Pa State - Dedicated Runs

So from what I have heard from various folks is that there are many companies that have dedicated runs. My questions are:

1 -how easy are these to get? 2 -and do you mainly drive within your own state?

any information you guys and gals have and want to share about what dedicated runs are or if you have personal experience with this I would gladly like to hear them. Thank you

So from what I have heard from various folks is that there are many companies that have dedicated runs. My questions are:

1 -how easy are these to get? 2 -and do you mainly drive within your own state?

any information you guys and gals have and want to share about what dedicated runs are or if you have personal experience with this I would gladly like to hear them. Thank you

If all goes well for me at orientation and the company offers me a position, I will be hauling dedicated out of PA. For me I was told it will be a 500-600 mile radius of Carlisle including possibly to Canada.

Dedicated can mean a lot of different things. I am a dedicated driver for SAPA Aluminum. Most of my loads originate from their plant in Delhi, Louisiana. You can pretty much drag a line down from the Western border of the Dakotas down along the Western side of the Texas Panhandle and I will be delivering loads to all the states East of that line. Today I delivered to Farmington, Connecticut. I am on my way back to Louisiana now to grab a load to Miami, Florida.

I am considered dedicated because my job is to satisfy this one particular customer's needs. When they say jump, I ask them how high?

So from what I have heard from various folks is that there are many companies that have dedicated runs. My questions are:

1 -how easy are these to get? 2 -and do you mainly drive within your own state?

any information you guys and gals have and want to share about what dedicated runs are or if you have personal experience with this I would gladly like to hear them. Thank you

If all goes well for me at orientation and the company offers me a position, I will be hauling dedicated out of PA. For me I was told it will be a 500-600 mile radius of Carlisle including possibly to Canada.

Tyler- would this be Schneider?

Old school - Do you always go back to the same "starting point"? Meaning, after you drop the load, do you go back to the same terminal to load up again at the same spot?

Old school - Do you always go back to the same "starting point"? Meaning, after you drop the load, do you go back to the same terminal to load up again at the same spot?

Yes, that is how this particular dedicated account works. This is a unique situation where my employer (Knight) works very closely with the customer. Our dispatcher actually has his office at the plant. This customer has approximately 25 plants across the country, and their Transportation Director is an employee of Knight Transportation, on the Knight Payroll. That Transportation director works with all the other various Knight dispatchers at the different plants and they will try to coordinate back haul loads for us to help pay for us to return to the plant we are dedicated to. Often times when I go to Farmington, Connecticut I will pick up a load down at the SAPA plant in Cressona, Pennsylvania that is headed to some Southern State. That helps pay the bills for my return to Louisiana to pick up the load they have waiting on me there. Even though this is flat-bed work, I am almost always picking up a pre-loaded trailer from the various SAPA plants that I may go to. Here is a look at a typical load for me on this account.

Notice on my truck doors there is the SAPA logo, yet on the front of the roof of the tractor you will see the Knight Logo prominently displayed.

I'm just adding in a different dedicated style. I drive for Swift, and my account is dedicated to Georgia Pacific (a paper company). My loads can be from paper rolls (a roll of paper on end stands about 6 ft high and about 4 feet in diameter, weighs 5 tons, give or take.) to tissue rolls to scrap/shredded paper. I move freight between GP locations, and pickup/deliver to customers and suppliers - anything GP needs moved.

My area is from Dallas/Houston east and from Ohio south. (My "big run" is from Savannah, Georgia to Muskogee, OK.) My training instructor had a GP dedicated account that only worked from Texas to Alabama, and all south of the middle of Mississippi. This works for me, and probably for the other dedicated drivers: we are paid .38 CPM for all miles, run somewhere around 2500 miles per week. We get a 34 hour break every weekend and are routed through our home area for that. Bad news: no detention, so waiting for 5 hours is just waiting. No other "added" pay like layover either. But we do get a guaranteed amount based on a three week average, so there might be a "little something extra" in a paycheck.

I'm just adding in a different dedicated style. I drive for Swift, and my account is dedicated to Georgia Pacific (a paper company). My loads can be from paper rolls (a roll of paper on end stands about 6 ft high and about 4 feet in diameter, weighs 5 tons, give or take.) to tissue rolls to scrap/shredded paper. I move freight between GP locations, and pickup/deliver to customers and suppliers - anything GP needs moved.

My area is from Dallas/Houston east and from Ohio south. (My "big run" is from Savannah, Georgia to Muskogee, OK.) My training instructor had a GP dedicated account that only worked from Texas to Alabama, and all south of the middle of Mississippi. This works for me, and probably for the other dedicated drivers: we are paid .38 CPM for all miles, run somewhere around 2500 miles per week. We get a 34 hour break every weekend and are routed through our home area for that. Bad news: no detention, so waiting for 5 hours is just waiting. No other "added" pay like layover either. But we do get a guaranteed amount based on a three week average, so there might be a "little something extra" in a paycheck.

Errol- your post was helpful and specific. This is what I want to start out with- home on weekends, until I find a home daily route.

What time and day do you get home, for 34 hour break? What time and day do you start your route? In the past you wrote that you start your day about 2-3 am, then park early afternoon- that way there are plenty of spots at truck stops and you can pull into a spot going forward instead of having to back in.

Thanks again. - Jetguy

Jetguy wants details:

What time and day do you get home, for 34 hour break? What time and day do you start your route? In the past you wrote that you start your day about 2-3 am, then park early afternoon- that way there are plenty of spots at truck stops and you can pull into a spot going forward instead of having to back in.

Getting home: Usually I get a pick-up on Friday, say in South Carolina. The delivery might be in Dallas Monday afternoon. That has a built in time for a 34 hour break. This easily routes through Memphis, where I live. It's up to me to get home, so naturally I try to get home from SC as soon as I can. Since we can drive only 11 hours, (subtracting time for the pick-up) I usually get home mid afternoon on Saturday. Either I stash the truck at a close by local Flying J or take it to the terminal (30 minutes drive to home).

{{-([ 3 4 h o u r b r e a k ])-}}

I have to leave early enough on Monday to get the load delivered on time.

Inside my five +/- days driving, I might work to get the midnight - noon driving time. That works for most dock appointments, but most of my drops & pickups are at DCs, where it's pretty easy just to get there sometime that day, no appointment needed. But then, when I get home, I end up sleeping all afternoon/evening, and getting up around 3am. My wife hates that!

Errol- I have to get used to the trucking mindset that this is a lifestyle- that the truck schedule comes first- that home time is worked around truck schedule.

It's really neat how yours is set up. S Carolina Friday, then Memphis, 34 hour, then Dallas Monday. Pretty neat setting up 34 hour on the weekend.

Schneider has a terminal at Edwardsville Il- that looks good so far- because I'd like 2 days off each week with a dedicated or regional route. Edwardsville is close to St. Louis, and I live west of St. Louis. I'm also going to talk to Swift, Roehl and Werner.

Thanks for being so helpful!! -Jetguy

It's really neat how yours is set up. S Carolina Friday, then Memphis, 34 hour, then Dallas Monday. Pretty neat setting up 34 hour on the weekend.

(The above was an example. Right now I'm going from south Mississippi to Jackson, TN, with the weekend in between.)

Keep in mind you'll probably end up OTR , where you can look forward to two days off every two weeks. That depends on Schneider's OTR/home time policy. Anything "better" than OTR happens after you have worked a while, showing the dispatchers you can handle it, and so you get to know the ropes of trucking better. This gig took me all of 10 months of from going solo/OTR to get here.

Also, know that I don't "set up" my schedule - the GP dedicated dispatchers have the weekend 34 set up for nearly everyone on the dedicated account. My choice in the matter was whether my "main" day off was Saturday or Sunday. I chose Sunday.

Monday, 7:00! Gotta go Memphis to Jackson, TN, for a pick-up by noon!