I'm Pretty Sure Frieght Is Slow But..

I forgot to say "Brett you were right". CRST has a hometime policy of no more than 4 days and when we requested it we were told no more than 3 days off after 6 weeks out. Today I got a message saying to drop the trailer on your way home and I'll get in touch with you on the 24th for your next run.... today would be the 18th.

Awesome!

See? It's all about proving yourself to be a great driver and forming good relationships with dispatch. They are fully aware of driver preferences. They know when they're sticking you with a lousy run or when they're giving you a gravy run. If you'll take the bad with the good and kick *ss no matter what job they hand you then you can expect to be treated well. If you perform better than most drivers you can expect to be treated better than most drivers.

I've always taken the "pay it forward" approach with dispatch. I'll do the dirty work because someone has to do it and I'll kick *ss no matter what job they give me to do but you can be sure that in return I'm going to expect a level of treatment that matches my great performance and great attitude. I've earned it so I deserve it.

Whatever you do, don't get the order backwards. So many driver take the wrong approach. They expect to be treated like top tier drivers from day one and won't perform like one until they get it. Well guess what? They'll never get it. It doesn't work that way. You earn the treatment the top tier drivers get. They don't hand it to anyone.

There is a lot of give and take if you want to be happy and successful out there. When you understand the big picture of how trucking companies operate on the inside then you'll understand how to work the system.

Great job getting through those difficulties and I'm really glad to hear you're getting some extra home time for your efforts. Sometimes in the short term you'll get stuck with fewer miles or get bounced around the Northeast for a while or whatever. But in the long run you can and should expect to be treated based upon the level of your performance and attitude.

Enjoy your home time!!!!

You're coming around, Cwc!

Earlier I said you should take the shorter ones along with those big miles trips. I drive a regional account, my longest trip is just under 1,000 miles. But lots of 3-600 mile runs. Automatically I get a 34 hour break at home every weekend.

About a month ago, I had a week of traffic jams, bad appointments, and an airplane crash (cut electricity in my pick up area).

My DM knew I had a crappy week. Well the next week she had me pre-planned for three long trips back-to-back.

A planner can't/ won't do that.

Sometimes you get good loads, sometimes not so good. Do them all without complaint and your fleet manager will love you. Happy fleet managers tend to make happy drivers.

Also check to see if your company pays extra on those. At Werner, we get an extra $20 for loads that are less than 100 miles. I once had 3 trailer relocation runs less than a mile away. Did them all in about half an hour. Got 0 mileage pay, but made $60 in that half hour.

MOM I sent you a pm.

Ok so my last load was 1800 miles and I was to relay it here in the south Chicago area because it didn't deliver till the 11th and "were not going to sit on it that long" so the load I get a load today for 35 miles... in the low bridge capitol. Not sure what I should do at this point. I'm a team driver so the thought of risking my license for $4.55 before taxes is abit ludicrous. I realize this load has to be delivered at some point but I'm not really seeing the risk vs rewards balanced in the right direction. How would others handle this?