This says it all after just a few days
 

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.

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.

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.

Re: This says it all after just a few days
 

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

Re: This says it all after just a few days
 

[quote="AS400[/quote]


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

Re: This says it all after just a few days
 

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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: