[Twilight Flyer]

See I just sat for 24 hours in Michigan. Now I get a good run. 1100 miles to Cheyenne. But after Cheyenne they will give me a Dodge City meat run that won't pick up til Monday. It will be about 1000 miles too, and drop on Wednesday. So that will be a 2100 mile week. And for what? $672?

Which is $272 better than $400.

Just sayin'

[Cluggy619]

Useless,

I'm not going to write out a page worth on "fault" and "blame". You know me, and you know how I feel about anyone, new or not, being OTR. But I will repeat myself for those who are reading this post who do not.

Spencerian,

Simply put, what you needed to do is to let your dispatch know that you cannot survive on the low miles, and truely make him understand that. If you did do that, and still got 1400, stop wasting time with them. They already let you know that you don't mean $hit to them by giving you the low miles. Because they make the same money per mile weather you take 1400 or 3000. So stop making them money. That means NO MORE RUNS. Quit now, and drive for someone else.

It's simple. It's easy. And only when you start making your bottom line will things work out for you.


Good luck.

[madii'swife]

Originally Posted by spencerian

How many times would you put in for hometime ONLY to get it approved for a month AFTER you have been on the truck?

How many times would you call or message your dispatcher only to get NO response?

See I just sat for 24 hours in Michigan. Now I get a good run. 1100 miles to Cheyenne. But after Cheyenne they will give me a Dodge City meat run that won't pick up til Monday. It will be about 1000 miles too, and drop on Wednesday. So that will be a 2100 mile week. And for what? $672?

Monday tends to turn into Tuesday tends to turn into the middle of the night whenever they feel like it at Dodge City...But yes, thats where you go after Cheyenne.

I won't get much into this thread, except for to say that I have the interesting position of very intimately understanding both sides of the "coin" here. Having multiple jobs does NOT look good to most companies, and has cost my hubby several jobs he wanted in his lifetime. Pretty much his whole history looks speckled at best.

However, he just switched for very similar reasons. My recommendation to you would be what it was to him. IF you decide to leave, make ABSOLUTELY sure you know where you're going next, and TAKE your time researching that company, good, bad, evil, ugly, rude, up, down, all around to the absolute best of your ability so that you CAN get somewhere you want to stay.

I have to admit I don't have a very orthodox approach to things at times, and the one I love really does not. At this point, I would focus on making sure your next move is your last for a while. As I discovered in regards to education, nobody cares if your high school diploma is a GED...once you've been to college

I do hope it either works out for you at TransAm, or you find a good fit elsewhere, be it in the trucking industry or not.

[BigWheels]

Well stated Madii's wife!

[Useless]

I hear what you people are saying, and Cluggy, I'll be the first to say that what drivers SHOULD get, and what the DO get are two very different things.

Having said that, the realites remain the same. Look, it's Spencerain's life, and his life is the sum total of the decisions and choices that he's made.

Unfortunately, the working conditions in the trucking industry are going to get worse instead of better, at least in the forseeable future. At the same time, the working conditions in the trucking industry are, with perhaps a few exceptions, worse than they were thirty five years ago.

Cluggy, I'm glad that your situation works well for you. Unfortunately, your belief that the conditions are poor because drivers tolerate it is not really true. If you don't want to work 85hrs. a week, log 70hrs., and get paid for 40hrs. per week, well then, your compadres from Mexico will.

Again, I did not write the rules, I hold them in disdain, and NONE of that will change a dammed thing.

Strange, how thr trucking industry as a whole is so backwards, yet they move freigh foreward, and drivers wonder why they can't advance!!

Sorry, but what I stated previously still holds true; you either adjust, or you go.

[spencerian]

Twilight, yes, it is more money for this week.
And for that I can't complain.

I am not just going to jump into another company.
I talked with my dispatcher again today.
He knew I was staying, but "forgot" about his word to get me home next week.

So I told him my staying is contingent on 2 things.
1) hometime. I need it every so often.
Now I have missed my sons, daughters and wife's birthday.
I have also missed Thanksgiving, and our 10 year anniversary.
That being said, I have a daughter that turns 6 this year.
"Daddy, will you be home for my birthday?
And daddy can we have a party?
But daddy you have to be there, 'cause it won't be a party without you."

I'm not saying I want off every week, or even 2 weeks. But I don't want hometime once a month.

2) miles. That's what pays bills. I don't get detention, hardly ever qualify for layover, and can't lump my own loads.

3) communication. I need my dispatcher to answer me. My dispatcher at England did. My old dispatcher at TransAm did.

[Cluggy619]

Originally Posted by Useless

I hear what you people are saying, and Cluggy, I'll be the first to say that what drivers SHOULD get, and what the DO get are two very different things.

I agree. There are two side of this world. Determination is the key to what side you live-- where you want to be, or where you have no choice to be.

Originally Posted by Useless

Having said that, the realites remain the same. Look, it's Spencerain's life, and his life is the sum total of the decisions and choices that he's made.

Sorry, I won't determine where a man is by the sum of his life choices when I barely know what he did in the last year. And you shouldn't either.

Originally Posted by Useless

Unfortunately, the working conditions in the trucking industry are going to get worse instead of better, at least in the forseeable future. At the same time, the working conditions in the trucking industry are, with perhaps a few exceptions, worse than they were thirty five years ago.

I have to take your word on that. 35 years ago, I was 5. I have only been a professional driver since May 2000, and only held a class A for 26 months.

Originally Posted by Useless

Cluggy, I'm glad that your situation works well for you. Unfortunately, your belief that the conditions are poor because drivers tolerate it is not really true. If you don't want to work 85hrs. a week, log 70hrs., and get paid for 40hrs. per week, well then, your compadres from Mexico will.

Your damm right i believe that. And it is true. We see them all of the time, complaining about their job....but what did they do to solve that problem? Take another load, and keep quiet about it? If a driver truly believes that they must go by the guide lines above, then yes, they are tolerating it.

Originally Posted by Useless

Again, I did not write the rules, I hold them in disdain, and NONE of that will change a dammed thing.

That's where your wrong. You see the problem, and you don't like it. That's the first step in changing things.

Originally Posted by Useless

Strange, how thr trucking industry as a whole is so backwards, yet they move freigh foreward, and drivers wonder why they can't advance!!

Sorry, but what I stated previously still holds true; you either adjust, or you go.

Well, that's human nature. We adapt, and we overcome. The trucking industry is backwards because of drivers not taking a stand. So I'll say this, and leave it alone.

If your doing good with your company, stay.

If your not doing good with your company, then leave, and find a company who you will do good at.

But don't sit back and take it. Let people know. How does this help? Ask yourself...Will I go work for this company now that I learn this is how they treat they're drivers? The more drivers who say no, the less of a chance that this company will be able to keep up their current practice. Soon, it will be treat your drivers right, or go out of business.

And you don't have to have a great big group of drivers to do this....you can start with YOURSELF. :wink:

[jnk2001]

Originally Posted by fireman932003

Well, $400 a week working is better than $0 a week sitting at home on your rump looking for another job while your kids are saying "daddy I am hungry!"

And this is the mentality that let companies push drivers around. :roll:

[feederfred]

So, Who is going to pay YOUR bills ? You or all the other "self righteous" wanna be's on this board ? It's pretty simple....No Money-No work...If you can't make it where you are at- LEAVE. There is always something better, if you are willing to look hard enough, you will find it. Stop giving people justification for legalized slavery. You need to know that MOST of the posters here are NOT experienced truck drivers. They'll give you ton's of bad advice.....

[k9219]

Totally agree with fred. Alot of wannabes on here. :wink: