Spoke To A Recruiter

Dont take anything here personal, IP isn't beating you up, he is just telling you to get your own experiences and judgements, Don't use your trainers. When you get your own truck you will see for your self how different it is, You are in charge and you are in control , OF EVERYTHING. Keep your chin up dude

 

Yup, nothing personal... but when you post something, you may have to defend your opinion. Nothing new about that. Trainers: About half way through TNT it became painfully obvious that my trainer was a good example of what not to do. He was a nice guy, we had some good times, but he wasn't a businessman. Last time I talked to him, he was lumping out in LA.

So what if you run more? Our operations are constrained by appointment times at shippers and receivers for the most part. If you get to that appointment 24 hours early, can't talk your way into bumping the dock early, all you've done is made a stock holder of an oil company a happy man. IMO, the 1% are doing well enough already without me helping them out so I can stroke my ego a bit.

Leasing probably will never be a good option for you at Prime. You want stressful? Cutting in and out of traffic at 65 with an 80,000 lb vehicle is seriously stressful.

Being successful as a Prime lease op has everything to do with minimizing costs - not maximizing miles.

It has everything to do with high mpg. The fuel bill is your biggest expense, and if you fall down on this, you may as well stay a company driver forever. How would you like an instant 10 to 15-cpm raise? That's the power you have in your right foot. Miles really don't come into it at the fuel prices we're paying these days - you don't really make that much more over the course of a year with an extra load here and there.

That guy would have nailed you if you were at warp 9.

On the lease side, its all about cost containment, and the deal is the fuel bill. Driving any faster than you need in order to make your appointments is just jacking up the fuel bill. Do I hit 65 at times? You betcha! But only when the schedule dictates it. The rest of the time its as slow as I need to get to that next appointment on time, and safely.

Dead-heading is a great time for any of you to get some fuel economy back. Zepplin's trainer charges around at 65 with an empty trailer. Yeah, you can do that - but your fuel mileage is going to be tons better if you're driving at 55. Pulling a new trailer at just under 80,000 lbs I can easily get 8.5 mpg running at 50. Pulling a 2xxxx trailer at just under 80,000 lbs and 65 mph we're talking just above 6 mpg.

Now this is a lousy comparison, but so you understand the kind of money we're talking about over the course of ONE year - say 130,000 miles at $4 per gallon. It's 6372 gallons less fuel burned, and $25,490 more in your pocket. All by constraining your right foot.

 

I understand IP. Youre after something different than I am. Saving fuel goes directly to your pocket, not so for me. That little bit of a fuel bonus isnt worth me going 45mph. Im trying to just get there... I only go 62 when required to make appointments, loaded or not. My FM said my driving is fine, mirrors someone whos been getting over 8 average. My truck wont do it. I honestly dont care. Long as he doesnt say anything, Im not. I get my miles, thats all I want.

 

It's not so much your truck as it is the lousy aerodynamics you get with open deck loads. It is what it is. Reefer guys have an opportunity to excel here.

Those numbers also show you why the company is so hot about fuel economy... call it 3500 reefer trucks times a conservative $10,000 in savings per truck over what we used to do (average 5.5 mpg fleet-wide before the fuel program)... that's not chump change. There were THOUSANDS of trucking businesses that went out of business when the fuel spike hit $4.85 per gallon in 2008, including some big ones. We're not that far off of that price now. Some of the recent failed carriers should be familiar... Atkinson Freight Lines out of Bensalem, the outfit that used to run the yard in Chicopee MA where we got our washouts - are recent victims of the ol' right foot.

 

I'm going company in 2 weeks at least for my first year. And I will admit, 55 is tiring. 6100 miles this week since we have till 16:00 Wednesday this week

 

IP is right. It sucks but going slower will save you money. When you have your own truck its not always how much you make but how much you save. Knowing how to use that right foot is the name of the game.

 

When you are paid a percentage of line haul and fuel surcharge... miles mean nothing but higher costs - and that is your enemy. Miles mean a higher fuel bill, and at over $4 a gallon, nothing is more important. That's the bottom line.