dr_lizardo

So today is a good example of how my company operates. I make my morning delivery in Indy at about 0800. Pressure gauge shows me almost empty by 0840 so I send in my empty call. Not even 5 minutes later while I'm pulling up to close my doors I get my next load sent out. It isn't the most desirable trip in the world because the ready time is 1600 and it's only about 20 miles away. It's a trip I've done many times before... one of our regular customers. From Fortville, Indiana to Carteret, New Jersey. Delivery time of 1600 on Thursday.

No sweat. So I have lots of time to kill today and I boogie on down to the Flying J on the 465 loop on the south side of Indy. But even though I'm just hanging around for most of today, I know EXACTLY what my plan is and how much time I have. I could sleep (except I had a good night's sleep already and don't really need it). If I had a bike with me I could spend the majority of the day just exploring around. Whatever... because they don't keep me in the dark.

It's easier to find a job when ou have a job.

just think up something good to tell them as to *why* you're looking

I don't deliver to NYC or Long Island. Or Canada. My company simply doesn't take that freight.

You're working for slave wages, and not even getting good miles (I assume). It's a raw deal. This is tough work, but you're working for what I'd consider to be the worst possible company in the industry. Trucking CAN pay well, and CAN give you a decent lifestyle. Not suggesting ideal... but decent.

Last week I ran close to 4000 miles. This weekend I have only 1000 miles over three days and I'm already half done. Easy peasy, but it's nice to balance things out.

I almost never have to wait for a load. And we're a small company. I truly cannot fathom why an industry monster such as Swift can't keep you moving. Boggles the mind. There is more freight than available logistics in this country. You don't owe them anything.

I'm just down the road in Carlisle. Let me know if you're headed by.

Incidentally, to the best of my observation, most companies that actually do go into NYC (not meaning just driving past on the cross bronx or something, but have legitimate pickup or delivery stops in town) give a cash incentive for doing that. Usually anywhere between $50 and $100 on top of the trip's mileage pay.

welcome back! i hope you're keeping really good track of all of your experiences on the road!

We occasionally joke P.O.H.L. is an acronym for "Pulls Only Heavy Loads". It's not entirely true... we have plenty of variety. But there are undoubtedly a lot of 40k ++ trips. I've got 44k of tomato paste in the trunk right now. All out pet food loads from Hills are in the 40s. We carry a fair amount of Bunge cooking oils as well and those are generally on the heavy side. My Poland Springs load was 46k (frankly that's just about the upper limit of what's acceptable).

Heavy loads make me love the auto-shift. I spent years driving various manuals, but at this point I would hate going back to one.

Yeah, it's like "If it were that easy, everyone would do it".

Positive and fluid... that's a good way to think of it. That's what I strive for.

I haven't really heard anything negative about Werner. Then again, I imagine that any other company is likely to be a step up from your current situation. Werner uses electronic logging... I assume on the Qualcomm in some manner. I'm a bit afraid of such a prospect, but I also recognize that sooner or later it will be mandated for all of us. I'm not sure what it means that I am so used to cheating my log book (mostly in little ways), that it seems difficult to imagine doing this job with GPS tracked hours logging. I guess the bigger issue is that the laws don't accurately accommodate the reality of the logistics business. The method of logging on paper just makes it easier to circumvent those restrictions.

I can understand the desire for some variety and lack of limits about where you can travel to in this job. Back when I first started with Pohl in 2003 I used to get more frequent trips to places like Florida, Texas, Colorado... whatever. Lately it seems like all I do is go back and forth between the mid-west and east coast. It is difficult to complain too much because I get more miles than I know what to do with. It does become monotonous though. If I had a dedicated run it'd be easier to accept. But the whole issue of waiting around for loading and unloading is still a big part of my routine. I've occasionally tried to plan out a dedicated route for myself based on known regular customers we have. But it always seems to be either too few or too many miles to conveniently fit into a week.

One of my SG friends "steven" is really into bikes too.
America has always had a romance with its highways and right now you're steeping yourself in it. It must be good in many ways. Certainly a period of your life that you will not regret.

I'm personally in awe that Swift is still in business. A company that big should always have more work than they know what to do with... and be brokering it out to other companies when they can't cover it all.

In your shoes, I'd hop over to US Express whenever it seemed prudent. First impressions are important, and you're getting just about the worst first impression of trucking that anyone could get. I wince when I read your blog.

Some folks like living out of a van (down by the river?) doing expedite work for companies such as FedEx Custom Critical or Panther II. Just an FYI if you like being on the road but would prefer to do it in something smaller.

I've thought about it from time to time.