Truck Driving Jobs

Ian Williams · #21 02-25-2008, 08:56 PM

IMHO TMC is shooting themselves in the foot mileage wise with their aero-brick 389 Petes turned up to 70pmh.

All else being equal (loads, trailers, terrain, drivetrains) they could do significantly better with a more aerodynamic Paccar product like the 387, 386 or KW T660.

A better "carrot" based strategy would let drivers get a significant fuel bonus for exceeding the target. Having some clerk call to nag drivers off a phone script just annoys and insults them.

For any solo OTR driver you can make a sound business case for putting an APU on the truck.

ohiomohawk · #22 02-25-2008, 09:39 PM

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Now for the other problems that were mentioned... ie MPG, idle time. I don't care who you work for you will find that this is common practice. How would you feel if you were paying the bills in a tight market and your employees were just wasting your money? You're just 1 driver out of 4000. Multiply what you waste in idling by 4000 and you will see a huge figure that the company would like to save.
[/quote]

Wasting the companys money????

Idling to keep warm,or to keep cool should not be held against you. In addition I sleep with a CPAP so I Idle during the most of my 10 hour break. Sometimes to run a computer or other devices you have to Idle your truck. Some companys often consider that a waste but when you are in a cab for 22-24 hours a day it is like a home and we shouldnt have to live like animals in a cage.

#23 02-26-2008, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohiomohawk

Wasting the companys money????

Idling to keep warm,or to keep cool should not be held against you. In addition I sleep with a CPAP so I Idle during the most of my 10 hour break. Sometimes to run a computer or other devices you have to Idle your truck. Some companys often consider that a waste but when you are in a cab for 22-24 hours a day it is like a home and we shouldnt have to live like animals in a cage.

Forget it, man...they'll never get it.

century451 · #24 02-26-2008, 04:12 AM

Are we talking paid miles here or actual miles driven? I work partime and go out 2 weeks. Its usually 7700 miles or more from start to finish.

ben45750 · #25 02-26-2008, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by terrylamar

Quote:

Originally Posted by "ben45750

There is a part of me that kinda thinks CFM would actually put up $10,000 for this bet. He's right though, 16,000 miles in 30 days just isn't very likely. You might do 4,000 miles in a 7 day period but 16,000 miles in 30 days just isn't going to happen. Your talking a big game Dollarshort, but i'm thinking your the one thats full of BS.

Once again, for those of you who don't actually read the thread, the numbers refer to REVENUE TO THE TRUCK not mileage.

I was simply making a comment about Dollarshort calling out CFM. I think it was pretty obvious it was revenue generated and not miles. But I also thought it was pretty obvious what I was posting since I quoted the threads.

rank · #26 02-28-2008, 04:07 AM

Companies everywhere do this and not just trucking companies either. When they need to cut heads, they start a crackdown. Trouble is they lose the best...not that they care.

Couple of observations.
-I drive 60-63....because I buy the fuel. It costs me about an hour every 10 and it saves me $50 in the same amount of time.
-Your electric blanket isn't cutting it LOL. With all the money TMC spends on trucks, they can't afford a freaking bunk heater? Isn't asking you to shut the truck off without a means of heat unreasonable? What if they shut off the heat to an employee's office and he was forced to quit? Seems to me you could claim constructive dismissal? See a lawyer.

csramsey640 · #27 02-29-2008, 11:58 AM

no no they wont forced you to shut your truck off. This gentleman just "strongly" advised against idling since we have those "bunk warmers"

I understand thats a lot of wasted $$, however I felt they were trying to save money, rather than save $$ and keep a driver comfortable.

I told him the same as driver training. Any savings will not be funneled into my pocket, so your asking me to take steps that will hurt my productivity, but help yours, without seeing some of the benefit myself.

Like the idle guy, who told me how much $$ I was burning in idle fuel. I said if I fut idle time in 1/2, would I then be "rewarded" even 1/2 of the additional savings? TMC would still make out $$ ahead, he said no.

thejunkman · #28 02-29-2008, 12:13 PM

I heard that there was a shake up with the Upper management, and that the acting chief is no longer in tribe, now Grand chief is back in controll of tribe

Ian Williams · #29 02-29-2008, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by csramsey640

no no they wont forced you to shut your truck off. This gentleman just "strongly" advised against idling since we have those "bunk warmers"

I understand thats a lot of wasted $$, however I felt they were trying to save money, rather than save $$ and keep a driver comfortable.

I told him the same as driver training. Any savings will not be funneled into my pocket, so your asking me to take steps that will hurt my productivity, but help yours, without seeing some of the benefit myself.

Like the idle guy, who told me how much $$ I was burning in idle fuel. I said if I fut idle time in 1/2, would I then be "rewarded" even 1/2 of the additional savings? TMC would still make out $$ ahead, he said no.

You hit the nail on the head here.

They are asking you to sacrifice your comfort without compensation. Screw them.

Now if they want to offer an attainable fuel bonus it would be another story. Say keep your mileage above "X" and you will get an extra 1% of the load or something similar. A good pay plan aligns the goals of the driver with the carrier. As an O/O Rank is happy to go slow boat style as its money in HIS pocket at the end of the day.

When I was paid by the mile as a line driver I would always push the equipment as fast as possible, forget mileage. Now when you are paying me by the hour you get to have it your way; I'll drive any speed you want me to as long as I feel it is safe.

ogre999 · #30 02-29-2008, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orangetxguy

Quote:

Originally Posted by wild bill

I'm just wondering if the drop in rates is an industry wide problem?

The drop in rates is industry wide. Monday I picked up a load(tanker load) in Sauget IL, to deliver in Beaumont TX, which 2 months ago paid $1389 + FSC to the truck, on 733 HHG miles. The load I picked up Monday paid $729.41 + fsc on the same 733 miles.

The only reason I pulled the load, is because it brought me home. I needed to get work done on the truck, and prefer sitting at the house over a motel room. Even still...I had words with management over the rate cut...I asked if there was any possibilty of the oil companies dropping the pump price of diesel fuel, to match their rate cuts to the truck. :lol: :lol: :lol: :?

Hey ...now you are an O/O right ...sorry just trna figure something out i didnt quite get ...as a "company Driver ...you dont get to refuse loads nor worry about the ammount per run right ?

Dont mean to be ignernt ...jes cant hep it