would this make you mad?

On odd delivery hours like that...I reserve a spot at a T/A or Flying Peelot, that way I know I will have a parking spot

 

As long as I was getting paid it would not make me mad.

 

If you're in Dallas-Old Dominion, Estes, Southeastern, and Saia are all hiring right now. Line haul @ night, local pu/delv day shift. Southeastern will bring you on with very limited experience.(they actually have driver trainee programs) You can easily find local/regional intermodal jobs easy also. Coal City Cobb in Waxahachie will train you on tankers, regional runs are out/back so get by the house a few times a week, OTR system runs are normally home every other week but pay a lot more.

 

Central is hiring also, also running linehaul or pu/delv. They relocated from Fort Worth to Dallas a few years ago.

 

Drive long enough your going to go on many wild goose chases. I once had to return to my company drop yard in Illinois just outside of St Louis from just east of Blue Springs Mo. All because a load planner messed up. I asked my FM if I would get paid for what turned out to be almost 600 miles and my day shot. He said he would ask. The answer came back no, but after I spoke to the higher ups in operations I did get paid but it was almost a month later. Outside of a union CBA you as a driver have little recourse in these situations. You can quit I guess, but where are you going to go? This crap happens at just about every non union carrier. There are some things you can do to limit these empty miles, one is never deadhead empty over long unreasonable miles unless you have been told you will be paid the miles and stand your ground. I just exchanged emails with a driver from these forums and we were writing about him growing a pair of nads something he was scared to do because he was job scared. A driver whom is job scared is a driver that is being held prisoner by a company. If it were me I would demand payment for those 80 miles or ask the company where they want their equipment parked and be prepared to quit!

 

if they sent you to CA, and called you back, you were on thier dime, they should have paid you, after all, they made the change, not you.

 

I would have stayed on the CA load.

I once was coming out of Ontario via Buffalo reloaded for Phoenix AZ and a 2540 mile payday for that run due in a couple of nights as a Team. Chicago Dispatch asked if we are to go back into Ontario and customs via Detroit. A winter storm was spooling up with ice pellets starting to coat my mirrors. And 90 something in Phoenix.

That was the beginning of the end, and a new beginning I think Chicago Dispatch resented our refusal. IF they were to look up the loads we were lassoing the previous 10 days; nothing greater than 1100 miles. So the 2450 mile haul represented a chance to finally make a dollar and a path to escape Chicago's operation area which was difficult but not that profitable.

If a company does not wanna pay me 80 miles, I hop into a TA somewhere and incur a oil change, grease etc. Next thing the company understands they just have to pay out a bill three times the 80 mile rates.

Ive done that a time or two. When they storm and ask me wtf? I said it's cheaper to pay me rather than paying two to three times that much in deferred shop work that ....

They really hate that. Seriously.

 

The simple and logical thing to do is before turning around, saying ok, or assuming is simply state I need all the info to make an informed decision. At that point its all up to you.

 

Wore Out That pete and trailer looks really excellent for me. Thank you again for posting. That is a wonderful and motivating posting.

 

OTR sucks...

Nothing like being home enjoying a hot coffee or cold beer after work !