Tracking Truckertom:

As part of my exhaustive research mode (E.R.M), i propose/wish (and, also, due to the fact that i consider Schaffer to be at the top of the list for a prospective company) to track TruckerTom's weekly mileage. As you may or may not know, Tom Wiles publishes a weekly podcast concerning his travels with Schaffer among other things. He gives a rather detailedl account of his travel points, thus making it ideal to get a fairly accurate total of his weekly mileages.

NOTES: (these are subject to change as the weeks progress)
1) i will track mileage from Sunday morning to Sunday night, irregardless if the last load on sunday is completed or not; Whatever mileage the truck turns on sunday night is when i will stop counting for that week.
The exceptions are:

a) If the run could have been completed, but he choose not to, for example this past week, he could have covered 740 miles in two and half days, but choose not to because he wanted to "take it easy over the weekend." Then, in this case i would count all of the mileage. (incidentally, he got very close)

b) If he runs to the fullest legal extent, but cannot complete the run by sunday night due to scheduling, traffic, or other certain reasons and is close, i.e., within 100 miles of final destination, then i will count the whole
run.

2) i do not wish to contact him right now for several important reasons:
a) i do not want him to know he is being tracked because i want this survey to take place under "natural" order. In other words, if he knows he's being tallied, this might subconciously make him alter his normal mileage routine; i don't want him to alter his daily rhythm at all. i want this to be typical of an average driver at Schaffer; Some drivers don't want as much mileage, some want alot of miles. For the record, i want maximum mileage.
Now, if you want to contact him and/or tell him about this thread, that is fine because that, in a way, is a "natural occurance;" It is possible he visits this website anyways. However, i would hope and ask that you hold off for a few weeks at least.

b) the survey remains completely independent and therefore (i would hope) unbiased.

3) i will use mapping programs such as google maps, microsoft streets and if possible rand Mcnally, to accurately determine mileage. These mileage programs, i feel, closely resemble the mileage programs used by trucking companies to determine "paid mileage." i will compare my mileage with tom's before posting the final results for each week. As a side note, Google maps is fairly close to Schaffer program in determining mileage---within 1%.

This weeks results:
So for this week, which is from 12/30/07 to 1/6/08 we come up with a total of 1543. The count started in New caney tx and ended up, after a few points in between, in orangeburg, sc.

NOTES:
1) This was, according to Tom, an "off week" due to the holidays (i do not disagree), hence the low mileage. AND also because he turned down a (in my opinion) good load going from somewhere in the houston or dallas area to southern CA. because it was hazmat and he does not like to haul hazmat loads (i don't blame him, although in this case i personally would have probably taken it) and also due to the fact that he did not feel the scheduling was solid at the time of the load assignment.
a) apparently Schaffer has load choice offerrings for it's drivers?

2) There was a "shag" load in wilmer,tx (dallas terminal?) with round trip of 20 miles.
a) Schaffer has a terminal in dallas?
b) I do not know how schaffer pays for shag/shuttle loads. So, despite the relatively low mileage it may be compensated for in other ways.

 

WOW! It appears that Tom now knows about my E.R.M. program of trying to determine his weekly mileage because apparently, SOMEBODY TOLD HIM ABOUT IT EVEN AFTER i ASKED YOU NOT TO.

Oh well, i suppose it may be better this way in that it will save me alot of work.

i will still, however, comment on his trips specifically in the area of scheduling.

A few notes to clarify:

1) The purpose of tracking weekly mileage was for research purposes to determine if Schaffer is/was a feasible company to drive for.

 

What other guy at Crete?

 

Incidentally, here is a Crete driver (Crete owns Schaffer) that posted his 2007 totals. Very interesting.

 

OK, this site is very stingy with links.


Essentially, the guy ran 139,453 miles last year with a weekly average of 2682. He went home for 53 days---not consecutive of course; He had 53 days of hometime.

He had 207 drop and hooks, which is quite a bit.

And, the majority(50.6%) of his loads were between 500 and 1000 miles long.

Until i can "legally" find a way to link you to his site, perhaps you should PM me for the link if you're further interested.

 

Alright, i would like to sincerely and profusely apogle for my very slow response times; i was very busy the past 3 months--i have another job(in addition to working 2 others) working with teens at a group home--long story how i ended up working there--will explain later, i am involved in an intricate and somewhat complex construction project---will also explain later, and, i am in the midst of repairing one of my vehicles so that it can be driven on the street satisfactorily---ignition tune up, plus i need to install a tach and digital odometer--for mpg reasons. Gauges, on paper, seem straightforward to hook up, but they are really not due to all the connectors and other accesories you have to buy to make the installation really proper.

