Truck Driving Jobs

merrick4 · Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 865

04/08/2008 19:00 n/a
Latest reading 04/13/2008 13:00 n/a
Report duration 114.00 hours n/a
DISTANCE/FUEL
Odometer 137524.9 to 139775.0 n/a
Total Distance 2,250.1 miles avg 473.7 / day
Total Fuel 394.875 gallons n/a
Average MPG 5.70 miles/gallon n/a
Average Speed 60.1 mph n/a
TIME BREAKOUT
Engine Time 58.69 hours 51.5%
Moving Time 37.44 hours 32.8%
Over RPM Time 0.00 minutes 0.0%
Over Speed Time 23.74 hours 63.4%
Excess Speed Time 0.00 hours 0.0%
IDLE BREAKOUT
Long Idle Time 19.23 hours 32.8%
Long Idle Count 41 avg 28.14 mins each
Long Idle Fuel 8.455 gallons avg 0.21 gals each
Short Idle Time 2.02 hours 3.4%
Short Idle Count 182 avg 40 seconds each
Short Idle Fuel 1.536 gallons avg 0.01 gals each

137524.9 to 139775.0 n/a
Total Distance 2,250.1 miles avg 473.7 / day
Total Fuel 394.875 gallons n/a
Average MPG 5.70 miles/gallon n/a
Average Speed 60.1 mph

Well here's my welcome to the the world of hiring drivers. I asked this guy numberous times to not idle. The day we went to get the truck and it was broken and he had to follow me to take the truck to the shop I paid him for his time and bought him lunch.

The truck has an APU, so I don't know why he has to idle almost 20 hours.

I'll say one thing, this monitoring device I have is well worth the money. I'm not so happy with this particular company's device (People Net). Their customer service is terrible and they basically don't want to offer any type of support. I called up to find out about how the fuel tax works and they told me to go to some thing on the web.

I guess cause I am a one truck owner. The idiots don't realize that this one truck owner is capable of posting his experience on a board such as this.

Anyway I am going to get this guy back to Florida and out of my truck. I'm in business to make money not to lose it.

mike3fan · Joined: 04 Aug 2006 Posts: 1655 Location: michigan

Take two steps back and take a deep breath,if you are gonna fire a driver for everytime he doesn't get the optimal fuel milage that you feel he should you will be putting a new driver in your truck every 2 weeks.

That doesn't seen like the way to make money as a owner.I know as a driver for an O/O on a couple of different occasions that it was difficult to drive for a guy that micro managed my day to day driving,the ones that left me alone and let me do the job I was hired to do then I worked much harder for them than the one who was constantly on me.

If you are basing whether or not it is gonna be profitable for you to have a driver in your truck based on 1 or even 1.5 mpg difference then you are in for a long ride.

I would suggest a bonus set up on the amount of idle time he runs over the course of a month,maybe a mpg bonus would help.You need to make it worth his while to want to do better,right now it is of no concern to him whether he idles or not.Loss of a job usually doesn't matter to these guys as there is always someone else out there to hire them,you need to give them a reason to want to do better.

If I was a driver for you I would hate that you are sitting there watching and criticizing every move I make on a daily basis on the computer and I'm pretty sure I am not alone on this.Some of us kinda warned you what to expect with drivers and now that it happens in the first week you want to fire the first driver that does exactly what we said would happen? Make an effort to give him a possibility of doing what you want him to do.

Sit down with him and go over your readout from peoplenet and ask him if it is possible to do any better? Ask him what he needs to make a better effort to do what you wish(again threat of loss of a job is not enough).

It would of helped if you had a readout of when you running the truck so you could have a comparison to go by,but again it is unlikely that you will find a driver that will run the truck or care as much as you do about running your truck.

Hope you take this in the way it was intended.

merrick4 · Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 865

I know that Mike believe me. When I was a company driver, you see how polite I am, well one day I was heading to California and had like 2 days left to reach appointment and was only 8 hours away or so and I hear a beep on the Qualcomm. They wanted to know if I was ok to make delivery.

Man I flipped out on them. But with these fuel prices he's on track to waste a $100 a week. Same things as you said, I just wanted to be left alone to do my work.

Well more on that later, up early and busy day.

Thanks again , your comments are alway appreciated.

