Miami Heat (literally) And First Flatbed Load

We've been trucking along basically enjoying life on this dedicated account, running every load given and never complaining to dispatch when the occasional shag or difficult run comes along. In return have been getting excellent mil which is really the only way to assess my competency. I had the.most bizarre and humbling backing experience thus far in deerfield beach,, which I won't belabor here. After that, dispatch innocently says they need me to cover a flatbed load from another dc bound for Miami. A few xtra coins were given for tarp and shag pay. I've never dealt with tarps,straps, spread axle trailers,etc. Did I mentioned that the newly replaced ac was blowing hot air? The short version is that I made it happen, on time, and didn't hit nuttin. Lost a few pounds as well. What a bargain!

That's rough! But great job!!!

See, I always say that trucking is for people who know how to get the job done safely day in and day out no matter what it takes. It's a really tough lifestyle and the demands that are placed on drivers will test you in a big way. You have to be tough, focused, determined, and fiercely independent to be successful in this industry and it sounds like you have the perfect attitude and personality to have a great career.

And your approach to dispatch is perfect. "Pay it forward" as they say. Do what's asked of you. Run the tough loads. Be on time. Be a true professional. Then, once you've proven yourself to be what I call a "top tier driver" you can expect to be treated as such with great miles, some really sweet runs mixed in, the home time you deserve, and fair treatment overall.

A lot of drivers make the mistake of thinking it's the other way around. They hear so many bad things about all of the major companies out there that they wind up cynical and skeptical before their career ever even begins. They go out there with the attitude, "Once this company proves to me they're a good company, then I'll really give em my best." That turns out to be a major mistake.

A company isn't going to just hand you their best freight from their most important customers on the assumption that you're the type of driver they can rely on to stay in business. Because quite honestly, most drivers aren't what I would consider truly reliable and hard working. So a company is going to see what you bring to the table before they'll take the risk of giving you great miles & important freight.

Keep doin what you're doin Tesserae! Keep your company happy and they'll keep puttin the miles on ya. And for God's sake tell your company you need to get that air conditioning fixed! It's entirely too hot these days for that

Agree totally. I work for one of the huge ones that so many people deride on other sites. I didn't mention that yesterday after I shutdown for my restart and got student checked into hotel, my fm called me and Asked me where I would Like to run when I Cole back after restart. My response- wherever u need me to run, no preference, and thx for asking. I'm no perfect driver, and haven't been at it too long, but my experience is exactly what u describe- if you work your butt off, every day, and have no expectations especially early on of being treated like a prince, things work out just fine as far as dispatch is concerned. The reality is that anything can happen on any given day that will throw off any plans I may have had. Like ac quitting. Was down nearly 5 days originally for that. When it started blowing hot again after 1 month I called the same dealership and xplained the situation, put in a breakdown on the qc and dealer took care of it within 4 hours this time.its about solving problems. I've met other drivers on the same account that refuse to even change a marker light and get reimbursed later: they put in a breakdown qc and wait. They are the same ones complaining about.no miles. We have a couple of trailer repair guys at the dc. Igrabbed one with bad brakes the other day, made a couple of inquiries and was adjusted and rolling within the hour. I was griping to the trailer guy about how I've been hooking up to some real losers lately and how other drivers pass off problems to the next guy. His response was that dispatch knows who watches out for the equipment, and those drivers ultimately make more money despite the downtime they might incur from babysitting problem trailers. Don't know if that is generalizable across trucking in general though.