Trucker Forum - Trucking & Driving Forums - Class A Drivers

Since I've been asked...

Some of you from this site or the other I post on have asked generally in one form or another about the miles I (we) run in food-grade. One,if that's the hardest part of the job? Two, how can we run those consistent high miles and be legal?.

To answer question one, honestly speaking I would have to say yes. With food-grade companies such as Jim Aartman, Indian River/Quality Express/North American Tank Lines, and Bynum, you're NOT going to be physically loading or unloading the product or anything associated with that procedure except for weighing in/out, and pulling/backing into a loading bay, and that's it! In order to simply pick-up and deliver on time safely, you must drive. That's your job and what you're being paid to for, which leads us to question two.

Remember that as an average each trip is going to be between 1,300-2,000 miles (from personal experience), our freight lanes take us across many 70-75 m.p.h. states, and that the trucks are capable of running those speed limits. What this means is that you should realistically expect to put in a minimum of 660 miles daily. Sometimes you can slack a little, and sometimes you'll push upwards of 700 to 750. A large factor contributing to all this is how you manage your time :?...

However, if you are coming from a carrier governed around 65 m.p.h. and are used to running only 550-600 miles daily, this will be quite an adjustment and may lead many to think we are dispatched and/or run illegal. NOT SO!!! Remember that you are hauling a time-sensitive product so YOU"RE NOT going to be given the same time to do trips as you may have been used to, and, that provided you average at least 60 m.p.h. for your DRIVING TIME every run can be done legally. This includes daily, the required 10-hour break plus a half hour for doing your pre-trip inspection and fueling. Just for S.&G., if you really do the numbers, almost every load I've personally ran can even be completed in the time frame given averaging 57 m.p.h. for DRIVING TIME!

One more item, the above mentioned companies don't expect every driver to push the miles like I do (and I'm not a hard runner by a long shot). They have freight for drivers who only want to run 10,000 miles a month, for those such as myself who like to get around 12,000, and for those who never go home and want 14,000. It's all in what you need, and what you want to do.

If you have any doubts about being able to do this consistently day in, day out then I suggest you seriously reconsider ever hauling food-grade tankers. Once again, it's not for everyone, but those of us who do it and stick with it are quite happy for many reasons...;-).

As always, y'all be safe and have fun :D!