Late On Load?

So I've never really been late on loads, I've been driving for about a year now. I'm noticing a lot of the time Werner has been given me loads that are already late, or are due at a time where I am going to be late no matter what I do because I don't have enough time to run the miles. While I know that's not my fault I can't help but get nervous I'm going to get in trouble for being late. I'm on a load right now waiting at the shipper 4 hours so far it has to be in Oklahoma tomorrow by 11 am, 830pm here right now. But I haven't slept and my hours are about to run out. I can't go to sleep until I'm on a dock and I'm nervous to ask them to reschedule the appointment tomorrow because I don't feel like losing my job, but I also can't run at 1 am when my hours come back off of no sleep. It's not a jit load. Am I just being paranoid?

We posted similar threads at the same time! Lol I wish I could answer your question, but we are running into the same thing lately...last six loads.

We posted similar threads at the same time! Lol I wish I could answer your question, but we are running into the same thing lately...last six loads.

lol, I noticed that!

Remember, if you are late through no fault of your own, load was already late when given to you, problems at the shipper , traffic, and the like, you will not get in trouble. Just keep your fleet manager in the loop.

Another thing to keep in mind, unless the time given is an appointment time for a live load, chances are good that there is actually a window beyond the time listed in your load information and you may not be as late as you think.

Werner knows things happen and you won't get into trouble for things beyond your control. That said, always make sure to do everything in your power to deliver on time safely and legally and you will be fine.

Remember communication with your fleet manager is one of the most important things you can do.

I also can't run at 1 am when my hours come back off of no sleep

Ok so you've been driving for about a year now so you should know the drill pretty well. It's up to you to manage your time in such a way that you're ready to roll when you have hours available.

If I'm your dispatcher and I put you on a load knowing you have hours available and enough time to make the run but I have to re-power it or reschedule it because you need more sleep then I'm gonna make sure you get an awful lot of sleep this week if you know what I mean. You'd be doing a lot of sitting around twiddling your thumbs at truck stops wondering why you're not being given any freight.

Now obviously if you're too tired to drive you don't drive. That's a given. I just want to be clear that I'm not telling you to drive in spite of how you feel. But what I am telling you is that you have to manage your time better. You have to be ready to roll when the hours are available. When you've only been driving a month or two that stuff is going to happen from time to time. But by the end of a year you know how things work and you know what's expected of you as a professional driver.

You're not going to lose your job over this kind of stuff but you're going to be averaging more like 2,200 miles per week when the top drivers are getting 2,800+ because they're managing their time better and they're more reliable. They're not calling dispatch saying the load will be late or needs to be re-powered because they need more sleep even though they have hours available and they've been sitting around for hours doing nothing.

But like I said, you're not going to lose your job over something like that.

Can you try taking naps along the route? 14 hour clock and 11 drive time allows for a couple hours to nap. Say you roll out at 1am... drive for three hours and take a 2 hour nap. Drive for another few hours Take 8 in sleeper. Then when you catch up on sleep you can go back to a "normal" 10 br schedule.

If you go on duty before leaving the customer... then your hours won't come back at 1am. If I really need sleep and am not preplanned for my next load I will do this. When it comes to an 01... well.. I would run it for a few hours the. Take a nap... even 30 min if you're that tired is much better than none. I usually try to do 30 or 2 hours just to keep getti ti me back.