Fleet owners and home time

**scottanhelen** · 10-19-2008, 02:12 AM

With as long as you have been out and the reason you need off in my oppinion this shows a lack of appreacation on the fleet owners part. I am sure there are a lot of good owners that would want a team with youre commitment and if I were in your spot I would take the time off return the truck and find a owner that wants a good team.

My wife and I drive for a owner and there rules are out three and home one. I have herd owners say they require less home time because they have good truck and need the money to pay for them however my owner also has new trucks.

I wish both of you the very best

good luck

**ATeam** · 10-19-2008, 10:06 AM

I have long recommended (and still do) that new people start in a fleet owner's truck. While running a fleet owner's truck has its disadvantages, so does running a truck of your own. Minimizing the risks of running your own truck when first starting out is a benefit that outweighs the risks of owning and operating a truck of your own at that stage of the game.

That said, we found that one of the most difficult aspects of running a fleet owner's truck is that you are serving two masters -- yourself and your fleet owner -- and the needs of the two do not always coincide.

When we drove fleet owner trucks, we turned in good numbers and seldom went home. But when we did go home, it troubled us to see the fleet owner's truck sitting idle in our driveway. While we wanted time off, and our fleet owners seldom expressed concern about the time we took, we knew they would prefer to keep their trucks rolling and making money. Because it was someone elses truck sitting idle in our driveway, we could never enjoy our time off like we now can when our truck is parked.

No fleet owner did this, and we never asked, but it would have helped if the fleet owners told us what kind of revenue and expenses the fleet owner needed to see to be profitable with us in the truck. If we knew from the numbers that we were pulling our weight, we might have felt less guilty while taking time off and more motivated to exceed the minimum.

But that may be unrealistic. We have a one-truck perpsective. Fleet owners have multi-truck perspectives. We might have been strong enough to keep a truck in the black but weaker teams or the fleet owner's own bad management practices may be put the fleet owner's overall results in the red.

When all trucks are running well, a fleet owner can afford to be more tolerant of unplanned or extended time off. But when some trucks are idle or run by problematic and unprofitable teams the fleet owner becomes more dependent on his or her productive teams. If the fleet owner is falling behind instead of moving ahead, the need to keep the overall fleet numbers up may prompt him or her to replace a team that is good but cannot keep the truck running right now.

As I said, the reduced risks of running a fleet owner's truck when you first start out are an advantage that outweighs the risks of running a truck of your own. But one of the great reliefs we felt when we got into a truck of our own was the freedom and clarity that comes from serving one set of goals (ours), and not two (ours and our fleet owner's).

**davekc** · 10-19-2008, 10:45 AM

Phil wrote
No fleet owner did this, and we never asked, but it would have helped if the fleet owners told us what kind of revenue and expenses the fleet owner needed to see to be profitable with us in the truck. If we knew from the numbers that we were pulling our weight, we might have felt less guilty while taking time off and more motivated to exceed the minimum.
================================================
Actually a very good point that Phil brings up. We actually do provide what revenue is needed to keep a truck running.
Ours are lower than most because our trucks are paid for.
But, with the fleet owner that has payments, this can become quite a complicated issue depending on the driver, company, and a host of other issues.
When I have helped other distressed fleet owners, one of the issues I spot right away is when drivers require a specific date to be somewhere. Location is a somewhat of an issue here as well.

Example
If a driver wants home in the second week of a month, the revenue starts to drop because that driver is looking for directional run towards his home and refuses decent load offers not going that desired way.
Then, they take the second requested week off.
That is followed by some time days to get a load out. Especially if someone is located out of their carrier freight areas.

The end result is that the owner is trying to operate that truck with a week or two of revenue for the month, and the hemorrhaging begins. This can be devastating to a owner if he has multiple trucks doing this month after month. I get some breathing room because we do directional runs and operate and lower than usual costs. But, for the owner that has payments, this can turn into a ugly situation real quick.
For many it is just the week. It is the process and time to get to it.
Keep in mind also, any other time whether for a breakdown or just plain waiting on a load, works against that number.

