Which way for more miles ???

A moment of silence for the King.....

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Okay, a slacker's MO is to slack at first opportunity. The industry is chocked full of slackers. So many people are looking to get into trucking because they don't want to punch a time clock. They don't want to work in anything that requires them to be on point. Why? Because they are slackers. So in order to incorporate slackers in such a competitive industry as trucking, the megas hire teenagers as 'driver managers'. They're not even dispatchers. The dispatcher is the one that finds loads for you. A driver manager's job is to prod slackers along.

Another thing that some megas do is team trucking. After all, 2 slackers are better than 1, right? I mean, if you have 2 slackers in a truck, the load should, in theory, make it on time right? There isn't an excuse for a late load with a team operation, correct? Am I wrong?

Look at what they pay. If your DM makes more money than you, and you are the CDL carrying team driver at a transportation company, guess what? If you are a team driver, you should make more money than just about any solo driver at any company. Do not agree to smell another person's feet for a cheap rate! If you do, you're an idiot.

"How do I know what a cheap rate is, Six?"

$1000/week minimum for an OTR solo driver. MINIMUM!!!! Brand new, rookie driver. Anything less is unacceptable. See what a company's starting pay is. See what the average miles are. Does it equal $1000? No? Then keep shopping. Team should pay better. If you're in a team outfit and making less than a solo driver, you are an idiot.

So, you find a gig that you can make a grand a week. Excellent! Now let's maximize the time away from the house.

TRIP PLAN

Driving is the easy part. The more you do, the bigger your paycheck. What kinds of things take away from your driving time?

"Well, I had a half a tank of fuel this morning when I started out and this afternoon, I tried to go into a Loves for a splash and dash, but everyone was parked on the fuel island. Took me an hour and a half."

Fuel at the start of your day or the end. Not in the middle.

"I had a slow shipper. Started my clock at 0600, got to my shipper at 0620 (no overnight parking). Took them 6 hours to load me."

Split log. 2 more hours in the sleeper and hammer out. Will be a tough run, but you still should be able to hammer out the miles. A slacker will have to go to the truck stop to get something to drink, then run 3-4 hours down the road and then look for one of those fat boy spots at the Loves and Peelot. If you split log how many hours would you have available to drive?

"Well Six, I can't do that. I don't want to ride that long in the saddle."

And yet, you're planning to go local. Still have to be consistent. Many locals have to run 12 hours a day, 5 days a week.

"I want one of those local jobs where I get paid by the hour. That way, I can relax."

And locals get held up too. Suddenly, your 12 hour day stretches to 14, and you have the obligations at the house. I used to run local, paid by the hour. Saw a driver get fired because he was always tired. Sleeping in a day cab, late for appointments, stretching the days, falling behind. You don't go home until the job is done.

 

Everyday Six? Nah, once a week maybe twice if your that lucky but that's about it.

The only way your doing 700 miles in a 65mph truck constantly is if your on paper logs or drive like a straight jack arse. Even driving like a jack arse ain't gonna get them miles consistently. No way.

 

I did it. So it's not impossible. And even had the safetymen tell me i couldn't. They accused me of compressing my logs. So they matched my logs to the gps. Even got audited by the dot.

Clean as a whistle.

 

FYI, driving like a jack arse doesnt consistently get you ahead of the game either.

 

That's what I said in my post.

 

Had someone at another company that i was at tell me that a 65 mph truck cannot average 65 mph. They told me that a 65 mph truck will average 50mph. And thus they wanted me to log averaging50 mph.



Got in their truck, set the trip meter on my gps and over the course of 11 hours of driving averaged 65.4 mph. I found that interesting.

 

I never asked, is this all Bobtailing?

 

Ah yes, experience and partake in the exciting local lifestyle of Center, TX and Broken Bow, OK. Savor the delightful aroma of open air aging meat. Enjoy the interaction with the local flies., several of which are sure to keep you company for a week.