should i stay or should i go?

After five really decent years with my current gig, I find myself wondering if I wanna continue.

Our best runs have been replaced by shorter, more time consuming, and rather un-enjoyable work. Not that we had terribly long runs anyway, but I mostly enjoyed them.

Where I used to have 450- 500 miles, load and unload two loads, and be home in 12-13 hrs, for $250 a night, I now find myself doing 3 or 4 loads a night, running approximately 350 miles, and making $200 a night. Kinda hard to enjoy it, and I dont see it getting any better anytime soon.

What to do?

 

well i run about 40-45 hours per week, home in (many times) under 8.5 hours, and make good money, not the same as OTR, and i like the shorter hours and shorter drive times. seems to give me more home time and easier 34 hour resets.

i ain't leaving anytime soon........

 

I don't mind having a short night now and then, but not every night. What really irks me is having to work harder for slightly less money

 

I would be looking, but be careful, the grass isn't always greener.

 

Starting from scratch again doesn't exactly appeal either....

 

see if you can work out what is going wrong, worst case it becomes too much and you move on.

 

One of the rules I made for myself is - if I'm thinking about moving on in a serious manner, it's already time to go. I live in Albuquerque, and it's hard here to find freight, harder still to find CDL work that combines home time and reasonable income. Best.

 

Unless the company is in dire straights,.. I would try to weather it out. Give it 6 months,.. maybe 1 more year. See what its like then.

I worked construction for the better part of 15 years. Stayed with last company for almost 12. You have your ups and downs. I saw the company slim down,.. we had to pick up the slack as 7 man crews were reduced to 3 or 4. Even the foremen had to pick up the slack and work. I had my foreman quit,.. they had me running the crew for over a month before he was replaced. Other than a bonus check at the end of the job,.. I saw no extra money,.. no company truck,.. no gas per deim for hauling tools in my personal truck. Things picked up and got better.

I saw the writing on the wall towards the end,.. you know when its time to jump ship.

The way things are today,.. if you have a decent paying job,.. keep for as long as you can. Unless you know for sure the next gig will be better,.. dont always listen to what guys brag about. Guys almost always boast about things. Unless its time to jump ship,.. I would ride the train till the tracks run out.

Hurst

 

@Hurst, that's what I needed to hear I guess. With the economy, I guess it'd be crazy to jump ship now. Company is rock solid financially, and truth be told, I enjoy the job. To leave here and find what I have elsewhere would be quite the undertaking.

Guess I'm spoiled. But from what the customers are saying, it don't look like it's going to be any better anytime soon. Heck even the wife is noticing, as well as several other drivers complaining. But I've always done pretty well when I'm surrounded by those who grumble a lot. So I guess I'm just gonna tough it out, take more and longer vacations to keep me from going totally nuts

 

I guess it sounds best if you stay, but I'm confused about why you posted the original issues? You enjoy the job? You posted fewer miles, more hours, and lower income. Yup, I don't get it. Mostly because, to me in my long years of realtime experience, all those things sound like a company shaving the budget for survival, not exactly reassuring about that "rock solid" part. Although it is hard to make a living and get home more often. Best. J