What to expect

Well, 2pm is much better than night shift - which is what most linehaul jobs will entail. You gotta pay your dues. Start times and options will vary greatly from terminal to terminal. Bigger isn't always best - it might take you longer to get to where you wanna be.

But think of an afternoon start as at least having a large chunk of time available to you in the morning - early afternoon before work, rather than having an early start time and having your time at home broken up ..if that makes any sense.

Only go linehaul if you don't mind running nights, making really good paychecks, and not dealing with customers. That pretty much sums it up. If I couldn't have daylight linehaul, I'd strongly consider P&D just to run daylight.

 

One positive way to look at that late start is that you get to ease into the gig. You might not do any routes per se, possibly just filling in on pickups without having to do any deliveries. Or they could just send you out to do switches all evening. Either way, you get into the groove of how the operation runs and how they handle paperwork and pro-ing / scanning freight. That way, when you do go out on routes, you will be more comfortable and less anxious about being thrown to the wolves right off the bat.

That's kinda how I started when I first got hired doing P&D with an 11:30 start, and I'm glad it worked out that way. I would do deliveries all over with ugly (large, awkward) freight that would've screwed up other drivers' routes, maybe do some volume pickups, then head back and do switches.

I wasn't on that start time very long until I got a 10am start, but none of us can tell you how long it will take. All terminals are different. Your best bet is to ask other drivers and look at the bid sheet to see how much seniority the bottom 10am man has. Then you'll get a better idea of the commitment you're making.

Don't do linehaul unless you absolutely want to, and are totally comfortable working nights and sleeping days. All that said, if I was given the opportunity to do linehaul as a new hire, I would've jumped on it without hesitation.

 

@Bob Dobalina makes some good points.

Check out the bid sheet or roster if you can, that will give you a better idea of perhaps when you'll get something you want. I still do that to this day with our linehaul roster. I'm never really all that surprised during bid time to see what schedules come down to me because I've taken note of the roster and how some drivers like to routinely bid.

And I didn't wanna scare you off from linehaul. I've only known linehaul, although when I started I did do some hook & drops for the city side as needed. Truth be told, I'd have a hard time making a decision on choosing daylight P&D vs night time linehaul. Our terminal offers daylight linehaul if you have enough seniority, so I tend to go back and forth between a night linehaul schedule and a daylight schedule, but I had to get some seniority to be able to have that as a choice. Most terminals do not have daylight linehaul - not matter what company. I love linehaul, but daylight just makes it easier on the body. Nights will take their toll on you. Some deal with it easier than others, but it's definitely not a decision to make without some thought. Running night time linehaul is certainly a lifestyle, and you have to approach it that way.

 

I love my job (night linehaul - we don't have days at my barn) and I definitely love the money, but I've also looked at our P&D bid sheet to see when I could possibly hold a 7:30am bid (there's a gap for our guys between 7:30 and 9:30). There's a lot to be said for banker's hours, even if it involves a paycut. I only have about 6 years to go potentially as long as a few of those old farts retire!

 

Can you switch over then to P&D without losing seniority? Do you guys only have one roster for P&D and linehaul?

 

2 separate boards at DFL. We can switch, but only if there's an opening and nobody with higher seniority wants it - we can't just switch whenever we bid like I've heard some companies allow.

If someone switches boards, they lose seniority for a minimum of 6 months and get it back at the January bid following that. We bid twice per year, so depending on when the switch is made they may have to wait nearly a whole year.