Ironically enough, i was able, in part, to get caught up in tracking the mileage while making some "regional" (out and back) runs myself; I.e., Boston, Miami etc. What i would do is download the podcasts on ipod and then listen to them while i was driving. This is one of my other jobs where it's basically dedicated carrier for a large department store chain. It is drop and hook and we always return back to the DC after dropping at the store. The work is not steady and therefore that is why i'm looking around for other companies.

Anyways, back to the reporting:

For the week of Jan 6-13 we get 1910 miles. Pretty much all east of mississipi.

Jan 13-20, 1431 miles. There were a few drop-and-hooks. And ended up in Texas.

Jan 20-27, 1014 miles. All Texas and Louisianna.

Jan 27-feb 3. 405 miles. Went home. NOTE: i don't want to divulge where "home" is due to privacy reasons. Of course, if you listen to TruckerTom's podcast it wouldn't matter.

Feb 3-10. 2055 miles. Nothing remarkable as far as geographic spans, yet we see an increase in mileage.

Feb 10-17 2807 miles. That's more like it. There was a long atlanta to Portland, maine load (strangely enough, of ice cream).

Feb 17-24 1268 miles. This week had potential, being that it started in Wisconsin and ended up in atlanta, but it did not, in my opinion "blossom."

Feb 24-Mar 2. 2114 miles. In my opinion, a somewhat "chaotic" week due to the overall number of loads and even some extended bobtailing. There were at least 2 drop-and-hooks, though.

Mar 2-9 . Tom went home. Basically, he was at home all week.

Mar 9-16. 2010 miles. Uneventful (in my opinion as far as geographical spans)

Mar 16-23 822 miles. Freight seems to be slowing down in general for everyone. There was also a "random" drug test at the New Kingstown terminal. Don't you hate those?

Mar 23-30. 2030 miles. Here is where it get's a little "funky;" Schaffer had Tom do some container work which he seems to enjoy. i wouldn't. Mostly Pennsylvania. The other strange thing here is that, apparently, Schaffer dispatch is not being completely truthful.
And that's basically all i have up to TT's latest podcast as of Mar. 30th.

NOTES:
Now, to be fair, freight is, in general slowing down. Again, my reasons for tracking TT's mileage is because i am doing research on different companies because i'm planning on getting back into OTR full time; i'm basically a local driver, but i want to try something different, plus i think i can make comparable, if not better, money doing OTR vs. local.

2) i don't know if i'm going to continue with the mileage tracking because:
a) i really don't have much time, at least not right now.
b) i kind of get the idea that if you make yourself available for dispatch, the loads are there and you can stay busy-----assuming the freight is there, which again, at present it's not.
c) i can sort of rely on the Crete driver who posts his weekly totals. i'm thinking i would rather go dry van anyways, even though i've done refer work and enjoy it. It's just that dry van, i think, has less erratic scheduling for the most part.

3) i appreciate TT's own mileage reporting, although i'm not sure if he's still doing it. It saves me alot of work. However, i would like to suggest to him that it would probably be better to simply report the number of miles traveled for the week rather than the actual odometer mileage. This is for privacy reasons. i will probably email TT to further discuss this matter in greater detal when, and if , i get the time.

Thanks for reading. i may continue to report for a few more weeks because i feel that freight will be picking up big-time. Or i may re-start in a few weeks, when i am more able to focus effort on job researching.

 

Well, the good news this time is that freight seems to be picking up for, at least, Shaffer.

This tracking is somewhat exhausting, and i really don't have much time to adequately do this; i will probably email TT and see if he's willing to report his weekly mileage.

After i tie up all my loose ends concerning my other jobs, i will again be able to seriously research OTR jobs.

Anyways, on to the report:
May 30-apr6----1288 miles Philly to home.

Apr 6--apr 13---- 2620 miles Home to Bellview Washington.

Apr 13 to apr27 norwalk oh------ 1914 miles Multiple "nursery" deliveries in N.E. then back to "slohio"

Apr 27 to may 4----857 miles mid ohio to home

may 4 to may 11----3473 miles This week was "full plate"----more miles available than legally logable. This is ideal. Basically, home to Southern Ca., then heading back east.


So again, we see that miles/freight is picking up. And, also that i'm, for all practical purposes, unable to adequately track mileage with any conviction at this time due to prior responsibilites. However, this research is very important to me as i plan on returning to the "OTR game" pretty soon. After i take care of my other personal business, i'll again be able to research fully.

Take care and keep sharing information. Remember, when we all talk about these things, pay goes up!