Snackbar is chillin'....at Shaffer

At the heart of the problem it is, because Snackbar knew what the company philosophy was when he came back the third time. Or at least he should have.

More largely, it's a question of "running hard" versus "running smart".

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 was driving hard, but wasn't 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 called 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 and was dropped before Bob rolls in.

When all was said and done, we drove the same number of miles with the same loads. 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. From his posts it seems like SSB drives hard even when he knows it's against his interests.

When I was OTR, my first load out of the house usually was to Nelly's Landing, delivering by 10:00 on Day 2. I could easily make delivery on Day 1 (even in a 60 mph truck), but I learned it was better to set my ETA and PTA for the next day. Why? Because if I set my ETA and PTA for Day 1, the planner/computer thought "oh, he doesn't have enough time to move on anything, let's wait until morning to assign him". If I showed delivering and available early morning on Day 2, most often I would be assigned midway through Day 1. That would allow me to adjust my plans to make the most of Day 2 - either by pushing or easing up.

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. There were reasons why I was a top earner and none of them were because "sucked up to management" or "told little white lies" for referral fees. It was because I learned the system and how to make it work for me. When management changed the system to something I couldn't work with, I found a new gig. There are a lot of things I don't like about my new job, but I knew I wouldn't like them going in (well, most of them). It is what it is and I don't expect the company to change their ways to suit me.