Stepping Out With My Own Numbers

I’m very pleased with the A26. I had driven International before with N13 and Maxxforce and hated it. International did a really good job with the new LT and A26. I’d like to see them get a liftable 6x2 like Mack, Volvo, and Freightliner have.
As for the trailer, it’s doing well too. There were some little things that needed fixing once it got on the road. That’s resolved now. When it comes to replace it, I want to get one of those new Wabash trailers they released. The Cold Chain Series, full composite reefer trailer. They’re much more thermal efficient than aluminum, 1200 pounds lighter, standard 20k floor rating, no crossmembers, and the insulation is good for 10 years. It’s what the Europeans have been doing for decades.

 

I wish more truck stops had these timers.

 

I wanted a Mack, which had the liftable pusher setup. They wouldn’t build it how I wanted. After several other attempts I ended up with International and their only 6x2 option is the tag axle.

I do limit my power. I cruise at 60 but when the terrain gives me a hand, I might give 4-8 boost to use the hills while I can. I don’t try and maintain speed greater than 60. I focus on making the mist of momentum as I can. In a 15l 20-22 psi boost max, 13l 26-28 psi. I couldn’t calculate how many additional breaks or productivity it costs. I’ve driven that way since I was a company driver and it has hurt my ability to earn. When I was a company driver I never missed their “productivity” bonus. Leased on with a carrier, I was doing 3k miles a week every week with them. It’s all in how you use your hours.

Being a dispatcher, I had already been handling many of the issues a driver runs into on a daily basis. I had 45-55 drivers, so every issue you encounter during your week that didn’t go as planned, I dealt with for 8 years to 45-55th power. You learn the patterns of how these issues will end in most cases and what the course of action is. Most new drivers know zero about trucking and no one teaches you either. You’re taught to drive the truck and keep your opinions to yourself. It’s part of the reason so many get burned out and leave. You never seem to know why something is happening or why dispatch is telling you one thing but the customer may be saying something different.

I miss being leased on because you had support. With your own authority, running the load board you don’t have any power. You are mostly at their whim when something goes wrong or detained. The carrier deals with the customer themselves and has pull to come to a solution that’s good for both parties. Dealing with brokers the solution is the one that’s cheapest for the customer, makes the broker look as good as possible, and sucks for you. Or, you get somewhere and the load isn’t ready with no idea when it will be; leased on, they’ll just get you on something else, at worst, you’ll get good detention pay. On your own, any detention or layover is only a fraction of what I could get leased on. Compliance is a constant worry too. FMCSA goes by percentages. Any one violation has a much larger impact on me than a violation on one instance in a fleet of 150+. And, any violation, your insurance rates could shoot up over it. It’s not a fair system at all.

There are challenges, but I still like running my authority. I have full control over what loads I book. I don’t like having to hotfoot around or trying to sneak around on my ELD. And I like handling my own maintenance. When I was a company driver it was a constant battle with their trailers. I don’t miss that part. I’m doing it for awhile. It’s going to be another 4-5 years before I’m ready to do any trade ins. When that time comes, I can think about if I want to do anything different.

 

It’s usually in the rate con already and it’s hardly anything. There isn’t much negotiating on things like layover or detention when you’re dealing with brokers. You either accept their rates or they find someone else.

 

They don’t really notice you. The problem is if you get stopped for a 4 over speed limit, one of those gotcha deals, then they check your log and might see one or two times you were over a few minutes, and then they find something like a hose chafing. Now, that one stop could cost you a boat load of points. If you’re just one truck, that could trigger an audit, a decent size fleet, no one notices.
Insurance carriers will look at claims and accidents. The other big thing they look at is the unsafe driving category, speeding, traffic device, log violation points.
If you’re trying to change your rating from not rated to satisfactory, you must get a safety audit or compliance review, is what they call it. You can request one or it could be random.