It Keeps Me Running

I'm enjoying the heck out of this job and lifestyle. Last week I knocked out 3,000+ miles took a quick re-set on a receivers lot because I had completely used up my 70 hour clock and wasn't getting anything back on the recap for the next day anyway, so it just made sense to go ahead and clean everything up and start afresh. I've figured something out about this business that can make it a little tricky when looking for employment. That cents per mile rate, that everybody is always looking at for the highest number when considering how much money their going to make, doesn't always tell the whole story.

A friend of mine and I have been comparing notes with each other. He drives for a different company than I, and he gets paid about .12 cents more per mile than I do. Well, we found out after discussing it with each other that my paychecks are considerably larger than his because my company keeps me running hard. Here's an example: today I dropped an MT trailer off at a shipper and hooked on to one they had pre-loaded for me. Well the trailer I picked up had some issues that I thought would get me a ticket or an out of service order, so I sent my dispatcher a message on the qualcomm telling him the situation and requesting he send me a message as to how I should proceed. (Here's a tip: when you tell them to send you a message like that over the qualcomm they aren't going to tell you to take a chance and run with it.)

Bless his little dispatching heart, he told me to drop the trailer at the nearest yard, grab another one that I liked and go get a different load. He said we can get somebody else to take that one into the shop, but we need you out there making us some money. You gotta love it when they're treating you like that. I could have been tied up for a whole day dealing with trying to get the issues straitened out on that trailer, but instead I'm back on the road where the money is made.

It's a great life out here, I love it! I miss the ones I hold dear at home, and they miss me, but we're all adjusting and figuring out just how to make this work for us all.

Best of luck to all of the new folks coming into the industry. I really enjoy reading about your triumphs, and I have a genuine empathy with those who have met with struggles and setbacks in their quest. Don't give up when it seems to difficult, because it just gets better with time.

That was a great post! It touched on several very important issues for new drivers to understand.

First of all, when comparing companies, you not only want to know what the mileage pay will be, but you also want to ask what their company drivers are averaging per week. However...none of that is worth a hill of beans if you're not a fantastic driver who has proven themselves over time and developed a good relationship with a solid dispatcher. If you're not getting the job done out there safely, day in and day out, you're simply not going to be given the miles that the better drivers are getting. And the same goes for your relationship with your dispatcher. If you don't have your dispatcher's trust, or your dispatcher doesn't like you very much, you're not going to get the miles.

That relationship with your dispatcher is key. It takes time to develop an understanding and trust, but it means everything for your happiness and success on the road.

Also, Old School made an excellent point. When communicating with dispatch, you want everything that's important to be sent over the Qualcomm. Now for those who aren't familiar with Qualcomm yet, it's basically like email between you and your company. You'll send messages back and forth that way. Anytime you're being instructed about what to do, make sure the messages are sent over Qualcomm and not over the phone. That way there's proof of what you were told to do. You never want to be in a "he said - she said" position where you're trying to defend yourself for doing something you were told to do but you have no proof of it. At the same time, if you want to discuss something privately with dispatch that you don't necessarily want proof of, do it over the phone.