Stupid route from my night planner?

My mega experience was with Swift. Two years.

Swift uses Quallcomm, and all dispatches come through that unit, including your "fuel route". For forum members that aren't familiar with the concept, you are told where to fuel and how many gallons you can get.

Swift also tracks your out of route miles. The goal is to have less than 15% OOR miles, more than that and your driver manager will have a chat with you.

I remember well a load I took from Denver to Logan, UT. Any trucker with two brain cells and a functioning synapse would take I-80 west to I-84 to bypass Salt Lake City, North on I-15, then catch US-89 to Logan. This was my third solo load and I followed the Quallcom route, exiting I-80 just west of Little America to go north and west in US-30 and US-89 west of Bear Lake. It was nice to say I ran that route, but never again.

After that load I started asking my DM questions about having to stay precisely on route. That really helped.

After that conversation I routinely bypassed fuel stops that I knew were going to be a major PIA, like fueling at the SLC terminal, which required getting in line for a mandatory inspection before being allowed in the terminal. That can easily cost two or three hours. Instead I continue driving another 30 miles or so, then send a macro requesting a fuel route. In a little while a new fuel route, based on how much fuel I have and WHERE I AM is delivered.

EVERYTHING is computer generated, the fuel stops and the route. The company doesn't control the computer program, they subscribe to it, so it has nothing to do with the company trying to mess with you.

I frequently stayed on freeways even though the computer generated route wanted to go through 29 traffic signals and 13 stop signs. Qualcomm wanted THAT route because it saved 2 miles. Stupid, right? The computer program doesn't account for time and fuel burned getting back up to speed. ALL GPS systems, even the best, can return idiotic routes. You need to start thinking out your routes and make decisions. Talk to your driver manager about it.

There were three times I called my DM in advance to announce I was going to drive some MAJOR OOR miles:

1. When Qualcomm routed me through Yellowstone National Park.

2. When QC wanted me to get from LA to Pueblo, CO by running north on I-15 catch I-70 east, then catch US-50 over the Rockies to Pueblo. I ran I-40 east to Albuquerque and took I-25 north to Pueblo.

3. While loading in Denver bound for Reno I got on this forum and found out I-80 just west of Laramie was closed in both directions due to that horrific accident involving dozens of trucks. I rerouted west on I-70 to catch US-191 and US-6 to get on I-15 northbound to catch I-80 westbound. I was on time. Another driver wasted a day in ####ty conditions in Laramie with no parking left at the truck stops.

Every time the DM simply said, "Run the route the way you see fit and ask for a new fuel solution when you need it." I think that may have come by establishing a level of trust. From a DM's point of view, they are gun shy of rookies that get lost, take major detours to visit family, or otherwise abuse their use of company equipment.

Talk to your DM.

 

Handholding and micromanaging. Down to the gallon of fuel. All of that stopping for fuel hurts bad. Eats up a bunch of time.

So, what happens if Mr @Chebbydriver7195 questions this? I mean, I can understand the fuel thing when you're 79980 on a quarter tank. But if you're nowhere near gross?Not a very efficient use of time.

 

In theory, if a Schneider driver follows the fuel solution 100% of the time - including only putting in the recommended amount - it would save up to a $1,000 per truck per year. For the whole fleet it's like increasing net profit by a percentage point. When you are publicly traded, that percentage point makes a big difference at earnings time.

In Lowell, IN there is a a pilot and a flying J both with the same posted price. The pilot is generally 10 cents a gallon cheaper than the J, and 25 cents cheaper than the pilot in Remingtion, IN. Fueling in S Beloit IL instead of Beloit WI - a difference of 1 mile is 40 cents a gallon. The fuel optimizer is working with more info than we have.

That again is theory. The program doesn't take into account time, and can only look at the current load. I also doubt some of the program's assumptions/formulas. However the larger the group you are trying to manage, the less flexibility you have and there is greater benifit from uniformity. I don't like it, but I understand it.

We would like to change the program so it lists all fuel stops on the route with costs within 5 cents a gallon and let the drivers chose. The company that we buy the program from said sure, we can do that for $2,500,000. Why so much? It has to work with all the legacy software. 70% of the incab technology in the industry runs on 3G. Most of the software we use predates Y2K.

 

Beancounting never factors in the time it takes to count the beans.

 

They actually do - part of the program is to minimize fuel stops.

We have done time studies on some of the most ridiculous things - including the merits of time studies.

 

Do you know what your GVW is with these loads?

 

If Opie is putting on 50 gallons here, and 75 there, and he's not near gross, they are not counting the time.

 

Fuel solution.

Like a kid handed 75 cents in a candy shop gourmet inc and told to pick anything in the store. I don't think so.

Fuel = Life. And freedom to get to where you need to be with loads. I'll keep my apparently unlimited fuel card thank you very much.

I understand where Lepton1 is coming from, my thought is for me only. Its the way I am.