Top Driver Pay?

Sambo, this is actually a very relevant topic for our forum that you have brought up. I'm going to make some remarks here that are not aimed specifically at you, so please don't take offense. Your questions concerning how to manage things so that you can be earning the most money possible are right there at the top of the reasons why so many people get frustrated with trucking and move on to something else. We have all faced the same frustrations that you have mentioned in the various scenarios that you laid out for us. I almost feel inadequate to tell you how best to work out the problems you were facing because I don't haul a reefer , and don't spend time at Distribution Centers. One of the things I like about flat-bed work is that it has some features about it that make it a little easier to capitalize on certain time management tricks. But... it really doesn't matter which type of freight we are hauling, we all have got to figure out how to "make it work" so we don't starve to death.

One thing that I noticed in the scenarios that you laid out, that I would definitely avoid, is that business of parking two hours away, and then rolling in there in the morning 30 to 45 minutes early. You are killing your 14 hour clock that way. I know that it seems like the shipper/receiver is the one killing your clock, but I can tell you after a few times of going through that I would have found a different strategy. I don't know what that would be for you, but surely after doing that enough times you realize what it is doing to your clock. I find that truckers are creative people, and what one person likes to do to conserve his drive time, might not be what another does, but there is one common thread that runs through a successful truck drivers philosophy, and that is that he takes measures to keep himself moving and therefore making the top money. Just imagine if you could be finishing up your ten hour break right about the time you are leaving that customer. You already have a pre-plan, and now you have hours to roll. That is how I always approach my time management. Driving time equals dollars in the bank. Sitting and fretting equals frustration and lost time, which means we burn up our times of availability, keeping us at the lower end of the earnings potential.

One of the things that makes for success at this career is being creative and learning how to work around the obstacles, and brother there are plenty of them that can get in our way. I make a habit of changing my appointment times. I'm on a 1,500 mile load right now that has six stops on it and finals out in Connecticut on Friday afternoon. As soon as I got the load I started working the phone and moved all the appointments up a notch and will now complete the load Thursday at noon. That allows me to get a back haul load on Thursday and puts me back down in Louisiana by Saturday when the really nice loads are going out of our plant there. Had I not taken that initiative, I may not be back down there until Monday or Tuesday, and that just kills a perfectly good chance at having a really nice week. I'll get dispatched close to 4.500 miles this week just because of what I did with those appointments. Had I settled for running this load the way it was given to me, I would more than likely lost 1,500 of those potential miles by not taking my own initiative. Stuff like that really adds up over a year's time.

I want you to look at where I am parked tonight. Here is my truck in Riverdale, New Jersey, a town with no truck parking available. It is a typical Northeast town with no consideration for truck drivers and their needs...

Now I could have done like you mentioned and parked two hours away, got started early and taken my chances, but I can't risk that and still make these appointments that I have moved up. When they finish with me here in the morning, I am going to need every bit of my precious time to make it all happen. I'm not even saying that you should do stuff like this, but what I am trying to point out is that top tier drivers make things happen in their favor out here. I am parked in a public street right out in front of my customer who doesn't allow over night parking. I will have gotten my ten hour break over with when they unload me in the morning, and I can roll like the wind tomorrow. Not everyone is comfortable doing something like this, and I understand that completely. For me, I am not comfortable letting my time get wasted, so I take what some might consider to be drastic measures. I like the conveniences of being at a truck stop, but I forgo those things when it helps me to earn more money and be more productive.

Continued...

This is a tough job, as evidenced by the high turn-over and the demand for drivers. I saw an ad today for a ten thousand dollar sign-on bonus being offered by some company, that is a drastic measure to lure in drivers! And you know what? It isn't just "meat in the seat" that trucking companies are looking for, they want guys and gals who know how to get things done out here. There can be a vast difference in revenues produced by different drivers who are both working under the same log rules and running to the same customers. Why do you think that is so? Some folks just seem to step up to the challenge and make it all come together. It's a little bit like a rookie baseball player taking his rookie year plunge. He has never had anybody pitching 100+ miles per hour, pin point accurate, fastballs at him before, but he can't just complain and say "Hey, I didn't know it was going to be like this!" He has got to prove himself worthy or they won't be needing him next year. He has got to take courage and do what ever it takes to make it happen. He may spend sleepless nights working at it in the batting cages, or he may do a hundred other things to get himself to that level of play, but do it he will, because his future rests on his accomplishments.

Again Sambo, these remarks aren't aimed at you. It is just that you triggered some thoughts in me with your provocative questions. I merely wanted other newbies in here to realize that the same things that have frustrated you are going to be frustrating them. You went on to another type of driving job, and I hope it works out well for you. But for those of you who want to be an Over the Road driver, Sambo's experiences will jump right up into your path and hinder you as well. We all face these same adversities. You are going to find that there are drivers who just seem to manage it all with finesse and grace, and there are some who just stumble their way all over the place. There are whiners and complainers in abundance out here, and they have reason to gripe and complain - they aren't making any money. There are also a good number of drivers who figure out how to make things happen out here. You definitely want to be in that latter half - they are the happy ones who are living large out here.

One thing that jumped right out at me:

Perhaps I should have been adamant with my dm about getting breakdown pay and layover pay?

Granted, there's a whole lot of gray area about how you could define "adamant," but to me it's kissing cousins to "demanding." Being demanding is something you really want to avoid. Assertive enough to make your wants and/or needs known, but not aggressive.

I've had a couple of breakdowns in the last few months. One left me stuck in SLC for 5 days, one only had me down for a 34. In both cases, once the problems were resolved and I was back at it, I simply messaged my FM asking "Hey, am I getting breakdown pay for (insert dates here)?" Both times, he's responded with "Yep, just entered it into the system." One time last summer I got stuck sitting at a shipper for 17 1/2 hours waiting for a "preloaded" trailer. I made sure to update him every couple three hours that I was still waiting, and once I'd hit the 12 hour mark I asked if that qualified as layover pay vs. detention, since detention tops out at 8 hrs. He told me he'd check on it, and lo and behold, on my next check I actually got both.

I don't think being "adamant" about getting accessorial pay for various circumstances is really necessary. But it's definitely a good idea to put the bee in your FM's bonnet that you'd like to receive it.

I understand OS. The scenario I mentioned about parking 2 hours away was just an example of when you run out of drive time, an have to bring it in the next day. Had I left when my 10 hours were up, I would have arrived about 7 hours before my appointment time, and would have had to park at a truck stop and wait.

Then, I would have had to leave the truck stop before I got an 8/2 split in or a 10 hour break, which means I would have had to unload and do another 10 hour break.

Rarely is it that we have our destination near enough to a truck stop to be able to get there without tripping out clock. Most of the time, it's between 5 to 15 miles. Some places it's up to 30 miles.

On reefer and dry side, we are not allowed to park in a public street, on an on/off ramp, or along any public roadway. They call it "sitting duck" and if caught, it's automatic termination, same goes with U turns, again, automatic termination. Now having said that, there is an exception, and that is if it is at a customer and there is ample space and parking is allowed. Most of the distribution centers we go to are along streets where parking is not an option. Not to mention, we are on appointment times, and you may show up and there will be up to 12 trucks in line ahead of you.

Also, in reefer and dry side, as far as I'm aware, we are not allowed to change appointment times. We can call and see if we can show up early, but beyond that, we have to go through our dm , and i believe he has to go through the planner to make that happen.

I think if I had it to do over, I definitely could have done it differently and probably have made a much bigger impact, but hind sight is 20/20. Still, I hate ending that segment of my driving career not hitting on full potential, that is why I call it a failure.