On call driver?

[robh2]

I am not looking to be out on the road full time but I am very flexible with filling in when drivers leave a owner/operator without a driver.

I wonder if owners would like to have a backup person to keep their van on the road while they look for the right person to drive it and be a bit more picky. Even if its to cover when someone is on vacation. Wheels not turning, no one earning. Any ideas?

I was thinking if a group of owner/operators under carrier xyz wanted to do something like that, I could do the orientation and be approved by the carrier so when the time came, I grab the van and run it until they find a driver for it and on and on. I could possibly do this with multiple carriers so that it opened up more options.

Opinions?

Thanks.

Robert

 

[zorry]

A relative has a route with Fedex Ground. They have a guy at that facility that just does fill-in work. There is one driver that gives him the route every Friday that he'll cover it. This allows the route owner a four day work week.
The fill-in guy is very popular.
My relative can have a day-off easily and his paid-off truck earns him a nice income on his day-off.

 

[davekc]

In Zorry's case it probably works out well. In expedite it would seem like a tough gig just doing a van. Might get a little more traction with doing straights and tractors unless you contract with a fleet owner that has many vans.
Have to remember, there is a ton of van drivers out there.

 

[Bruno]

In Zorry's case it probably works out well. In expedite it would seem like a tough gig just doing a van. Might get a little more traction with doing straights and tractors unless you contract with a fleet owner that has many vans.
Have to remember, there is a ton of van drivers out there.

I would have to agree with you on this one Dave. If he lived in Ohio that would work great for him.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

experience still counts even in a Van....and one with references is even better...Dave...in proportion a CV can lose as much as a straight when parked....

 

[robh2]

Dave--That is what I was thinking after I hit send. If I could hook up with a fleet owner or two or three, we could help each other.

Thanks.

Robert

 

[zorry]

We drove for an owner for a few months while building our new truck. That worked out well for us and the straight truck owner.
We contacted a fleet owner of TVal sprinters. Our offer, we'll fly out to the unit at our expense. Give us 30 days minimum in your sprinter. Anytime in the next six weeks,if you find a team we'll bail at a location of your choice,again at our expense.
The owner had an empty sprinter and I thought he'd jump at the offer.
He turned us down. He didn't need to deal with part-timers. (30+ years experience didn't mean much to him).
I was just looking to experience the no logbook way of life.
Who knows, we may have liked it and stayed with him. Who knows ?
Dave's right.
When my Father hauled gas we had a city worker that worked about 50 Saturdays per year. 1990's. He banked his $220 check every week. It really supplemented his pension.
When we ran mail we had a truck leave Chicago to Omaha 365 days a year. Also one coming the other way 365 days per year.
We had a good group of part-timers to fill in. 12 hrs one way,12 hrs off,12 hrs back. One thousand miles in 36 hours on a schedule you can count on.
If there's a mail facility near you,find out who run's trucks in and out. Today contractors are required to pay about $21 per hour.
This keeps BillyBob from coming to the big city and undercutting the work.
When he runs out of nephews and can't find drivers things get messed up.

 

[Brisco]

Interesting Concept.....But......

It seems like the Logistics, and possibly the expenses, involved in getting the Drivers switched might not be worth the effort.

I mean let's say you filled in for Driver B who needed a 2 week vacation. Driver B deadheaded all the way from Portland Maine to St Louis Missouri to make switch. He covered the deadhead expenses himself. Now you're out there for 2 weeks and the time is up for Driver B to get his Van back. You just happened to get a load going from Rolla Missouri to Portland Oregon the day prior. That's going to be at least 3-4 days until Driver B gets his Van back. If you were to deadhead all the way back to St Louis to give it back to him, who would cover that expense?

Plus, on the Logistics Part......You are the only Van sitting up there in Portland Oregon and your carrier has a load they need covered to Portland Maine. And, you're the only available unit in that area. Are you going to be able to turn it down to get that van back to Driver B? I don't think the carrier would be too happy if you did. If that happens.....Driver B may be looking at 4-5-6 days 'til he gets his van back. His 2 week vacation just turned into 3 weeks........possibly longer if that carrier needs that unit out there..............

Just thoughts.......that's all.......

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Interesting Concept.....But......

It seems like the Logistics, and possibly the expenses, involved in getting the Drivers switched might not be worth the effort.

I mean let's say you filled in for Driver B who needed a 2 week vacation. Driver B deadheaded all the way from Portland Maine to St Louis Missouri to make switch. He covered the deadhead expenses himself. Now you're out there for 2 weeks and the time is up for Driver B to get his Van back. You just happened to get a load going from Rolla Missouri to Portland Oregon the day prior. That's going to be at least 3-4 days until Driver B gets his Van back. If you were to deadhead all the way back to St Louis to give it back to him, who would cover that expense?

Plus, on the Logistics Part......You are the only Van sitting up there in Portland Oregon and your carrier has a load they need covered to Portland Maine. And, you're the only available unit in that area. Are you going to be able to turn it down to get that van back to Driver B? I don't think the carrier would be too happy if you did. If that happens.....Driver B may be looking at 4-5-6 days 'til he gets his van back. His 2 week vacation just turned into 3 weeks........possibly longer if that carrier needs that unit out there..............

Just thoughts.......that's all.......

First of all..everything you posted was a very extreme scenerio....an experienced driver like myself would never go to Oregon to begin with.....a van might as well buy a lottery ticket as to getting a load out....not to say it can't happen.....but your odds are better on the lottery....just saying...LOL

 

[Brisco]

First of all..everything you posted was a very extreme scenerio....an experienced driver like myself would never go to Oregon to begin with.....a van might as well buy a lottery ticket as to getting a load out....not to say it can't happen.....but your odds are better on the lottery....just saying...LOL

Hypothetical.......Sheeeeez.............

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Hypothetical.......Sheeeeez.............

I knew that...gee whiz......

 

[zorry]

I think this is like real estate and kissing. What's important is location,location,and location. Where do you live ?
Near Toledo,Medina,Detroit would be the only chance of this working.
There is a guy that uses the free ads that does truck recovery. He may be able to use you on certain jobs.

 

[robh2]

I am in San Antonio, TX.

Just spitballing ideas. I love to drive and travel but cant be gone weeks at a time on a regular basis. I thought part time would be good since I would not be in it for just the money, but to enjoy life.

Thanks.

Robert

 

[zorry]

Stop by Ryder or Penske if you have a full class A. Or look in Yellow Pages under driver leasing. That's where a lot of the private fleets get their fill-in drivers.
They sometimes have local and OTR temp positions
Or look for drive-away companies.

 

[davekc]

Many of the temp agencies have short or part-time gigs. They are limited to A and B licences. Haven't seen anything for just a van.

 

[cheri1122]

Rob: living in Texas, you might find more opportunities in the hotshot field, as they do a lot of quick runs for the oil bidness, and many can be easily done with a cargo van or pick up truck.