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Seahawk

Well I got done with my Orientation in Iowa and have been on the road for three weeks with my trainer. I have to tell you all that the securement and tarping is not nearly as bad as it was made out to be. :D
How ever I do see that with the HOS and TMC getting a little stricter with the logging procedures it will be harder to get five loads a week done. :roll: The big hurdle is either the 14 hour clock or the delays I have seen at the shippers which have been from 2 hours to 6 hours after a 2-3 hour bounce. :x This eats up the 14 hour clock and will start to eat up our earnings. It may end up being better to drop and hook a box van and actually drive 11 hours at XX cents per mile. :?
Does any one have any feelings about this or how to make it work better? Will the frieght prices go up due to the HOS restrictions. My trainer has had trouble recently getting 4 grand to the truck each week.

Rawlco · Joined: 25 Jan 2006 Posts: 1124 Location: Central Maine

Freight has gotten cheap lately. It could pick up for the holiday season.

Delays at shippers are a fact of life. It would be good if there was some detention pay arrangement.

Dry vans have the same delays with live loads. The companies that are all drop and hook don't pay as much.

Seahawk · Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:06 pm Post subject:

When I say drop and hook I guess I should expand. A buddy of mine found a company that runs coast to coast and at the end of a long three or our day run he says that its no big deal to wait a little while for the load or unload. Or the drop and hook works better as well. Any way the wheels need to be rollin to make money. I am just worried that there may be better ways to keep the wheels rollin.

dollarshort · Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 509 Location: South Central PA

Long runs are the key to making money. The less time you spend loading and unloading the better off you are. Figure if you do five loads per week you can wait up to 2-3 hours on both ends of load. That adds up real quick. The biggest problem is that you won't find too many companies if any that will run you 2,000+ miles runs as a single driver on a consistent basis.

Tailgunner · Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 21 Location: KILLEEN, TEXAS

Seahawk, I know what you mean. I worked for KTL (sister company) and dropped off a load of laminated fiberboard (not sure what kind it is exactly)(computer desk type etc) in Rhinelander WI, then had a 9 hour layover for a load of LP (Louisiana Pacific OSB board) which was 45 mins away. Then dispatch msged me saying I had to be there before 7pm(I got the qualcomm msg around 515pm (got there around 615pm) and the guard at the shack told me the plant closed down for the night at 5pm. Im like WTF!? Nothing to eat except ham n cheese sandwiches and sodas. Not to mention no gas station nearby for at least 3-5 miles and it being -30F. The truck they assigned me was total crap. The tractor brake knob in the cab kept hissing like it was having a massive air leak. I had to drop the pressure down to about 80-90psi and then let it build back up again, then itll stop. Told the guys in the shop in des moines, ia to take a look and fix it. they said they will. then I take the truck back out on another run and there it goes again hissing away.
Pays good but watch out for some of the trainers. One I was assigned wanted me to tailgate another truck about 4 car lengths behind it. I told him I dont like this and wanted to back off a little. He replied dont worry trucks dont stop that fast.

Longsnowsm · Joined: 29 Dec 2005 Posts: 536

The HOS is hurting everyone and not just TMC. The way the HOS is setup forces a lot of people to do creative logging which is what causes a lot of the problems. I am glad to hear that TMC is coming down hard on this since it sounded like there are a bunch of drivers putting in 18 hour days all week long. Just not safe. The government needs to fix the HOS so that the driver has some flexibility. The way it is now does not appear to work.

Longsnowsm

vonSeggern

Seahawk wrote: Well I got done with my Orientation in Iowa and have been on the road for three weeks with my trainer. I have to tell you all that the securement and tarping is not nearly as bad as it was made out to be. :D

It's definately easier with two people.

marcel27208 · Joined: 19 Aug 2006 Posts: 782

I can name 5 companies right off hand that haul exclusively east to west.... avg loh 2000+

GoldiesPlating · Joined: 23 Feb 2006 Posts: 1173 Location: New York City USA

Tailgunner wrote: Seahawk, I know what you mean. I worked for KTL (sister company) and dropped off a load of laminated fiberboard (not sure what kind it is exactly)(computer desk type etc) in Rhinelander WI, then had a 9 hour layover for a load of LP (Louisiana Pacific OSB board) which was 45 mins away. Then dispatch msged me saying I had to be there before 7pm(I got the qualcomm msg around 515pm (got there around 615pm) and the guard at the shack told me the plant closed down for the night at 5pm. Im like WTF!? Nothing to eat except ham n cheese sandwiches and sodas. Not to mention no gas station nearby for at least 3-5 miles and it being -30F. The truck they assigned me was total crap. The tractor brake knob in the cab kept hissing like it was having a massive air leak. I had to drop the pressure down to about 80-90psi and then let it build back up again, then itll stop. Told the guys in the shop in des moines, ia to take a look and fix it. they said they will. then I take the truck back out on another run and there it goes again hissing away.
Pays good but watch out for some of the trainers. One I was assigned wanted me to tailgate another truck about 4 car lengths behind it. I told him I dont like this and wanted to back off a little. He replied dont worry trucks dont stop that fast.

