Loaner Truck And DM Issues

I want to drive, but you know what? I'm pretty angry right now that I'm in this situation because the staff in the office just doesn't give a f***. And that I was sitting for about 58 hours earlier in the week because they were "light on loads" and only got $50 for it. So I think it's better that I don't drive for a day or two.

So are you going to stay at the terminal?

I might get into a loaner truck tomorrow and do a quick 2-3 day run if it gets me back to my truck sooner than later. I dunno yet. I'm pretty unfocused right now. Need to get my head right to drive safely.

I would talk with him about your feelings. If you have already, go to his boss and see what he can offer.

Also, with the phone thing. Me, along with all my buddies are on the phone with a DM or planner several times a week. They call us. And they want us to call them. The say it. We are all new and they check in on us. And we can't really can't send a Qualcomm message or read them when we are driving. We're locked out.

But you can call them when you are driving?

Yes. Bluetooth with voice commands.

Please don't assume anything because I'm a rookie.

I made no assumptions. I strictly looked at the things you've said.

I do go to the closest safe parking.

My Qualcomm will read messages to me

A potential solution for so many issues just came up. A buddy just called wants to make more money and wants to team for a little bit. Maybe 6-10 months. There's a couple dedicated accounts I've been eyeing. Both from the SoCal area. One is cross country and the other to the mid west. And both pay very well.

Yes, we both know the pay is split in half, some people can't sleep well in a moving truck, privacy, blah, blah, blah. We just dealt with that in training and neither of us hated it. Didn't love it. But didn't hate it. Coordinating home time will be easy. We both live about an hour from our home terminal. And we discussed our schedules for it.

Let's just hope the slots haven't filled up yet.

I do go to the closest safe parking.

My Qualcomm will read messages to me

Yeah. Ditto. But for Swift if it's more than 20 miles away, have to call and get permission to drive there. Which I don't get, because they let us use PC for an hour a day.

Ours won't read messages aloud unless we were already on it then started driving. If we receive a new one, then we have to come to a complete stop to read it. Which sucks if we get a new load while driving. Most of the time, if we don't accept the load within an hour, it gets taken away or another driver will get it first. I understand safety, but sometimes there's no where safe to pull over for a while.

I have never heard of asking permission to go more than 20 miles. If it's more than 20 miles to a parking spot then I'm going more than 20 miles. I will ask if they have a preference in direction (maybe they are working on loads from a certain area or customer), give them 30 minutes to an hour to respond and then head for parking.

I do that on the QC so there is a record.

If you're having with your DM and haven't been able to remedy it you need to contact your DL (DM's boss) and if that doesn't work then you contact your terminal manager (everybody's boss).

As far as the loaner truck goes; pack an over night bag with two or three outfits and get rolling.

But, people (my DM , other DMs and planners) did not get me scheduled for preventative maintenance

When I'm nearing a PM or other maintenance issue, I call the shop and schedule myself, cutting out all middlemen. Then it's a simple matter of telling my FM of my appointment, and he finds a way to route me where I need to be. Efficient, effective, and one less thing my FM has to do in an already busy day. He appreciates that, I assure you.

My worry is that I get a load that is not local/regional and they can't find me a load getting back to my truck.

If you are running and making miles, who cares? Logistics isn't an exact science. Plan accordingly.

I've requested permission to drive more than 20 miles to get to a truck for my 10 after dropping off.

So I had to go to the one further away any way. But had to waste time calling again to be able to do that.

I'm always on hold for 20-45+ when I call. All my buddies are rarely on hold.

Find a place to park your truck, and leave your DM out of it. Do you really think he cares about such trivial matters? When you ask him point-blank, he's forced to give you the "official" answer. In reality, he doesn't care, and is probably just sick and tired of having to respond to you. Just do your job.

DMs don't want to hold your hand. They don't want to micromanage you. They don't want to hear your complaints. In fact they'd rather not hear from you at all. The driver who stays out of their ear and gets it done without their help is the driver who keeps moving.

But, people (my DM , other DMs and planners) did not get me scheduled for preventative maintenance

When I'm nearing a PM or other maintenance issue, I call the shop and schedule myself, cutting out all middlemen. Then it's a simple matter of telling my FM of my appointment, and he finds a way to route me where I need to be. Efficient, effective, and one less thing my FM has to do in an already busy day. He appreciates that, I assure you.

My worry is that I get a load that is not local/regional and they can't find me a load getting back to my truck.

If you are running and making miles, who cares? Logistics isn't an exact science. Plan accordingly.

I've requested permission to drive more than 20 miles to get to a truck for my 10 after dropping off.

So I had to go to the one further away any way. But had to waste time calling again to be able to do that.

I'm always on hold for 20-45+ when I call. All my buddies are rarely on hold.

Find a place to park your truck, and leave your DM out of it. Do you really think he cares about such trivial matters? When you ask him point-blank, he's forced to give you the "official" answer. In reality, he doesn't care, and is probably just sick and tired of having to respond to you. Just do your job.

DMs don't want to hold your hand. They don't want to micromanage you. They don't want to hear your complaints. In fact they'd rather not hear from you at all. The driver who stays out of their ear and gets it done without their help is the driver who keeps moving.

Like I wrote many times. It's not about me making the appointment. Someone in the office had to make the appointment. I tried believe me.

And as I wrote many times, I got in trouble for driving more than 20 miles to safe parking. MY DM SAID I HAD TO GET PERMISSION. I'm not making that up. I don't want to be micro-managed. Which got me into trouble in the first place.

Man...you guys act like I'm lying. I did my due diligence for the service. My DM and other did not. Even the shop manager was frustrated that they didn't make the appointment.

Regardless, they got me in today. As I said, I have a Cal-Bit service due. This let me jump the line.