WOW, that is SERIOUS BS you say???? Yeah, no sh*t sherlock. Why do you think I'm writing this book? It is a very, very serious dilemma for the driver. If you follow the laws you will lose a ton of money and won't get treated nearly as well by your company as the guys who are cheating. Because those guys are willing to take the risk and move more freight, making more money for their company, they will be given the heavy workload. Yet if you DO decide to cheat, YOU as a driver are risking your job, your money if you were to get caught and fined, your license and your career if you get too many violations, and even jail time if you get in a serious accident. So what should you do?

You have to decide that for yourself. I can't tell you what you should do. It's the cold, harsh reality of life as a truck driver and nearly every driver in the United States is faced with this dilemma. I wish there was a simple answer, but there's not.

As far a dealing with your dispatcher goes, he or she needs drivers who can move as much freight as possible. Some dispatchers and most managers receive bonuses for improvements in revenues, efficiencies, or some combination of the two. So the harder you work as a driver, the more the office personnel will benefit directly. That's the game....that's the way it's played. You can choose to participate or you can opt out, but you just can't change the rules.

It's been this way for decades.

Now if you're gonna scream and yell and go into a tirade then please let me know because...well hell, we ALL enjoy watching a good freak-out!

The best thing you can do is decide how you would like to handle this scenario and stick to your guns. If you are consistent then at least your dispatcher and the load planners know what type of loads they can give you. Don't decide to run your brains out sometimes and then out of the blue decide you're gonna run by the book. If they've grown accustomed to counting on you running hard and they give you a “hot” load for an important customer and you decide to shut down two hours short of your delivery, YOU may get a chance to watch a good freak-out!

Actually what will generally happen if you piss-off the dispatchers and load planners is you will sit....and sit....and sit.....and sit. A couple days is usually a good punishment period. You'll be begging them for a load but it just seems there isn't any freight. Bummer how that works.

Another issue that comes up with certain dispatchers is the matter of who's the boss, you or your dispatcher? They certainly believe they are the boss. In all reality, most companies go by a system called “forced dispatch”. In other words, they're gonna tell you tell you what load you're going to haul, and you are going to haul it.

But companies are desperate for good drivers so if you can prove to them over a period of time that your are safe, hard working, and reliable then they will do their best to compromise with you. If you'll haul a lousy load for them every so often then they will reward you with consistently good miles, a lot of good runs, and respect and tolerance for you as a driver and a as a human being. Your home time, family life, temper, driving style, special requests, and other idiosyncrasies will be accepted in return for the great job you do for them time and time again. At least most of the time. There are of course exceptions and I'll have plenty of stories ahead to show you more of the lessons I've learned...the hard way of course.