9 HOURS!!!!!! OMG!!!
It's YOUR life so don't be a passenger, be the DRIVER.
I feel it's all about being proactive. If you are waiting for a reload, call and qualcomm you dispatcher regularily (often) and keep on top of him. He'll get you a load just to shut you up. Often they may forget about you till it's too late. There is ALWAYS freight available. GETTING it is another story. If your dispatcher does this to you on a regular basis, it may be time to change him/her. Did you stick around to WATCH them fix your truck? I would have and then I would have noticed that they didn't look at the problem valve. It's your truck (and life) so stay with it and speak up. "Uh hey man, you gonna fix that valve too?" As far as trainers driving a bit "different". Say something if you are uncomfortable or switch trainers. Four car lengths is a little close but not uncommon on the highway. That's about 80 feet and I regularily run that close if not closer to the truck in front of me. If I left a bigger gap I may as well park it because every 4-wheeler around would be jumping in front of me to the point that eventually I'd be stopped.

Just curious, are you still driving now? If so, who for?

dollarshort · Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 509 Location: South Central PA

Okay Marcel, why don't you give us all the names of companies that will run you 2,000+ mi. runs as a single driver.

Trapper · Joined: 06 May 2004 Posts: 212 Location: Wisconsin

I'd like to know the companies as well that run single drivers with a 2000 mile LOH. We're talking about dry van or flatbed Co right?

dollarshort · Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 509 Location: South Central PA

Either way companies with LOH over 2,000 miles are set up to run it with a team. Most receivers want it now! So they can't wait an extra couple days for a single to get it there.

Tailgunner · Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 21 Location: KILLEEN, TEXAS

Goldie, I just arrived at the hotel for the Covenant orientation on saturday the 16th. CRST was hell. 1st trainer went apeshit cause i moved the truck forward a little bit so another truck can get by (The Caves in KC, MO) and abandoned me at the truck stop across the tracks from the caves. 2nd trainer threatened me with the same treatment. had it with CRST and quit. was told by my mom i was fired. Like I give a hoot.
I heard some good things from Covenant as my half brother drove for them for a few years. before i got hired for orientation i drove a semi end-dump blew 2 tires in two weeks. owner never got the tx overwieght permit paper( tx requires both the sticker and the paper ) to be legal to haul overweight loads. quit that. later found out from the dispatcher who also quit a few days later after me said he was glad I left. he told me 2 of the bellydumps were leased and the owners of those trailers said the owner of my company i was driving for was behind on payments on the lease and threatened to report those trailers stolen if they werent in the yard for them to pick up at 12 noon. geez good thing i did leave when i could. :)

Kintama · Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 273

dollarshort wrote: Long runs are the key to making money. The less time you spend loading and unloading the better off you are. Figure if you do five loads per week you can wait up to 2-3 hours on both ends of load. That adds up real quick. The biggest problem is that you won't find too many companies if any that will run you 2,000+ miles runs as a single driver on a consistent basis.

Actually, cross country LTL is where it's at. Find some really great partials that drop in a certain radius, and most of the time you can pretty much double what you can make on a single long load.

GoldiesPlating · Joined: 23 Feb 2006 Posts: 1173 Location: New York City USA

Tailgunner wrote: Goldie, I just arrived at the hotel for the Covenant orientation on saturday the 16th. CRST was hell. 1st trainer went apeshit cause i moved the truck forward a little bit so another truck can get by (The Caves in KC, MO) and abandoned me at the truck stop across the tracks from the caves. 2nd trainer threatened me with the same treatment. had it with CRST and quit. was told by my mom i was fired. Like I give a hoot.
I heard some good things from Covenant as my half brother drove for them for a few years. before i got hired for orientation i drove a semi end-dump blew 2 tires in two weeks. owner never got the tx overwieght permit paper( tx requires both the sticker and the paper ) to be legal to haul overweight loads. quit that. later found out from the dispatcher who also quit a few days later after me said he was glad I left. he told me 2 of the bellydumps were leased and the owners of those trailers said the owner of my company i was driving for was behind on payments on the lease and threatened to report those trailers stolen if they werent in the yard for them to pick up at 12 noon. geez good thing i did leave when i could. :)

A word of advice, be very careful job hopping. Your DAC report follows you around like a bad smell and if companies see you switch jobs often, whether you have good reason or not, they may not hire you. Do your research THOROUGHLY before choosing a company and then TRY and make it work between you and them. If I were reviewing your application and had 10 to choose from, someone who had several jobs within a short period would be my last choice.

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