Life On The Road. Some Bad And Some Good.

Turlte..the 5 hours was on this load he has now. so different isues.

Big Scott wrote:

Also, by the time I got out of the shop, I no longer had the hours in my clock to get it there on time. I was coming up 5 hours short no matter how I figured it.

I was just trying to clear a confusion for any newbies reading this, not berate the guy. Lord knows I've made my own mistakes.

i thought you meant todays post lol

darn TA takes an average of 5 hours...they suck lol

this is why i get routed through terminals for repairs as much as possible

TA is kinda hit or miss for me. Went in there for an air leak one time and was out in 10 minutes. Another time I went in for a tire and was out in 30 minutes. Yet another time I went in for a faulty light, and spent eight hours. Ya just never know.

I prefer the terminal also. But there was one time I called ahead to get into Pittston for a DOT inspection. "Yeah sure, will get you right in." NOT. 9 hrs later I finally pulled out of the garage. Since I wasn't under a load at the time I wasn't a priority.

"he made a rookie mistake"

is an important point. I doubt anyone here knew everything about how to be the most productive and efficient driver in less than a year of driving. I will go out on a limb and assume it takes much longer than 1 years experience to gain the knowledge you experienced drivers have, especially when it comes to time management. Not to mention, you admit to still making mistakes time to time.

Big Scotts original post was concerning communication, yet his post became about his time management and how he made a big error that cost his company. He also was criticized for not resting when he should have, even after stating he could not sleep. We have all had those times when we could not sleep when we should have, haven't we? Personally, as a nurse who worked swing shifts for many years, I had plenty of times when my body said "I can't sleep now, sorry" and I was awake the entire time I "should have" been resting, only to become drowsy later at work. I wasn't driving an 80,000 lb truck, but I personally know nurses who either had their licensed revoked or suspended due to making errors. Some were due to poor fitness related to their being tired/exhausted. I myself have been tired and questioned if I were fit to perform my job safely. Thankfully I never made any known errors due to that. Big Scott mentioned he was exhausted, so he called his dispatcher to get the load repowered. Again, he was criticized because of it. I am constantly reading comments by experienced drivers to "drive safe ", yet when Big Scott did just that and got off the road, he read how he caused his company headaches, time and money. I wonder how much time and money he would have caused his company, and himself, not to mention the physical , emotional and physical damage he could have caused to others, himself and his company if he had caused an accident due to being sleepy behind the wheel. Frankly, I don't want my family around an exhausted driver. Do you? I would care less if they were doing all they could to "get the job done" or not. Not in the litigative society we live in.

Guys, he made a rookie mistake of not understanding 8/2 splits and trying to do them. This is something everyone should try when they have plenty of time on the load so they see it in action and understand it.

He called dispatch and told them he was doing the 8/2 but even doing so would not have helped. Dispatch should have known that.

Yes, he delayed the repower by sleeping after the 14 hour shop time. yes he delayed again by taking a useless 8 sleeper because unbeknowst to him, he wasnt getting additional time back after the 8. the 8 plus "a few hours of sleep" would have completed a split or full 10 if utilized correctly. Plus he was running on recaps and did not get a full 11...so again, he erroneously believe he would get time back from the 8/2 but it wasnt there anyway.

CFI is not huge like Prime or Swift. what do they have like 500 trucks? No one was close enough to him anyway until a certain time. could a solo have helped him out had he done the 8/2 correctly...maybe. instead a team did. and the load got delivered. this could have been much worse had he not realized his error until much later. or if he had been an idiot and dedcided to run it without fixing the trailer issues..come on we have all seen drivers do that.

this is a prime example of why drivers need that whole first year to learn the time management and tricks to be successful.

i also think this is a great example to newbies reading this that even when you mess up, you admit it as he did to dispatch when he realized the error and get it taken care of ASAP.

Turlte..the 5 hours was on this load he has now. so different issues.

Don please read Patrick's response to Big Scott:

Big Scott there is an old saying in trucking that still rings true to this day. "Sleep when you can, drive when you must."

NO ONE suggested he drive sleepy. NO ONE who matters in this forum ever will...

Are we clear on that?

Don, you couldn't be more wrong in what you're saying - and here's why:

1) Understand our job here. Our job is to coach people into becoming Top Tier Drivers. We're going to do all we can to offer advice that is going to make people better drivers, which will hopefully make them feel better about themselves at the same time.

2) We were totally supportive of Big Scott. We all told Big Scott he did an awesome job of communicating his situation and commended him for that. You're seeing things through your own negative filter so apparently you've filtered out all of the compliments and encouragement we gave him. I suggest you go back through and read it again from a more objective view.

3) We're honest with people. We complemented what he did right, but we also told him the situation should have never happened in the first place, for a long list of reasons, and that's the truth. That would not have happened to me or any of the moderators here. We would have delivered that load on time ourselves I can assure you. That was only an 800 - 900 mile run with over 40 hours to do it from the time he was loaded until his delivery. He could have looked for a shop with a shorter wait time, or maybe called road service. There are always options. He also should have slept during that 14 hour wait. That is not even debatable.

We love having Big Scott around and we want to see him be successful. That's why we complemented him for what he did right and discussed with him the ways he could have done better in areas he was lacking. That's what you do when you care about someone and want to see them become successful at something that is extremely challenging.

