Too Much Time On Load

Or you could get a job that pays you whether you are driving or not.

Having lots of time on loads is normal. A lot of my loads have a few days on them. I just ask my DM to get an early appointment or tcall the load the exceptions are when I am close to home or going thought home then I just leave the load as is and go home for a day or so. Maybe have some maintenance taken care of. You will probley have to ask for the time to get speed up on the loads at first. Dont be afraid to ask. Are you going dry or ref?

Having lots of time on loads is normal. A lot of my loads have a few days on them. I just ask my DM to get an early appointment or tcall the load the exceptions are when I am close to home or going thought home then I just leave the load as is and go home for a day or so. Maybe have some maintenance taken care of. You will probley have to ask for the time to get speed up on the loads at first. Dont be afraid to ask. Are you going dry or ref?

Refer

That's normal with ref. Because loads need to be picked up and delivered at certain times. That's how perishables work. But Swift has been pretty good about keeping me moving if a load has to much time on it. You just have to ask.

Theron, there is a lot concerning this scenario that you mention, dependent on a company's resources and organizational skills.

If the company has the resources to purchase a lot of trailers, and leave them on the company's property, as well as offer them a discount for pre loading the trailer, it can make a huge difference in keeping drivers moving instead of waiting for live loads.

For instance, some companies I service, give me a passcode to their gate, so that I can pick up a preloaded trailer after hours. I go into the shipper , go to a designated area where they leave multiple bill of ladings for different companies. I locate the one that belongs to me, I fill it out, and do a quick drop and hook and I am on my way.

Same goes for making deliveries early. If the company you work for has you involved in virtually all live loading and unloading, once you get some driving experience, you can start applying to companies who have better resources and capital, which allows them to keep their drivers moving much more effectively.

Having said that, even the best of companies can find a driver in a location, where freight is scarce. In that case, I pick up the load, and see if I can t-call the load or relay it with another driver, where we swap loads. In some cases, dispatch can make this scenario work so that it is beneficial to both drivers, and allows a load to be delivered on time that otherwise would need to be rescheduled.

Then I guess it doesn't help any that I still have not gotten my license yet. Swift mentorship is 200 hours & within the first 50 hours they try to get you to your home state to get your license that way you & your trainer can then run as a team. But instead of running team he has to be in the front seat on duty since I am still driving off of a permit. Every state excep Louisiana you can go to any DMV in the state to upgrade your permit into a license but in Louisiana you have to go to the exact DMV that issued you your permit to upgrade it to a license, which in my case is Baton Rouge. We are being told that freight is slow down south right now therefore they haven't been able to get us a load through Baton Rouge or even close. Out of the 200 training hours you need I'm at 70 as of today. & I left with my mentor on 3/11/16.

You will find with Swift that reefer is always slow down south. It's not uncommon for me to have to sit for 1 or 2 days sometimes, down there. I try to stay out of the South when I can. You will find there are just areas with low freight valume for a company.

I'm on a dedicated run , and most (not all) will take us when we show up early without a call, as long as its not much more than an hour or so early. If I'm running earlier, especially if I have an average size order or larger I will call to see if they will take me early. The worse thing they can do is say no.... But I will also call if I'm running more than 30 minutes late as a courtesy. this way it builds a good relationship with the receivers... I find that most will take me early if I call..... But again, I'm on a dedicated account, so I deal with the same receivers most of the time, which I like...