How Many Miles A Month Do You Have To Run Minimum?

I don't see no problem doing drinking on a 34. I just told her if she can't get me a load, tell me. That way I won't waste my time sitting and I can do drinking. I am a professional and I need dispatch to be.

You are the problem. You don't need us, and we sure as he** don't need you. Try AA.

Move on...do your trolling elsewhere.

I don't see no problem doing drinking on a 34. I just told her if she can't get me a load, tell me. That way I won't waste my time sitting and I can do drinking.

Wow, man. One month into this career and that's how you see things? Well you'll either learn to take a much different approach to things or learn to hate this industry. They don't hand anything to new guys. You have to prove yourself. You have to earn it. It doesn't sound to us like you get that at all so I would expect to do a lot of sitting with the approach you're taking and the attitude you have toward everything.

I am a professional and I need dispatch to be.

I haven't heard the first thing from you that gives any indication of that at all. How do you define being a professional?

I don't see no problem doing drinking on a 34. I just told her if she can't get me a load, tell me. That way I won't waste my time sitting and I can do drinking.

Wow, man. One month into this career and that's how you see things? Well you'll either learn to take a much different approach to things or learn to hate this industry. They don't hand anything to new guys. You have to prove yourself. You have to earn it. It doesn't sound to us like you get that at all so I would expect to do a lot of sitting with the approach you're taking and the attitude you have toward everything.

I am a professional and I need dispatch to be.

I haven't heard the first thing from you that gives any indication of that at all. How do you define being a professional?

This is the only industry that I know of that you have to "prove" yourself and beg to get work. My last job always was asking me to work extra. If I am away from home then I need to make it worth my while.

This is the only industry that I know of that you have to "prove" yourself and beg to get work

Then you've never had a job that was performance based or a job that was difficult, dangerous, and complex like trucking is. The truth is most people can't hack it. Either they can't take the stress, they don't have the ambition, they can't stand being away from their home and family for periods of time, or any number of other reasons. But until you can prove you're hard working, safe, reliable, and professional no one is going to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Make every appointment on time, don't scratch the truck, get along with dispatch, and act like a professional out there and they'll start feeding you better miles and nicer runs. You'll start getting special favors once in a while.

But it's the same for everyone. You have to prove your worth in this industry. And it's a lot more than just turning miles. Your attitude will go a long way toward whether or not anyone is going to want to give you the great miles and special treatment the top drivers get.

John whines:

This is the only industry that I know of that you have to "prove" yourself and beg to get work. My last job always was asking me to work extra. If I am away from home then I need to make it worth my while.

I have not once, ever, begged for work or dispatches. Probably you need to beg for something to do, since it seems you'd rather take a 34 with a few 40's.

If that attitude worked at your last company, see if they have any openings now.

Well I made nice with my dispatcher , but still didn't get a load so I'm sitting but all is not lost, I went to Mac Donalds and they have a big lot next door with truck parking and employees take their smoke breaks there and I got to talking with a lady and she is going to show me around town tonight and we're going to grab drinks.

The problem is my dispatcher only gives miles to guys that flirt with her and a few drivers dated her and she gives them all the miles and leave me sit. Then she tells me I don't run enough.

I ran a trash load out of Chicago and I kept getting more and finally I told her I am not a garbage truck and I refused any more garbage loads. After that it seems like I sit a lot. The truck only has a tag axle and I kept getting stick on the mud in the trash dump because of the raggedy tires. So that's why I refused any more.

Now I'm sitting in central Indiana hopefully I can get a box load from here.

Ok, here's the approach you should take......

From now on run every load they give you and make sure you make your appointments on time. Focus on being safe and acting professional with everyone. That's how you lay the groundwork for getting runs later on.

After being cooperative, hard working, and reliable for a week or two let your dispatcher know over the Qualcomm that you're looking for more miles. Drivers that have proven themselves and are easy to get along with should expect at least 2,200 - 2,500 miles per week. At least. Top tier drivers can expect to average 2,500 - 3,000 miles per week. These numbers are assuming you're running OTR.

Now if you're not getting the miles you expect then you lobby dispatch repeatedly for more. Keep asking for more miles and make sure you're doing it over the Qualcomm, not over the phone. Qualcomm messages are stored for a long time so if there's a dispute about a situation management can go back and review what was said. If you're having conversations over the phone it's like they never happened. So keep the communication over the Qualcomm.