In our discussion regarding Top Tier Drivers, What Does It Take To Be The Best , G-Town brilliantly listed "being coachable" as one of the key qualities it takes to become a Top Tier Driver.

Don, does your reaction to us trying to help Big Scott get better make you seem coachable?

Does Big Scott's long list of excuses and defenses make him seem coachable?

We're not always going to say everything with perfect grace, but we are going to say everything with perfect intention - the intention of helping people get the most out of their trucking careers. But that's a two way street. We'll do our best to be as friendly and supportive as we can, and you have to do your best to accept good intentioned constructive criticism with some grace and appreciation.

I understand and as mentioned before, fully appreciate the information provided by the experienced drivers on this website. There are great articles and posts that are extremely beneficial to new drivers here, and will assist drivers in becoming better at there craft.

On this particular thread I personally feel there was a more negative vibe. I could be way off base. It is just my opinion. The op's thoughts/perception are more important than mine though. I'll read the entire thread again and pull the positive comments and teaching moments from them.

Don, you couldn't be more wrong in what you're saying - and here's why:

1) Understand our job here. Our job is to coach people into becoming Top Tier Drivers. We're going to do all we can to offer advice that is going to make people better drivers, which will hopefully make them feel better about themselves at the same time.

2) We were totally supportive of Big Scott. We all told Big Scott he did an awesome job of communicating his situation and commended him for that. You're seeing things through your own negative filter so apparently you've filtered out all of the compliments and encouragement we gave him. I suggest you go back through and read it again from a more objective view.

3) We're honest with people. We complemented what he did right, but we also told him the situation should have never happened in the first place, for a long list of reasons, and that's the truth. That would not have happened to me or any of the moderators here. We would have delivered that load on time ourselves I can assure you. That was only an 800 - 900 mile run with over 40 hours to do it from the time he was loaded until his delivery. He could have looked for a shop with a shorter wait time, or maybe called road service. There are always options. He also should have slept during that 14 hour wait. That is not even debatable.

We love having Big Scott around and we want to see him be successful. That's why we complemented him for what he did right and discussed with him the ways he could have done better in areas he was lacking. That's what you do when you care about someone and want to see them become successful at something that is extremely challenging.

In our discussion regarding Top Tier Drivers, What Does It Take To Be The Best , G-Town brilliantly listed "being coachable" as one of the key qualities it takes to become a Top Tier Driver.

Don, does your reaction to us trying to help Big Scott get better make you seem coachable?

Does Big Scott's long list of excuses and defenses make him seem coachable?

We're not always going to say everything with perfect grace, but we are going to say everything with perfect intention - the intention of helping people get the most out of their trucking careers. But that's a two way street. We'll do our best to be as friendly and supportive as we can, and you have to do your best to accept good intentioned constructive criticism with some grace and appreciation.

Brett, I usually get at least 2700 miles per week. Sometimes a bit more or less.

Turtle, the first load, from SC to MI, was what I started this post with. Some clarification on that one. When I picked up the load, it was a tight yet doable schedule. At that time, I had a few more hours on my clock and was planning to get 100 to 150 miles down the road. The TA was 20 minutes from where I picked up from. By the time I got out of the shop, and called dispatch, there was no way I could have made it on time. Even with a proper 8/2 split or a full 10 hour break. During this call, I was told they had nobody close enough to get it where I was. They told me to get as far as I could and Ohio would be the best place for them to repower me. So, I told them when I would roll and that I would keep them informed. When, I stopped at my fuel stop to sleep, I discussed with my FM about doing an 8 hour break. I also discussed with him about me taking the following day off. He said OK. Later in the morning after the load was relayed and delivered, I messaged him about getting a pre plan. He confirmed the time I had told him I would be ready to roll.

Load 2, from OH to TX, was what I lost 5 hours at a TA in KY. I delivered that load this morning, early. I picked up my next load at our Laredo terminal. This load is my last for this week's pay and puts me at 2725 miles for the week. I'll deliver this on time tomorrow.

Because of the way CFI handles these situations everything was handled properly and as a company working as a team we got the load delivered on time. Many times I have been the one doing the repower. I have even been called to turn around and hand off a load to someone needing it to go home. We do what is needed to get the job done.

I hope this clears things up and that people can learn from this thread. I never knew, I could schedule TA to get me at a certain time. I also learned the 8/2 split a little better.

I guess the best summation is: great job on communication; however, there are other things such as forcing rest/sleep. We have all been stuck waiting on repairs. You just have to make sure somehow you are immediately ready to roll as soon as they are done.

Don, I am not sure if you ever heard that saying before, but the gist of it is that you sleep when the opportunity presents itself, so you can drive when you need to be driving. It matters not whether the opportunity to sleep is a planned rest period. A long delay at a shipper/receiver, or even the wait for a repair. It is our job to be rested for when the time comes to roll, we do!

Patrick c,: i understand then principle of "sleeping when you can."

Don, I am not sure if you ever heard that saying before, but the gist of it is that you sleep when the opportunity presents itself, so you can drive when you need to be driving. It matters not whether the opportunity to sleep is a planned rest period. A long delay at a shipper/receiver, or even the wait for a repair. It is our job to be rested for when the time comes to roll, we do!