Wow, I JUST got off the phone about this very subject. I would think someone like you is a person an owner would kill for. For me though, being out 2 or 3 days at a time is enough. When I hired in I was upfront about it, & different people need different things out of this job. I told em what I felt I could do & asked if they felt I could be an asset to their company. They said yes so I signed on. I've done the 25 days/month on the road thing b4 & got burned out on this.
Even then, I have an apt. in the main city we deliver too. In a nutshell, I usually go from Michigan to the Toronto area, then from Toronto I'm open to anything, though I would prefer back to Michigan.
Last week was a decent week. I went from Mich to TO on Wed nite. Thurs I got a run to Ohio. I waited about half a day there & came back empty to Michigan on Friday. I was offered a run back to Canada that delivered Tuesday AM, but since I have to be here on Tues I couldn't do it.
As I was telling my friend on the phone, I like this job, but don't love it. Again, what works for me might not work for someone else. I want a balanced life. Living alone, I don't want to be the eyesore of the neighborhood & let my grass get to be a foot long. Trash comes on Wed so I need to be home every few Wed to take it out. Missing a week or 2 for trash is ok, because I don't have a whole lot. I can't let it sit there for months though.
Sitting in a truck for 2 days isn't something that appeals to me. If I take a run that pays $300 (or 400 or just whatever) it's a good run if it's based on a day or so work. If I make that 300 & have sat in my truck for 2 days after it, then now I feel I've made $100/day. If I'm going to only make that, I'd be better off doing it at a local job.
I like to think I work relatively efficient though. It may not always be perfect efficiency, but for the most part I think I do ok. Again as I mentioned to my friend, I have a hunch dispatch might be thinking "jeez, Danny always comes home & these other guys will sit & wait a few days for runs." To me sitting for 2 days after a run makes a $300 run worth about $5/hour (or something to that effect). By coming home, I feel like I'm no longer working & my rate of pay is closer to $20/hour.
I tend to think if I have waited 12 hours for a run, & none has arrived yet, what would make me think that something is going to come up in the next 12 hours? At the same time though, I'm also not complaining when things are slow. I'm fine if I can make $1000/month.
If I had house/car/etc payments I'd think differently. I have held off
on buying a new house though because I don't want the stress of HAVING to be busy & HAVING to stay out on the road. I figure what good is a new house/car if I have to be on the road 25 days a month to pay for it?
I realize my way of doing it isn't for everyone. I hope no one confuses "not sitting waiting for runs" w/ "lazy". That run I turned down was the 2nd one in 6 months. I think dispatch knows for the most part that they can depend on me. I've taken a few runs that after I accepted, I looked in the mirror & thought "what were you THINKING when you accepted?" We all have & that's part of the job.
I hope that answered your question. 2 to 3 days at a time is enough for me. The perfect week for me would be to go out Monday, back Tuesday, out Wed, back Thurs, out Fri, & back Sat. If we had enough Michigan to Toronto (or any 2 cities really) freight that I could do this, I could easily work 6 days a week pretty much year round w/ the exception of the college football weeks.
One last thing. If you're willing to stay out that long I would think you'd be better off buying a van (or truck) & working for yourself. As an owner though, I'd kill to have someone who wanted to stay out there like you do.
Best of wishes to ya,
Danny
