Aug 17, 2013

MachoCyclone said: ↑

Sharpp---I found Fuelog-Car Mangement on my droid. Is there another one or is that the one you use?
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Yes, that's the one that I use.

Gtstang · Aug 17, 2013

Hi I've been thinking of going over to jct. I also love in Vegas. When you go home. So you usually get a load to socal? Then reload in socal? And can I get a Pete?

Sharpp · Aug 17, 2013

Gtstang said: ↑

I also love in Vegas.
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Hey now! I thought you had to go to Pahrump for that! When I come off of hometime, I usually get deadheaded back to our drop yard in Colton, CA. Sometimes it's a direct run to a shipper, but it is going to be a southern CA load.

Peterbilts are on the outs at JCT right now. They have a few though. This week the corral had several ProStars and Cascadias and a lone Peterbilt.

Gtstang · Aug 17, 2013

Lol lots of love around boulder station too. Hmm I really want a Pete for the long run. If I'm going to be paying out the ars, and be living in it. I have to be happy with it. Kinda like a women. But jct doesn't sound too bad. I'm at Melton now. They have in cab dash cameras in all the new trucks. UNACCEPTABLE! Being paid 43 a mile 40 to tarp. But only around 2000 miles a week. So I won't be sticking around.

daywalker24 · Aug 17, 2013

I qualified for attending orientation but they couldn't guarantee the truck I would be paying for even after 90 days. I have been looking at a couple companies trying to narrow down to which one I would pay for a truck that I plan on owning. I really liked that JCT brought in automatic Cascadia's asked them and they said no guarantees even after 90 days I am am not going to pay for a truck that I have to settle for. And they don't transfer equity to new truck(12 weeks at 600+) nothing to show start all over!? I think JCT is one of the better programs but I'm not that desperate to throw money down the drain.

Sharpp · Aug 17, 2013

daywalker24 said: ↑

I qualified for attending orientation but they couldn't guarantee the truck I would be paying for even after 90 days. I have been looking at a couple companies trying to narrow down to which one I would pay for a truck that I plan on owning. I really liked that JCT brought in automatic Cascadia's asked them and they said no guarantees even after 90 days I am am not going to pay for a truck that I have to settle for. And they don't transfer equity to new truck(12 weeks at 600+) nothing to show start all over!? I think JCT is one of the better programs but I'm not that desperate to throw money down the drain.
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I look at the truck I'm in as a "rental". In these "no money down" truck purchases, you're not going to have any equity anywhere for a long time. The Cascadia is a money-making truck, and I'm not too disappointed to be stuck in it for a while longer. When I talked to the truck guy yesterday, he said that they got five of the Evos with the DT12s and that they're all spoken for. It's a trial basis too, but he sounded really positive that they'll get more. I told him that when they do, sign me up!

You are right though, you need to be happy with your truck. If you come over here, your best bet is to go with a 2012 or 2014 Cascadia. Nobody seems to like the ProStars including the mechanics. There are some KWs occasionally, but I know less about them than the Petes, lol. My best guess is that JCT will continue providing Evolutions and that they will start buying up some automatics as they get some experience. Everyone around here is pretty excited about getting 8 mpgs too!

Frank Acavano · Aug 17, 2013

Sharpp said: ↑

Thank you for reading! I easily average 3,000 miles per week when I'm out the whole week. I've had some 2,600 mile weeks that just worked out that way, but they are pretty rare. The last one of those had me sitting in Arizona for a day off which I really needed. For me to feel like I had a "productive" week, I figure a minimum of 2,800 miles. This gets me into the $.40/mile $1,100/wk range (with safety bonus). If you've suffered reading through this entire thread then you may remember me guesstimating that I make about $.54/mile after meeting my fixed expenses. Obviously more miles = more money, but it also equals more cents per mile. A 3,000 mile week is worth about a penny/mile more than 2800 miles. A nice 3,500 mile week gets me up around $.45/mile.