Now at this point we're assuming you've taken every load they offered, made all of your appointments on time, lobbied for more miles over Qualcomm, but still you're not getting as many as you would like or all of your runs are really short runs. Now you have some leverage to state your case for more miles. You simply tell dispatch that you've done everything they've asked, you've been totally reliable, and totally professional and yet you're still not being given the miles the other drivers are getting. Let her know that you understand she may not have the authority to force the load planners to give you more miles so you'd like to make some phone calls to the operations manager or the terminal manager to see if they'll pull some strings and help you get more miles.

And that's exactly what you do. Make a call to operations and let them know the situation. Tell them you're doing everything they've asked, you're handling yourself like a professional, and you've lobbied repeatedly for more miles but you just aren't getting any. Ask them if they can help.

Now I don't know what was said but at this point you may have burned the bridge with your current dispatcher. If she doesn't like you or doesn't believe in you she's not going to lobby to get you better miles. So you may have to switch dispatchers if they'll let you and start fresh with someone else.

But the strategy is simple - you have to prove yourself to be an awesome driver in every way and then expect the company to take care of you. Obviously that doesn't mean you'll always get great miles or you won't have to do any lousy runs. All of the loads have to be moved. You have to do your share of the dirty work but in return you can expect a favor or two for your efforts.

Make an awesome effort, be a true professional, and they'll take care of you. That's the strategy you should take and you'll get much better results.

When you said you're running 2,000 miles a month, was that a typo or is that really what you're getting? Cuz like I said, even with only a month out there you should be getting at least 2,200 - 2,500 miles per week, not per month.

Hello, I am new to trucking and have been at it a month with no problems so far. I had one breakdown where the truck had reduced power and it was down for almost 4 days. My miles for the first month were 2000 miles and my dispatcher is telling me I am at the very low end for miles and is pushing me to "Run Harder". When I am being unloaded I stay on duty as my trainer taught me but some here say to go off duty, but I am afraid I will end up driving tired that way since I may end up having more hours to drive but no extra time to sleep.

My training was a nightmare and I was afraid to ask questions in fear of setting my trainer off as he had a hair trigger.

Some unloads are live unloads and one time I delivered and was being loaded at the same place and I was there for 20 hours start to finish. My dispatcher kept asking me when i was leaving but I don't know what to do, another driver tells me it always takes long there.

I am not sure what I can do different, I am getting many sub 300 mile runs and I feel like a regional driver. My dispatch says my truck is iffy and they do not want to send me too far from the terminal yet until they can get me in a newer truck. I am in a 2011 Freightliner cascadia with around 820k miles. I was told its the dog of the fleet and it was supposed to be retired but a guy wrecked another one and another one lost an engine so its around for a while.

John, Once you bump the dock to be loaded or unloaded go to sleeper...do not stay on duty. That drains your 70. That could be part of the problem. Your attitude could be another. You've only been here 1 month and your making assumptions about your DM...probably heard from other drivers.

Listen...come on here...ask questions...all these guys ...Brett, Old School, G-town, 6 string....myself, chickiemonster, Rainy, there are so many drivers willing to try and help you. Imagine if you had posted....hey everyone, I'm a. Little frustrated...I only did 2k miles last month...can you help me? There would have been all those above and more willing to help you.

Listen, for some companies drinking on a 34 hour reset is a no no. Be very careful. Fired for that offense won't look good on a DAC.

Good luck! This is a great industry to be in...but it's got to come from you.

Oh...to answer your question...usually run between 8500 to 10,000 a month. But, I'm on a dedicated account home weekly for a reset. If I managed my hours like the OTR drivers that run recaps, I may be able to get more.

This is the only industry that I know of that you have to "prove" yourself and beg to get work. My last job always was asking me to work extra. If I am away from home then I need to make it worth my while.

This is a performance based industry. One must prove themselves to get rewarded. That is why I want to be a trucker. I want to get paid by my worth. Right now I show up on tome every day and work hard all day and my boss never even says thank you. As a trucker, once you prove that you are an asset to your company, you will get the miles and favors. Until then one must tough it out and take some crap. If you spend a year working hard at your first company you will have it much easier at the next. Your attitude is everything. Good luck.