Stepping Out With My Own Numbers

sent you a PM, 2am. They’re check in process sucks, so I park and check in early. They’ll call whenever they feel like it. AWG is always a PIA.

 

Top of the hill in the old Pete. You can drive to the gate and check in use the right lane

 

I’ve been stuck at home taking care of stuff. One of my guys quit with only a few days notice. I’ve spent a month trying to get a driver. What I’m paying is outstanding, but it’s not enough to get guys interested. Dozens and dozens of phone calls and applications. I had a few that I thought were good and they just disappeared. So, I sold one of the trailers and the Volvo, got a good price on both, and be back on the road Friday. My other driver is in the Freightliner now, it’s the better truck.
Unless you’ve got really new trucks, must be a Peterbilt or KW, and those trucks are 70+ mph trucks, you’re going to have a hard time recruiting people.
I liked running three trucks, that was the easy part, the recruiting process is very disappointing. I can guarantee in one calendar year you’ll make 85k, paid benefits and everything, but they’d rather go drive for peanuts at 70 mph. It’s crazy.
My remaining driver gets it. He loves the health insurance. He’s been using it lately for some issues and as only paid 30.00 to see two doctors, his tests and medications are free.
If I had come across a job like this earlier on, I’d probably still be there.
I’d still recommend getting your own authority to anybody, just be prepared if you plan on hiring drivers, it’s a lot more difficult than you probably think it is.

 

Would you mind sending me a message about who you are going through for health care? I’d really appreciate it.

Btw it’s always going to be something as to why it’s so difficult to hire drivers. I have brand new KW’s and they go 70, some go 75 if you run west. No difference.

Like I said in that other thread. It’s very refreshing to hear someone other then me say how difficult hiring is. According to the masses on TTR, driver shortage is a myth.

 

Hiring is a pain in any field.

As for a driver shortage, on a purely economics footing, it is a myth assuming a true free market. We dont have one of those and "pure economics" cases are extremely rare occurences in the real world.

 

It’s difficult right now because there is a lot of money being thrown around. Some guys are making more sitting at home than when they were working. Also, there’s so many more driving jobs that don’t require a CDL and home every night with the massive growth in e commerce delivery services.

 

Just a thought, I would take less money to work somewhere that doesn't pull a refer. Been there, done that and I'm not doing it again. Just like anything else, some are ok running a refer though.

 

I know that’s a thing. I don’t get it. Especially someone like me that’s paying a fixed rate. If you get held up, rescheduled, weather, detention, it will not affect your pay. I’m reefer all the way, not interested in anything else. The only other trailer I’d pull would be hazmat tankers. When I looked into it, when I was trying to decide if I should stay leased on or get my authority, I wasn’t impressed with what I was seeing for earning potential. Maybe it’s better now. There were some places you could make more pulling a dry van than leasing on with them pulling hazmat tankers.

 

I think that from a driver perspective a crucial factor is home time, best if full Saturdays and Sundays every week.
Quality, seasoned drivers are often tired of OTR life, do 34s out of home and having to negotiate their home time.
I'd be willing to earn 10k - 15k less and be home every week than be OTR and home once a month.

 

I think it is a myth. The problem is nobody sticks around anymore, it’s jump ship the grass is greener over there all the time. And that’s not just a trucking problem, it’s a anyone who needs to hire someone problem.