JCT puts up a calculator on their website for you to play around with the numbers. http://johnchristner.com/?r=drivercareers&drv=whyjct They conservatively estimate 6.5 mpg and fuel cost at $3.86. Also, their fuel surcharge number is low on the site: it's actually $.44/mile this week. We run on some good fuel price lanes. For instance, I'm running I-40 this trip from SoCal to northeast Oklahoma. I had to add 50 gallons in Kingman at $3.88 to get me to Joseph City where fuel is $3.74. I'll fill up there only enough to get me to OKC where it's running $3.59. National average this week is over $3.90 and I'll average better than 20 cents/gal cheaper before fuel rebates.

As for getting a bump in our mileage pay, I can't say. All I know is that they've been paying $.90/mile for several YEARS and their turnover rate is, in my opinion, HIGH. For now, they seem content to spend money on recruiting and training rather than driver retention. To be fair though, they ARE working on improving the fleet MPGs and our profitability. I just wonder how long they can justify posting "$.90/mile" on the back of my trailer when the competition is at a buck. If any of you readers can help me confirm some numbers from other companies please do! I've talked to Henderson Trucking and was told that they paid $.94/mile (short miles like us) but that their fuel surcharge was something like $.39 or $.40/mile. Total wash! Schneider, too has a smaller FSC.

Hope that answers your question, Frank. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want any more details.

In other news, the truck is running like a champ! It's nice to be able to shut it down without fear of losing the Jake or cruise. My tire misadventure in Nebraska took out a piece of my fairing, but I think that the truck looks better without it. I cobbled it back together with some JB Weld at home, and did a pretty fair job. I'm going to let it cure for 30 days or so on my work bench in the garage. (NO, I didn't forget it! Well. . . ok, I did!)

This load is a variety of produce putting me at 70k lbs gross. It was a nice drop/hook in Colton, CA that was, for once, a TRUE drop and hook. I was in and out of there in about 20 minutes. They were kind enough to have one of our newer trailers with good aero goodies and a low-hour T/K reefer (quiet). I managed to make 7 mpg climbing out of the L.A. basin up to Kingman, AZ today. I think I can beat that tomorrow running about 665 miles to San Jon, NM. I feel like eating some Indian food! Anyone know if Dhillon has WiFi?
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Thanks Sharpp, for the great reply - sorry it took a while to get back, but I've been busy! I find myself comparing what you are writing here to what goes on at my new (for me at least) company, Sunco, also a reefer company. I like a lot of what JCT does in terms of setting up their L/Pers for success - i.e., sending you out with full tanks of fuel (not done here at Sunco - yet...although I'm working on 'em!) - also, I'm trying to get them to allow a new contractor one month of no payments so they can get up and running and get ahead a bit before the steady payments start - and they've been receptive to that too here at Sunco. I've found that running mileage for them results in a $375-400 profit per trip, after expenses. (all trips in the SE division are between 400-650 miles) - so one can knock out four trips per week generally, and still get a 34 hour restart at home, which was my goal. Of course JCT is all about getting as many miles as possible. May I assume that JCT pays for all reefer fuel? If that's true, you obviously have to still buy it, and get reimbursed on your settlements, yes? Thanks again, enjoying your exploits! When JCT can start guaranteeing a newbie one of those Cascadia Evolutions - and paying $1/mile, I'll be fighting to come over there!

Frank Acavano · Aug 18, 2013

daywalker24 said: ↑

I qualified for attending orientation but they couldn't guarantee the truck I would be paying for even after 90 days. I have been looking at a couple companies trying to narrow down to which one I would pay for a truck that I plan on owning. I really liked that JCT brought in automatic Cascadia's asked them and they said no guarantees even after 90 days I am am not going to pay for a truck that I have to settle for. And they don't transfer equity to new truck(12 weeks at 600+) nothing to show start all over!? I think JCT is one of the better programs but I'm not that desperate to throw money down the drain.
Click to expand...

Right! So let's all go buy one ourselves, and cut out the middle man! Got an extra $180k laying around? Me neither... Actually I just made up that price, I don't know what the new Evolutions are gonna cost, but we can educate ourselves a bit:

http://www.freightlinertrucks.com/Trucks/Models/Evolution/Specs

http://www.etrucker.com/ccj/freightliner-debuts-cascadia-evolution-tractor

No charge!

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