Late Dispatches

@G-Town:

Meant as a compliment!

I know. Thank you. (ErrolV says with a smile.)

It's just the non-power of printed words: no inflection or hand waving.

@G-Town:

Meant as a compliment!

I know. Thank you. (ErrolV says with a smile.)

It's just the non-power of printed words: no inflection or hand waving.

You're welcome! Errol, more than anyone else on this forum your thoughtful prose strikes the perfect balance between humor and instruction. Even when you are calling someone out you are able to do it with respect and somehow manage to "tell them where to go" so that they actually enjoy the ride!

You're welcome! Errol, more than anyone else on this forum your thoughtful prose strikes the perfect balance between humor and instruction. Even when you are calling someone out you are able to do it with respect and somehow manage to "tell them where to go" so that they actually enjoy the ride!

I'm going to use this as a letter of reference. Thanks!

It didn't come with loadlocks and we were refused at the SLC terminal when we asked for them at the guard shack. He was the one who told us we couldn't get them unless we had a load dispatched that req'd them

Now that's dumb. That makes no sense at all. Every truck needs a set of straps or load locks. Either the guard misunderstood your situation or he failed to explain that you need permission to pick up a set or something. But obviously you're not going to swing by a terminal every time you need load locks. I would speak with dispatch about the policy for load locks and find out what the deal is. They normally will assign a driver one set and expect you to turn them back in when you quit. Sometimes they'll charge you for them, sometimes they won't. The problem is that there's always some knuckleheads out there that will try to sell them or just get careless and lose them or whatever. But obviously you have to have them. Talk around and find out what the deal is with that. Talk to some other drivers from your company also. These large companies are so complex that it's not often you'll find any one person that really knows the various policies and procedures.

It's just getting increasingly frustrating because we don't receive detention pay if we are late to an appt.

Personally I never cared a bit about getting paid for detention time and in 15 years of driving I probably didn't get it five times. I never even asked. I just figured I got paid when the wheels were turning and so does my company so as long as they keep giving me the miles we'll all make good money. Don't stress yourself over it. It amounts to pennies in the end. Just make sure you do an awesome job out there so the company will keep pouring on the miles. As long as you're getting great miles your paycheck will look great. There's already enough to stress about out there without sweating the small stuff and detention pay is small stuff.

Calling the customer is a great idea, and I will be certain to do that in these situations from now on. I was under the impression that our DM was "God" and we had to do everything through him or After Hours

Well that's the impression they want you to have. You know how corporations are - they're all about having control over everything. They don't want anyone to have any unnecessary authority or information or privileges if they can help it. But the top tier drivers are always going above and beyond what most drivers will do to find creative ways to keep those wheels turning and to make good things happen. Moving your appointment times earlier if possible is one great way of making some extra money.

Now I'll tell you what I used to do but be kinda careful about it. This is one of those gray area things, but the gray areas are where the top tier drivers make their magic happen. I used to call customers and say:

"Hi. This is Brett Aquila with U.S. Xpress. We're coming in there with a load that's scheduled for Wednesday morning but I'd love to be able to get that moved up to Tuesday morning if possible because we have another load scheduled to pick up Tuesday afternoon that we'd love to put this driver on. Is there any chance we can make that happen?"

The "gray area" about that statement is that I never tell them I'm the driver and I speak in my "official office-sounding voice". And of course the whole story is a lie so that's about as gray area as it gets. LoL! But they always get the impression that you're with customer service. If they think you're a driver they might not care. But if they think you're office personnel they'll care a lot more.

Old School has mentioned numerous times that your dispatcher will love you if you can make things happen and take care of things out there without their intervention. It takes some time to build a good relationship with your dispatcher but believe me, they know which drivers are really savvy and which ones aren't. They love those drivers that only seem to have about 1/4 of the problems that anyone else has, they're always getting the job done on time or early, and once you're assigned a load they know it's as good as done so they can forget about it and handle other problems instead.

Listen, you're still so new out there that all of this stuff takes time to learn. Don't sweat it a bit. Just keep learning all you can, be safe at all times, and do everything in your power to be on time to all appointments. As a rookie you really have no idea how little you know. Once you've been out there a year or two you'll look back and go, "omg I was sooooo clueless and I didn't even know it!" Trust me - every veteran driver has a long list of stories that start out "One time when I was still a rookie I....."

Brett, G-town, and Errol already covered everything on here, but just wanted to emphasize Brett's point on the washes. I run reefer and very few of my loads are actually dry, but I only washout my trailer maybe half of the time, if even that. I typically only get a washout if it needs it or the customer requires it--that way I save myself time and my company money. I usually only need washouts on meat loads.

I'm in agreement with Paul. I pull reefer , meat primarily, but I have never gotten a trailer washout.

I've had load info saying that I was required to but upon checking the trailer all it needed was a quick sweep.

A lot of what we pull in a reefer is either frozen and/or palletized which minimizes leakage and mess.

With Reefer I only had to get my trailer washed out once & that was only because the customer "required" it & you had to show up there with the receipt as proof.

I'm in agreement with Paul. I pull reefer , meat primarily, but I have never gotten a trailer washout.

I've had load info saying that I was required to but upon checking the trailer all it needed was a quick sweep.

A lot of what we pull in a reefer is either frozen and/or palletized which minimizes leakage and mess.

Lol ChickieMonster, now I partially disagree with you. I typically get it after a meat load partially because it stinks most of the time (maybe I just have a sensitive nose??) but partly for health reasons. Once I delivered a load of meat and subsequently picked up a load of fresh produce in open containers, using the same trailer. I didn't know until I got there that that was what I was supposed to pick up and that I was supposed to have gotten a washout. It didn't say it anywhere in my preplan notes, but it did say in the pickup sheet I was given at the customer that you were required to get a washout if you had just hauled meat. I've also picked up frozen raspberries in open barrels. Im not a health expert, but I imagine bacteria and such would be a concern. Sometimes there's even blood on the floor after one of those loads.

Just my two cents.

I get aost every trailer 2as he'd out and fueled as soon as I get the load ... or as soon as I empty my last load. As long as you don't scan the trip in that is your load... so even if empty... the last load assignment worms until scanned.

Load locks are something I had to pay for as a company driver. When I lose them to a dropped trailer I message FM to put money on my card and get new ones. I get reimbursed. You could look thru some trailers at the customers and will probably find some... done that too.

Personally I never cared a bit about getting paid for detention time and in 15 years of driving I probably didn't get it five times. I never even asked. I just figured I got paid when the wheels were turning and so does my company so as long as they keep giving me the miles we'll all make good money. Don't stress yourself over it. It amounts to pennies in the end.

Not so for us, Brett, but maybe a year from now. At 14cpm, every penny counts! Lol. $16/hr for four hours pays more than some of our short runs lol. Like last night...we waited five and a half hours, and again now...sitting here two hours already and still five trucks ahead of us. Only two have moved since we got here...on time btw! Lol

I get aost every trailer 2as he'd out and fueled as soon as I get the load ... or as soon as I empty my last load. As long as you don't scan the trip in that is your load... so even if empty... the last load assignment worms until scanned.

That's something to consider...will pass that but our DM when he calls me back. P.S...you aren't driving while answering are you???

Im not a health expert, but I imagine bacteria and such would be a concern.

Umm...yeah! Sorry, not something I'm gonna play with.