Fozzy · Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 2460

merrick4 wrote: 04/08/2008 19:00 n/a
Latest reading 04/13/2008 13:00 n/a
Report duration 114.00 hours n/a
DISTANCE/FUEL
Odometer 137524.9 to 139775.0 n/a
Total Distance 2,250.1 miles avg 473.7 / day
Total Fuel 394.875 gallons n/a
Average MPG 5.70 miles/gallon n/a
Average Speed 60.1 mph n/a
TIME BREAKOUT
Engine Time 58.69 hours 51.5%
Moving Time 37.44 hours 32.8%
Over RPM Time 0.00 minutes 0.0%
Over Speed Time 23.74 hours 63.4%
Excess Speed Time 0.00 hours 0.0%
IDLE BREAKOUT
Long Idle Time 19.23 hours 32.8%
Long Idle Count 41 avg 28.14 mins each
Long Idle Fuel 8.455 gallons avg 0.21 gals each
Short Idle Time 2.02 hours 3.4%
Short Idle Count 182 avg 40 seconds each
Short Idle Fuel 1.536 gallons avg 0.01 gals each

137524.9 to 139775.0 n/a
Total Distance 2,250.1 miles avg 473.7 / day
Total Fuel 394.875 gallons n/a
Average MPG 5.70 miles/gallon n/a
Average Speed 60.1 mph

Well here's my welcome to the the world of hiring drivers. I asked this guy numberous times to not idle. The day we went to get the truck and it was broken and he had to follow me to take the truck to the shop I paid him for his time and bought him lunch.

The truck has an APU, so I don't know why he has to idle almost 20 hours.

I'll say one thing, this monitoring device I have is well worth the money. I'm not so happy with this particular company's device (People Net). Their customer service is terrible and they basically don't want to offer any type of support. I called up to find out about how the fuel tax works and they told me to go to some thing on the web.

I guess cause I am a one truck owner. The idiots don't realize that this one truck owner is capable of posting his experience on a board such as this.

Anyway I am going to get this guy back to Florida and out of my truck. I'm in business to make money not to lose it.

I've been using peoplenet for a while now. What they are suggesting (and what you should have access too) is the PFM dispatch, their are TONS of things that you can do from the site. EVERYTHING is internet based for peoplenet and it beats having to have to buy a whole bunch of satellite junk to install in the office and working in AS400 or something like that. Try the website.. you may like it. :D

NotSteve · Joined: 20 Mar 2007 Posts: 176 Location: Bar in Mexico

[quote="AS400[/quote]

?!?!?!?!? BOING ?!?!?!?

got mud? · Joined: 27 May 2006 Posts: 243

merrick4 wrote: 04/08/2008 19:00 n/a
Latest reading 04/13/2008 13:00 n/a
Report duration 114.00 hours n/a
DISTANCE/FUEL
Odometer 137524.9 to 139775.0 n/a
Total Distance 2,250.1 miles avg 473.7 / day
Total Fuel 394.875 gallons n/a
Average MPG 5.70 miles/gallon n/a
Average Speed 60.1 mph n/a
TIME BREAKOUT
Engine Time 58.69 hours 51.5%
Moving Time 37.44 hours 32.8%
Over RPM Time 0.00 minutes 0.0%
Over Speed Time 23.74 hours 63.4%
Excess Speed Time 0.00 hours 0.0%
IDLE BREAKOUT
Long Idle Time 19.23 hours 32.8%
Long Idle Count 41 avg 28.14 mins each
Long Idle Fuel 8.455 gallons avg 0.21 gals each
Short Idle Time 2.02 hours 3.4%
Short Idle Count 182 avg 40 seconds each
Short Idle Fuel 1.536 gallons avg 0.01 gals each

137524.9 to 139775.0 n/a
Total Distance 2,250.1 miles avg 473.7 / day
Total Fuel 394.875 gallons n/a
Average MPG 5.70 miles/gallon n/a
Average Speed 60.1 mph

Well here's my welcome to the the world of hiring drivers. I asked this guy numberous times to not idle. The day we went to get the truck and it was broken and he had to follow me to take the truck to the shop I paid him for his time and bought him lunch.

The truck has an APU, so I don't know why he has to idle almost 20 hours.

I'll say one thing, this monitoring device I have is well worth the money. I'm not so happy with this particular company's device (People Net). Their customer service is terrible and they basically don't want to offer any type of support. I called up to find out about how the fuel tax works and they told me to go to some thing on the web.

