Trucking Company Differences.

It has been said on here that all trucking companies are around for the same thing. Which is true. To move freight.

In the short time I have been running OTR , it has come to my attention that that is about all they have in common. Pay can differ greatly. Benefits usually differ greatly. Equipment differs. Not usually greatly, but it differs. Age, type, etc. I don't think I have found two companies that have much of anything in common.

But there are somethings that are still quite puzzling to me.

One of the points I have asked about on here several times. Having pickup time so late and how to move it up. I have been told to get a number and call. Almost everyone here makes or has made those calls.

Over the last month or so, I have been talking to different drivers. Not making a point of centering around the phone call question. Just asking questions in general.

I have had long talks with at least 6 drivers. One from Rhoel, Western Express, US Express, Knight, and Schneider. Like I said, I didn't center around the phone call question, but eventually I did bring it up. What I have found out was rather interesting.

All of them said they all called receivers/shippers, UNLESS their Qualcomm actually told them not to call. 3 of the 6 (I don't remember which ones) said their dispatchers told them to call the receivers/shippers themselves if they could arrive early. The drivers knew what was going on better out here than they did.

Time driving varied from 2 years up to 16 years.

The Rhoel driver was a real nice guy. He had been with Rhoel for 2 years. Had first thought about going with Celadon, but didn't like some of the things he had heard. But he asked if I called my receivers. I told him we can't at Celadon. At least we are not suppose to. We are told we could lose our jobs if we did. He couldn't believe that.

I have thrown caution to the wind. I am tired of setting when I don't have to waiting on my load planners to do their jobs. If I lose mine, so be it. When I set, I lose money. And when I set when I don't have to, it really tees me off. I know there are times when a driver has to set. But there are times I set when I shouldn't have to.

For example. I just brought a load back from Canada. Delivery wasn't suppose to be till Monday morning at 11am. I ran back from Canada with another driver. We both had a pickup at the same place and same drop location. We arrived at the drop at 10pm on Saturday night. The next morning we drove to the gate and asked if we could drop early. They didn't have a problem with us dropping early.

By 11am Sunday morning, I had another load instead of waiting till Monday.

I just don't understand why we are threatened with our jobs but other companies tell their drivers to call ahead if they are free to drop early. If they free up early then they can haul another load to make more money for the driver and the company.

Still learning the ropes out here. And a long way to go. But some of the things I am learning are eye opening.

Keep it safe out here, the life you save might be your own. Joe S.

I have to agree with you...why would a company fire you for trying to make them/you more money in a month ?? But maybe the company is afraid a driver might pizz a shipper/receiver off to the point that they lose the account.... In any event, I'm like you, and if the wheels ain't turnin' you ain't earnin'...so follow your own lead. I ain't like there aren't other driving jobs out there, and most of them like a driver that has initiative.

You've come across one of the many gray areas in trucking.

Most companies tell their drivers not to call ahead and change appointment times. I mean, think about it - 5000 drivers out there all randomly changing appointment times around? The people in the offices would have no clue what is really going on out there. Not to mention, if you call and say you're coming early but then you show up late, guess who gets their *ss chewed on the phone by the customer - customer service - who then calls your dispatcher and chews her *ss out. So it can make for a big mess if you screw it up.

So that rule is in place to prevent chaos.

But what if a driver can do it well without creating chaos? What if you do manage to get appointment times moved up, make your deliveries early, and haul more freight because of it? Everyone wins, right? Indeed.

So the scenario you're faced with - and this is quite common in trucking - is the decision ultimately is yours. If you want to call ahead and move things forward, make d*mn sure you're going to make it on time. As long as you do things that become a win-win for everyone they'll generally turn a blind eye. But if you go against company policy and screw up, guess who get their *ss handed to em on a platter? That's right - you. You can do it perfectly 1000 times but the first time you screw it up you might be in big trouble or out of a job.

So what do you do? Do you take the risk to make more money or do you play it safe and make less? Every trucker in history has had to ask themselves that same question over and over again about all different scenarios - cheating on the logbook , running around scales when you're overweight instead of going back to get it reloaded, changing appointment times, pushing through in bad weather - all kinds of scenarios. You have to assess the risk/reward ratio and make the decision that suits you best. In the end, you're the one that will face the consequences if things don't go well.

Personally I never used electronic logs - always had paper logs - so I could lie all I wanted to. And of course every company I worked for told us, "If you falsify your logs you'll be fired." Well I falsified mine pretty much on a daily basis for 15 years and made a lot more money because of it. But there were a few times I got caught one too many times and my company fired me for it. Even after a few years of working for one company and absolutely kickin *ss for them they fired me for two violations in a 6 month period. So I went elsewhere.

I knew the risk/reward ratio and I knew I'd be fired if I got caught. For me it was worth it. Over 15 years I made a lot more money and had a much more flexible schedule because I cheated the logbook. But I also lost several jobs because of it.

So you're on your own. Break company policy and get away with it - everyone wins. Break company policy and screw it up - you'll pay a price for it.

That's trucking. You make about 1000 risk/reward assessments a day in this industry. It's up to you how to handle it. Personally, with the calling ahead thing - I always did it. But I guess that's no surprise. If I'll cheat the Federal logbook rules to get ahead then it stands to reason I'll cheat company policy to get ahead also. But that was me. That was my style. I can't tell another driver what style suits them best. I can just tell you to choose wisely and understand the ramifications of any decisions you make.

Joe, the answer you got from the Roehl driver is no surprise to me. We are actually encouraged to call ahead if we can make it early. We get a message with the load assignment if that particular customer is hard on times. There are a few that are. But as Brett pointed out, if we make other arrangements and screw it up, it's on us. Some drivers like to take things as they come. Not me. I hate to sit. If I'm going to sit I prefer it to be at the house. I say do what you feel is right, and be ready, willing, and able to deliver. Be safe