What to do when a dispatcher tries to force a load on you?

Yep that's what I was trying to tell the op. I'm on my phone so not typing as much as I would like. The op is happy to get 8 hours a day. I wouldn't be though.

He complained they wouldn't fix his apu, started a thread on parking in the fuel island and mentors paying for trainees food.

I think his posts say enough!

 

I quit talking about miles and hours a long time ago, it's a waste of time.
Everyone always assumes I just got off a reset and have a fresh 14 and 70.
them.. but, you're only 4 hours away, why don't you deliver today??
me.. BECAUSE I JUST TOLD YOU I WAS OUT OF HOURS ON MY 70
them.. but you're only 200 some miles away and they might take you early.
me,,, ARRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!!!

 

Yep. Get your miles booboo. All day. T-Call the #### out of it.

 

I don't know what T-call is, but I understand one path to miles is to carry a load as far as you can and then give it to another trucker in the same company (Repower) while writing everything down to check with DM to make sure you get paid.

 

You lost me there on T call also buddy.

 

Transfer call. Like out of hours come get this load, or low on hours can't sit for the 2 days required to deliver etc.

 

Interchange then. Ok. So it's teamwork Im talking about. Thank you Mr Red Rover.

 

In Swift vernacular a t-call is terminal call. Basically just a repower at a terminal. Swift really dislikes doing repowers outside of a terminal.

 

I drove for Swift a couple of years, the last year as a trainer. I really focused on helping my trainees maximize their miles and income. All but one complete slacker have done very well. I'll give you my take on the situation to help you and other new drivers get the most of your time on the road.

I carefully read your posts about your situation several times. Let me paraphrase the situation and you correct me if I am wrong. You delivered a load Wednesday evening, and while making delivery you get a load offer to get another load delivering 800 miles away on Friday morning at 8:00 am. You have a total of 17 hours "coming back" on your recap over the next two days. Is that all correct?

If that IS all correct you should have been all over that 800 mile load like a bear on a beehive. You had PLENTY of hours to get there on time.

When I ran solo OTR at Swift I typically ran 4-6 weeks at a time without ever taking a 34 hour reset. Especially after they upgraded the software in the planning department in 2014 it was almost unheard of to be given a load offer that couldn't be run.

Do NOT be afraid of running for weeks without a 34. That's typical for their system. I for one do not believe you when you say Swift sent a Qualcomm message asking drivers to take a 34 every 8 days. That makes NO sense to have drivers taking needless 34's. It's RARE to get long hauls that chew up your hours running solo. Sure, when I ran a dedicated coast to coast team fleet the customer REQUIRED us to get a 34 every weekend. That's the exception.

If you don't know how to calculate your recap hours coming back, then learn... and right quick. Swift tracks driver performance and has comments about drivers that planners access when they plan loads. If you haven't taken the time to meet and greet planners and DM's at terminals, do so. Learn what they do and why they do it.

One time in the Columbus terminal I was shooting the feces with a planner about the load board situation and asked to observe how he plans loads. He clicked on a load, a 1000 mile JIT (Just In Trouble) load, which pulled up Google Satellite View with an icon centered on the screen and three icons showing three trucks that were either available or would become available to take the load. NOTE THAT THE SYSTEM ONLY PULLS UP DRIVERS WITH ENOUGH HOURS TO RUN THE LOAD.

The closest driver averaged only 1500 miles a week, had a high rate of load refusal, and had a comment he refused to drive at night. That's a service failure waiting to happen. The second driver averaged 2100 miles a week, but had three service failures. The last driver averaged 2700 miles a week, 100% on time, and in the comments it noted he was very reliable and great with customers.

Which driver got the sweet 1000 run, and which driver might get the next 400 mile run with a day of sitting before a live unload? If you want to run miles, THEN RUN MILES. Success in this industry is a self fulfilling prophecy.