**Tempest** · 10-19-2008, 01:08 PM

I have 3 trucks (I am lead driver in one) and 2 vans and I sent a solo driver home to recover fully from a bout with pneumonia and I am feeling it. But it was the right thing to do. My brother on the other hand has 12 trucks, doesnt drive anymore and likes his teams out 4 weeks before going home. Last year my stepfather had a stroke in mid december and my sister had to go home to help mom care for him. My brother sent her home and jumped into the truck as a co-driver with my Brother-in-law until Faye could return to the truck in mid january. While I dont like most of my brothers policies (the reason I bought trucks for myself), I respect him for doing this. I dont know your owners situation, bit it seems like some allowances could be made. A good owner takes care of his drivers, and if one of your options was to surrender the truck at a time when you cant afford to loose all your income, I have to ask how good an owner he really is. Good maintaince and pay are only part of that equation IMO. I sincerly hope all goes well for you and your wife and she recovers quickly and another stated perhaps your time at home could be used to check out other owners.

**jaminjim** · 10-19-2008, 11:41 PM

I must not not be reading that correctly. Did I read that you have >80% available. Does that mean between catching up on sleep and your truck being down for repairs comes to 19% of the time?

**nightcreacher** · 10-20-2008, 12:37 AM

I dont think 80% is that difficult,I was just off for 4 weeks and ive had truck out of service a few other times,and I'm still showing 76% in service.If your under load over a week end,doing the service work then or even spending time at home,you will still show in service

**jaminjim** · 10-20-2008, 12:41 AM

What I'm saying is that 19% out of service is a lot for never going home.

**pjjjjj** · 10-20-2008, 02:33 AM

I was going to ask the same thing, but I felt I better lay off.
3 weeks on and 1 week off = 75% availability, correct?
So if you've been totally 'on' for 4.5 months, how do you only rate a 80+%?

**scottanhelen** · 10-20-2008, 03:35 AM

they said that they were only out for company training and truck repair and to catch up on sleep. I know at panther in service is only for a month, depending on what was wrong with the truck and how much time was used for sleep this could account for the less then 20% down time

**jaminjim** · 10-20-2008, 09:59 AM

As is normally the case there are more details out there. Not saying that they are not due time off, but a few more details would be helpful.

**nightcreacher** · 10-20-2008, 10:19 AM

Everyone seems to think that the more time spent away from home the more you will make.if you live in the right areas,you can spend most week ends home and still make quite a bit of money.If you live like some,and are not in any expedite freight lanes,then yes you would need to be gone more to make the same kind of money.When I first went into this form of trucking,when home couldnt get loaded,so since it would take me a week to get loaded from home,i decided if I stayed out 3 weeks,that 1 week home would be the same as being home every week end.In those three weeks.I would make a months worth of revenue,so being home 1 week and only receiving 3 pay checks didnt hurt.Now times are different,we go in service on Monday after being home for the week end,which usually started thursday night.Our pay system ends on tuesday,not friday like most,so when I turn my paperwork into trip pack on tuesday,that gives me a full week for the following pay.We usually plan on leaving home on Monday,then being home after 12 days.If we get a load to the home area before that we might go home then,depending how much revenue was made in that short of time,in any event,after the 10 days we try to find a load that will put us less than 300 miles from home,and dead head the rest of the way.If we are to far out,we may stay another week out,or we are on a roll,load after load,we dont stop till the freight runs out,and take off time to equal the time gone.

**Humble2drive** · 10-20-2008, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by pjjjjj

I was going to ask the same thing, but I felt I better lay off.
3 weeks on and 1 week off = 75% availability, correct?
So if you've been totally 'on' for 4.5 months, how do you only rate a 80+%?

That is a good question and I wondered the same thing. I do not know exactly how that stat is computed. If anyone knows then PLEASE post it.
Training accounts for 2 weeks and 3 repairs add 1 week.

For simplicity sake, if we are out for a total of 4 1/2 months (approx. 18 weeks) and are out of service for 3 weeks.
Does that mean 3/18=.17 which translates to 83% availability??

Oh, and Pjjjjj, please don't "lay off" sometimes the Devil's Advocate adds great input to a subject.

Someone else please do the math and correct me if I'm wrong because %availabilty is an important stat to be able to track

**jaminjim** · 10-20-2008, 11:35 AM

If the Training is/was carrier/owner directed, then I would wonder about the owners motives. I can understand that he may have had a similar experience, and it took a prolonged period of time for the truck to be able to team again. In that case it may be a pain in the fanny, but business is business. If somehow you know for a fact that you will be able to move to another truck equal to or better with the same fleet owner you should be okay. But as others have said it would not hurt to at least test the waters.