I guess cause I am a one truck owner. The idiots don't realize that this one truck owner is capable of posting his experience on a board such as this.

Anyway I am going to get this guy back to Florida and out of my truck. I'm in business to make money not to lose it.

no offense but if your going to fire this guy after one week because he idled to much then that shows poor management skills on your part. what have you done to try to fix the problem. I know you said you asked him not to idle. maybe in his mind he is not idling that much. maybe at his last company his idle percentage was 60%. does he understand how the apu works, that it will kick on automatically if it is turned on properly? how much money will that truck make sitting around waiting for another driver? how are his customer service skills? did he deliver on time? does it appear that he takes good care of the equipment other than the idling? you can teach a driver to not idle but it is more difficult to teach the other things mentioned. It is your responsibility to make it clear what you are looking for and take steps to correct it. after you have done that and their is no change then let the guy go. other wise you will be chasing your tail looking for the "perfect driver". the perfect driver already has a good gig. your best bet is to find someone that you can mold into the driver that you want him to be.

scooter823 · Joined: 16 Jul 2007 Posts: 96 Location: NC

Mike, that is one of the best post I have read on this forum, excellent advice!

Merrick, I would read and reread the post by Mike, excellent advice.

BigDiesel · Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:24 am Post subject:

mike3fan wrote: Take two steps back and take a deep breath,if you are gonna fire a driver for everytime he doesn't get the optimal fuel milage that you feel he should you will be putting a new driver in your truck every 2 weeks.

That doesn't seen like the way to make money as a owner.I know as a driver for an O/O on a couple of different occasions that it was difficult to drive for a guy that micro managed my day to day driving,the ones that left me alone and let me do the job I was hired to do then I worked much harder for them than the one who was constantly on me.

If you are basing whether or not it is gonna be profitable for you to have a driver in your truck based on 1 or even 1.5 mpg difference then you are in for a long ride.

I would suggest a bonus set up on the amount of idle time he runs over the course of a month,maybe a mpg bonus would help.You need to make it worth his while to want to do better,right now it is of no concern to him whether he idles or not.Loss of a job usually doesn't matter to these guys as there is always someone else out there to hire them,you need to give them a reason to want to do better.

If I was a driver for you I would hate that you are sitting there watching and criticizing every move I make on a daily basis on the computer and I'm pretty sure I am not alone on this.Some of us kinda warned you what to expect with drivers and now that it happens in the first week you want to fire the first driver that does exactly what we said would happen? Make an effort to give him a possibility of doing what you want him to do.

Sit down with him and go over your readout from peoplenet and ask him if it is possible to do any better? Ask him what he needs to make a better effort to do what you wish(again threat of loss of a job is not enough).

It would of helped if you had a readout of when you running the truck so you could have a comparison to go by,but again it is unlikely that you will find a driver that will run the truck or care as much as you do about running your truck.

Hope you take this in the way it was intended.

Ding Ding Ding !!!! We have a winning response !!!!

As a two truck owner, I could not have said this any better....

TruckerChris · Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:31 am Post subject:

Why does he have any idle time if he has a APU? Does the APU count as idling? If it doesn't and if I had a APU, I would not have any idle time. Theres no reason to if you can shut the truck down and run the APU.

Kurbski · Joined: 08 Jun 2007 Posts: 314 Location: I-4 & I-95

It would be impossible to top mikes response.

His average speed is only 60.Thats good.he's not speeding.
Ask him why he idled? Is it possible the peoplenet is not accurate?
Or maybe he pullled over at an accident or something. Then idled at the recievers waiting to unload. And again to pick up or waiting to fuel or while being backed up at a tollbooth. I agree the numbers are up there.

I would ask him how he is doing,everything ok with the truck and if he understands the operating procedures of the apu. Especially if he has never had one. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks sometimes.

Does the dash mounted device have an alarm feature to remind you to shut down? if not, maybe you could attach a tazer to the driver's seat and make him "ride the lightning" with a mouse click. :lol: Just kidding.

