What to do when driver abandons truck

Check in at 2 AM. Check out time is 11 AM. That's only 9 hours....so they give me an extra hour or two. Of course even though they mark down the later check-out time, the person working the desk when I go to leave gets confused because I'm checking in & out on the same day....but I don't need it 2 nights, only 1.

I hate doing that, though, because breakfast is usually only served from 6-9 AM most places...

 

2 a.m. when you could be driving when it's cooler. LOL

if i'm staying in a room. i want the full hours. not that 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. crap. i'll stay in the truck for that many hours. and it's free

 

If my load appointment is at 1:00 PM, I've got to leave here a little before noon to get there on time. That means my 14 hour clock expires at 2 AM, so I've either got to be home or at a motel by then. If you check into a room at 9 pm, you have until the 11 am check-out time to be out of the room...or 7 am when your 10 hour break is up if the company is pushing you to get the load there ASAP.

Trucks are for working, and I spend enough time inside the truck during the 14 hour work day. When it comes time to take my 10, I'll do that elsewhere...where I can stretch out, relax, and be comfortable...either at home or in a motel. I don't sleep in closets. If the load is going far enough that I won't make it home, either it pays enough to justify buying a motel room for the nights I'm out, or they can find somebody else to haul it.

 

ya know, there's some truth to that "getting a room thing."


But there are times you get stuck in a truck at a shipper/consignee waiting.

And that bunk in the back sure is nice to stretch out in and relax.

 

I'm on line 4 at shippers & receivers...that way I burn through enough of my 70 in 5 days so I don't have to feel pressured into working a 6th day. I'm usually standing around talking to other drivers if I'm waiting to load or unload...then again, running local you tend to know more of the drivers you see at the shippers & receivers because you see them there all of the time.

 

that's a lot of money on motels. plus the roof you have back home.

 

I agree but unfortunately many companies drives you to do it.Drivers can only take so much before they finally snap.I would never abandon a trk although I felt like it many times.Companies have recovery drivers just for that reason.If companies were good as what their website,billboards and ads on their trailers say then they would'nt need to hire recovery drivers.

 

Actually, carriers would not need recovery drivers if other drivers did not abandon their equipment. If a driver is close to "snapping" then he needs to leave the carrier before it happens. A driver who abandons his equipment is hurting himself. I won't hire a driver who has EVER abandoned his equipment. Some carriers feel the same way. I think that more often than not, it is a lack of communication that is the problem. Not all drivers will communicate with their dispatcher or company and explain their situation. There are also dispatchers who are real ?????SSS and they should be replaced.

 

there are also companies that no matter how much you try to explain. you just get smoke blown up your arse.

 

All you have to do is give them notice or just quit. You don't need to abandon the equipment.