I've recently been running a B unit for a couple who own 4 trucks. Runs have been slow coming and not very good ones either. Yesterday was typical. 88 mile deadhead to pick up - 150 paid mile trip. That call at 4 pm on Wed was my first run offer all week.
Layover options are just plain goofy. 50 miles to a small town with a slow freight history during a very slow period. Or I could have taken 140 miles - almost back to my pickup point for this run, where 5 other B units were already checked in.
Geez - what do I do? Camp out in BFE with almost no money and 1/4 tank of fuel, join the 5 B unit party and be last out, or take the 210 mile deadhead home and at least sleep in my own bed if I had to be broke?
Talked to a D unit owner/operator from Illinois while on this run. Same deal for him - anything less than 250 miles deadhead home and he heads for the house. Beyond that and he gives a very limited time to be dispatched or he pulls up and heads home unauthorized. He was at the same pickup point as me - taking a C load and C pay for it.
Further down the road I run into another B unit owner/operator. Same deal for him - few runs, big deadhead miles, and multiple day layovers in slow spots. He too is taking the deadhead home and to hell with it approach.
Three other B units are based out of my home town. I never knew there were that many. Prior to the past 10 days, I've never seen more than 1 besides myself listed as checked in this area. Suddenly there are 4 including me and they're here after every run. I scouted around and got to talk to 2 of them. Same deal there - short mile, low pay runs and long layovers in increasingly bad places to be.
I understand dispatchers trying to assign layover based on the likelihood of getting a load. But some of the places being assigned make no sense at all. There is almost nothing around for many miles in any direction that amounts to any form of commerce. This almost certainly guarantees that a driver will once again have many deadhead miles to the next pickup. It's like having equally spaced trucks across the map sitting idle is as good as having them working.
I enjoy driving, meeting people, and all that goes with this job. What wrecks it all is the poor quality of the runs, the long idle time, and dispatchers who seem to think that 100 free deadhead miles for them are free for a driver too and have no idea that it COSTS money to sit still.
With that said, I've decided to turn the truck back over to it's owners this weekend. I talked with one of them earlier and she is getting the same story from the company - things are just slow.... It's too bad it worked out like this. I can see this being a really enjoyable way to make a living. What I can't see is dipping into my own very limited resources for fuel to make the next run.
Deciding to quit is in no way meant to reflect badly on the truck owners. They are Barbara and Gary Efaw of West Virginia, two of the nicest and most accomodating people one could hope to work for. This isn't meant to reflect badly upon the company either although I suspect that some in dispatch waver between clueless and having a different part of the corporate agenda in mind. I guess overall its just a sign of the times - things are tough right now. Y'all know how it goes - a guy can't make money sitting still. Ya can't make money driving 88 miles DH to do 150 mile runs.
Layover options are just plain goofy. 50 miles to a small town with a slow freight history during a very slow period. Or I could have taken 140 miles - almost back to my pickup point for this run, where 5 other B units were already checked in.
Geez - what do I do? Camp out in BFE with almost no money and 1/4 tank of fuel, join the 5 B unit party and be last out, or take the 210 mile deadhead home and at least sleep in my own bed if I had to be broke?
Talked to a D unit owner/operator from Illinois while on this run. Same deal for him - anything less than 250 miles deadhead home and he heads for the house. Beyond that and he gives a very limited time to be dispatched or he pulls up and heads home unauthorized. He was at the same pickup point as me - taking a C load and C pay for it.
Further down the road I run into another B unit owner/operator. Same deal for him - few runs, big deadhead miles, and multiple day layovers in slow spots. He too is taking the deadhead home and to hell with it approach.
Three other B units are based out of my home town. I never knew there were that many. Prior to the past 10 days, I've never seen more than 1 besides myself listed as checked in this area. Suddenly there are 4 including me and they're here after every run. I scouted around and got to talk to 2 of them. Same deal there - short mile, low pay runs and long layovers in increasingly bad places to be.
I understand dispatchers trying to assign layover based on the likelihood of getting a load. But some of the places being assigned make no sense at all. There is almost nothing around for many miles in any direction that amounts to any form of commerce. This almost certainly guarantees that a driver will once again have many deadhead miles to the next pickup. It's like having equally spaced trucks across the map sitting idle is as good as having them working.
I enjoy driving, meeting people, and all that goes with this job. What wrecks it all is the poor quality of the runs, the long idle time, and dispatchers who seem to think that 100 free deadhead miles for them are free for a driver too and have no idea that it COSTS money to sit still.
With that said, I've decided to turn the truck back over to it's owners this weekend. I talked with one of them earlier and she is getting the same story from the company - things are just slow.... It's too bad it worked out like this. I can see this being a really enjoyable way to make a living. What I can't see is dipping into my own very limited resources for fuel to make the next run.
Deciding to quit is in no way meant to reflect badly on the truck owners. They are Barbara and Gary Efaw of West Virginia, two of the nicest and most accomodating people one could hope to work for. This isn't meant to reflect badly upon the company either although I suspect that some in dispatch waver between clueless and having a different part of the corporate agenda in mind. I guess overall its just a sign of the times - things are tough right now. Y'all know how it goes - a guy can't make money sitting still. Ya can't make money driving 88 miles DH to do 150 mile runs.