Hopefully your keeping him so busy he won't have time to read threads on CAD. :lol:

sidman82 · Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 395 Location: Long Island,NY

Merrick, also you can set the ECM on the truck to have it shut down at lets say ten minutes or a pre-determined amount of time. Also, it's hard to get an average speed of 60. With traffic and stops in there it is usually lower. Unless your running the wide open country side the entire time.
Does he know you have this device on the truck? I'll agree with the other guys. Just let him know nicely what you want him to improve on, and if he doesn't try then you know he doesn't care. Give him a little time and then make your decision.

merrick4 · Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 865

Update:

04/08/2008 19:00 n/a
Latest reading 04/14/2008 07:00 n/a
Report duration 132.00 hours n/a
DISTANCE/FUEL
Odometer 137524.9 to 140397.4 n/a
Total Distance 2,872.5 miles avg 522.3 / day
Total Fuel 502.750 gallons n/a
Average MPG 5.71 miles/gallon n/a
Average Speed 61.1 mph n/a
TIME BREAKOUT
Engine Time 74.51 hours 56.5%
Moving Time 47.04 hours 35.6%
Over RPM Time 0.00 minutes 0.0%
Over Speed Time 30.39 hours 64.6%
Excess Speed Time 0.06 hours 0.1%
IDLE BREAKOUT
Long Idle Time 25.31 hours 34.0%
Long Idle Count 44 avg 34.51 mins each
Long Idle Fuel 8.467 gallons avg 0.19 gals each
Short Idle Time 2.16 hours 2.9%
Short Idle Count 197 avg 40 seconds each
Short Idle Fuel 1.618 gallons avg 0.01 gals each
PTO BREAKOUT

Ok thanks for all the comments. First off I have a driver already for the truck that I know won't idle. This other guy is new for my friend; he didn't have a truck for him yet.

I don't know, maybe this thing is wrong, how could it only average 8 gallons for 25 hours? As for whether he knows how to use the APU I asked him numerous times if he understood how to use it.

You know, I hear you guys about being overly strict 'bout things but the way I look at it, I will do anything for a driver. I will pay them virtually immediately on receipt of clean paperwork. I will get them home if they need to. I expect the same in return.

On top of that, this guy is running like a cowboy. I don't think he sleeps. He did like 1000 + miles without sleeping. I tried to tell him to slow down and take it easy but he "needs to make money".

He's making money alright. He left Thursday and delivers tomorrow and has grossed to the truck $5300.

mike3fan · Joined: 04 Aug 2006 Posts: 1655 Location: michigan

merrick4 wrote: Long Idle Time 25.31 hours 34.0%
Long Idle Count 44 avg 34.51 mins each
Long Idle Fuel 8.467 gallons avg 0.19 gals each

Yeah I wondered about that also? Could that be for the APU? seems like that would be the average for an apu .3 gals an hour.

If he is averaging 60+ mph he running her hard,mostly 65-70+,it would be hard to get a rolling avg. above 50mph,I think that is where your fuel milage is taking a hit.

BigDiesel · Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 6:07 pm Post subject:

Merrick...

From reading your posts I have always thought you had a good grasp on running a business. But, putting a driver in your one truck operation is a terrible idea with the current economics of scale.... Above your post stated the driver ran 1k miles w/o sleep.... consider the liability if he crashes into the Smith family on their summer vacation..... IMHO what you are doing, the liabilities far outweigh the returns.... My 2 cents...

merrick4 · Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 865

Mike, APU is not counted for the idling. Well I would think it wouldn't be. Maybe I'll call them tomorrow and ask. I don't see how it could track the APU, it works off the ECM.

Big D, thanks for your comments and you are right and I didn't agree to him doing that.

What happened, I'm not sure if I mentioned this already, the broker CHR was pushing him. I kept calling them up and then finally I kind of lost it with them. The guy told me "well I asked the driver if he could make it and he said yes."

I told him it was my truck and as for asking the driver, you don't put a chocolate cake in front of a 10 year old. The broker admitted that he won't be standing there with me in court if something happens.

This guy won't listen to me and that is another reason he is getting out of the truck. Believe me I'm not going to lose my safety rating and/or my house over this guy.

As to putting a man in a one truck operation, that's why I'm going to buy another one :). No I'm kidding. I actually liked being out there, and who knows maybe I'll end up out there again. I just want to explore other avenues as well.

Thanks again for the comments.

PS. I just called People Net and asked how it could have idled 25 hours and only used 8 gallons but he didn't know.

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