What do you do in your downtime OTR?

Again, LUCK had nothing to do with it. If you are happy with the way things are at the company you are with, by all means stay there....but quit ######## about it. If you are unhappy with the way things are at the company you are with, stop ######## about it, get off your lazy ###, and DO something about it. That's all I'm saying. You have options.

Even with "fuel card only" companies, there are companies out there that do not restrict where you fuel....as long as that fuel stop accepts ComData, EFS, FleetOne, TCH, etc....whatever fuel card you happen to have....then you can fuel there. Then there are companies that would have a driver running 70 miles out-of-route in order to reach one of their "preferred" fuel stops instead of paying a nickle a gallon more at an in-route fuel stop....burning $45 worth of fuel, not to mention the wear & tear on the truck running those extra miles OR the driver's unpaid time....just to "save" $5 on the fuel. I swear some of the pencil-pushers at some of these companies really aren't all that bright....then again, neither are some of the drivers who put up with that sort of crap.

It's not my money and it's not my time, so do whatever you want to. Just stop ######## about it.

 

I'm happy to fuel "in network" for the company I work for. They've negotiated a substantial discount that perhaps your employer doesn't enjoy. For example : pump price 3.89, actual cost 3.57. That's from my fuel solution.

I just wanted to clarify that, as it seems that some of those that work for a company that fuels anywhere have higher costs overall.

 

$3.89 - $3.57 = $.32/gallon price difference
.32/gallon for 100 gallons = $32
70 out-of-route miles / 6 mpg = 11.667 gallons burned unnecessarily
$3.57 * 11.667 gallons = $41.65

So, you're burning $41.65 worth of extra fuel in order to save $32....already $9.65 in the hole....not to mention wear & tear on the rest of the truck (oil, tires, brakes, etc.) that isn't yet factored into the cost of running those out-of-route miles....OR the driver's time (if unpaid) or wages (if you are paying him to drive those out-of-route miles).

I was on a job here locally....6 mile haul, turn all day long as many as you can get until the shipper stops shipping or the customer decides they have enough and don't need you to make another turn. I fueled up at a station I was driving past twice per turn...zero out-of-route miles. The company truck was told he had to drive 37 miles south of where we were running to get to the "preferred" fuel location, or return to a company yard (nearest one was 55 miles north) to fuel. More was spent trying to get to & from that "preferred" fuel location than what could possibly have been saved in the purchase price of the fuel. In this case, if he could not have waited until the end of the day to fuel, he would have also missed loads due to the time he spent running down the road and back to fuel his truck, so that "lost revenue" factor also has to be considered in certain situations.

I can fully understand a company wanting drivers to utilize "in-network" fuel points along their route whenever possible to save money....but to insist that a driver goes out of route in order to hit the "preferred" station, it's spending a dollar to save a dime. I don't care how you try to spin it, it just doesn't make sense.

 

Hmmm....Wonder what happened to the OP? LOL. Must have gotten a reality check.

 

i don't see where i was every BIOTCHING about anything but merely stating the average amount of time waiting then fueling .. which IS NORMAL at many truck stops...it is YOU that went on a tirade.....

you have shown how you can rant on something or someone for no apparent reason whatsoever.... your entire tirade was actually, quite useless..


good luck to you and your endeavors as an o/o....

 

yeah, we have one individual that went on some "off the beaten path" and basically from there, chased away the newbie....

 

Again, luck has nothing to do with anything. If you want something to happen, you need to MAKE it happen. Know what you want and go for it.

If an hour wait time to fuel is what you consider "normal" or "average", you are wasting 45-50 minutes of your day each time you have a "normal" or "average" fuel stop. Pumps these days will flow 60 gallons per minute. Even if you are bone dry and have a pair of 120 gallon tanks, that's 4 minutes. Shouldn't take longer than a minute to get the pumps started, and another 2-3 minutes to walk in and pay for the fuel. That's 7-8 minutes. Use the restroom & refill your mug, and there's no reason it should take more than 15 minutes or so to be back on the road.

But hey, if you're happy wasting your time, by all means keep right on doing it. However, spending an hour trying to fuel is NOT normal...nor is it average. Even something as simple as altering the time of day at which you are looking for fuel will make a difference....but that's something you have to change for yourself.

There is only a result of action or inaction....no such thing as "luck".

 

yeah...ok, whatever dude....now go play with your calculator and all your numbers...

 

Why, you find it confusing? You shouldn't need a calculator to do simple mathematics. Maybe that's why you are where you are....

...just sayin'.

 

Oh kewl, another one