Schneider Pulled A Sneaky On Me

I was set to take a 34 after I delivered my last load this morning, since I have 5 hours left on my clock. Well they changed my NAT for me and gave me a load picking up at 2pm that had enough time on it for me to take a 34 hour reset and still make the time.

They was doing me a favor, because if I didn't get this load I would've been here until Monday since they had nothing coming out of El Paso this weekend.

The catch was, the appointment was for another day actually at 6pm. But they was messaging with the shipper to get it moved up, which they did but it wasnt until 6pm tonight, which I wouldn't be able to do since I'd be out of hours. So I made sure with Schneider it was okay to go in early, since they want us to get approval from them. So I did. They wasnt sure but said I could try, so I did and the shipper agreed to take me early, and worked me in. So I waited for about an hour, and got a dock door which I had to disconnect and park in a bobtail area, since the yard is small.

So I'm here waiting, but they looked to have the load ready, and started loading me as I disconnected. currently have 3 hours and 58 minutes on my clock and already got a parking spot near by.

So what was sneaky?

So what was sneaky?

Just an unexpected load, but it was really a favor to keep me rolling after my 34 which would have been over tomorrow. I'm not mad or anything, I actually appreciate it. Since they could have just left me here Haha.

Lucky the shipper decided to take me early.

Exactly.

That's fantastic!

See, that's the kind of stuff the top tier drivers do to make more money. They figure out the most efficient way to use their available time and work closely with dispatch to keep themselves rolling. It won't be long before you'll be able to spot opportunities like that a day ahead of time and tell dispatch, "Hey, I'll have a few hours left after tomorrow's delivery but then I'm not picking up many hours the next day. If you can get me on a load tomorrow that has enough time for a 34 hr reset over the weekend that would work perfectly."

See, the other big thing is that you're heading into the weekend. You don't ever want to put yourself at the mercy of weekend dispatch. Bless their hearts, but they have no idea who you are, what your situation is, or what they should do with you. They're overwhelmed with work. You always want to make sure that your regular dispatcher has you planned throughout the weekend before they leave for the weekend. So that would've been double the reason to look ahead yesterday and tell your dispatcher to use the hours you have available to make sure you're pre-planned on a load for the weekend.

What they did wasn't sneaky, it was smart. That's the kind of savvy that top tier drivers have. They did you a big favor. You're probably going to make a lot more money this weekend than you would have if you had gone into the weekend without a load.

I had a similar load last weekend. I picked up a load on Friday that had to go to a Walmart DC on Sunday. Since you are not allowed to deliver early to Walmart, I squeezed in a 34 since I was running off recaps already.

Well this place worked me in quickly, faster the a lot of places where I'm at during my appointment times.

What they did wasn't sneaky, it was smart. That's the kind of savvy that top tier drivers have. They did you a big favor.

This is the kind of stuff we miss out on as newbies. It just takes some time to get yourself in sync with your support team in the office. Dispatch did their job well in this situation. As we progress in our path toward proficiency at this career we will learn how to communicate effectively with our dispatchers so that they are able to help us be more productive.

Earlier this week I let my dispatcher know I'd be back to the plant I'm dedicated to early Friday morning. I also informed him I'd be bumping up against my 70 with only minimal hours being returned to me after midnight. That way he knows to book me a load on Saturday. I'll have my 34 hour reset done and be ready to hit the road Saturday evening. I did this several days ago so he has ample time to work it all out. Being proactive with your dispatcher and always making sure you do what you tell them you're going to do is critical to being hyper productive. Once you've got that track record established with them, they know how to work for your advantage.

You always want to be efficient. Anytime you're doing 34 hour resets and only averaging 2,500 miles per week you want to work on those numbers. You want to try and improve your time management, trying to determine where you are losing hours. You should be able to run around 3,200 miles before you've burned up your 70 hours. Here's a look at my logs this week...

That's typical stuff for me. I've turned 3,448 miles, I've got 1:55 left on my 70, and though it's not in the picture, I have less than 2 hours coming back on my first day of recaps. That's why I arranged for a 34 hour reset. I first started trying my best to get 3,000 miles each week without running out of my 70. Once I got that down, I set a higher goal. Each of you can be effective at this. Just keep communicating well with your dispatcher and keep working at improving your results. Efficiency and productivity are the two most effectual ways to increase your income.

Many drivers quit trucking because they couldn't make enough money. It's not mysterious to those who are accustomed to this arena. We can't indict the trucking career as being heartless and unfair. Challenging? Yes sir! Most things that are really challenging are seldom conquered by those who don't have the motivation to apply themselves diligently. They lack the vision to see the rewards of conquering the challenges. Trucking rewards those who prove themselves capable of doing remarkable things on a regular basis.

I've always loved the way Brett puts it. "This is an extraordinary job that requires extraordinary people."

Count your blessings!!!

I meant sneaky more in a joking manner, however I appreciate what they did, the load even has 600 miles on it. Probably better then something the weekend dispatch would give me from previous experiences.

Funny thing is, it wasnt even my dispatcher. It was another DBL aka dispatcher , he set the whole thing up before my DBL even got to work.