Trucking Limerick #3 (safe For Work)
Topic 16449 | Page 1
Who do you work for Farmer Bob? It sounds suspiciously like Swift. The sitting and low paychecks are killing me right now. I started 3 months ago with $4500.00 in my savings account. Under 1k right now. I started in this business to build up my savings account, not DRAIN IT! BTW my driver ranking is 100% with no tickets, bumps bangs, or bruises. No toppled light poles or customers fences. And a NEGATIVE RA score to boot.
Who do you work for Farmer Bob? It sounds suspiciously like Swift. The sitting and low paychecks are killing me right now. I started 3 months ago with $4500.00 in my savings account. Under 1k right now. I started in this business to build up my savings account, not DRAIN IT! BTW my driver ranking is 100% with no tickets, bumps bangs, or bruises. No toppled light poles or customers fences. And a NEGATIVE RA score to boot.
I don't know how things are at Stevens, where farmerbob works, but Tractor Man, you're the second Swiftie on TT I've talked to today about the low miles issue. I never had too much of an issue with the reefer side otr but I've heard alot of complaints from decent people who are trying, about these 1500 mile weeks on the dry side otr.
I'm beginning to wonder if Swift is just set up differently. I'm dedicated and haven't sat involuntarily more than two days since I started on this. The only other account I have very limited first hand experience with is Walmart dedicated, but same thing there. Ask G town and he'll confirm he never sits unless he wants to. I mean, its normal that dedicated is going to be more consistent at pretty much any company, but dry otr freight at Swift just seems super inconsistent from what I'm hearing from you guys.
Oh, I forgot about Costco. Did that during training. Never sat. I keep in touch with a guy on Sears dedicated in Lancaster. He doesn't get amazing miles, but they're consistent. Met a couple guys on Home Depot dedicated out of Denver--home every day and consistently good paychecks each week. Met a guy on Amazon dedicated in Decatur--gets alot of short runs but they keep him running.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
Thx Paul, I am going to talk with my DM or above to see about a dedicated account. I need consistant miles.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
If poetry (by loose definition) fails, try calling a planner and offering to do them a favor in return for a favor. A planner asked me deliver a load 5 miles away in exchange for 1500 miles of East bound heaven. It worked for me.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
Thx Paul, I am going to talk with my DM or above to see about a dedicated account. I need consistant miles.
Yeah wtf? My FM preplans me before I even drop the load. And sometimes infeel like I don't have time to sleep. Crazy. Other prime drivers complain about not getting miles. Idk if my FM is that good or he just trusts me to get the job done
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Yeah wtf? My FM preplans me before I even drop the load. And sometimes infeel like I don't have time to sleep. Crazy. Other prime drivers complain about not getting miles. Idk if my FM is that good or he just trusts me to get the job done.
I'd go with a little of both. Your FM is good enough to notice that you get it done, so she sets up your preplan.
Do your FMs get percentage pay, Rainy?
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Yeah wtf? My FM preplans me before I even drop the load. And sometimes infeel like I don't have time to sleep. Crazy. Other prime drivers complain about not getting miles. Idk if my FM is that good or he just trusts me to get the job done.
I'd go with a little of both. Your FM is good enough to notice that you get it done, so she sets up your preplan.
Do your FMs get percentage pay, Rainy?
Yep.. And if a driver leaves one guys fleet to go with another the receiver has to pay the first FM some sort of compensation pay.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Thx Paul, I am going to talk with my DM or above to see about a dedicated account. I need consistant miles.
That's a great idea Tractor...
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Thx Paul, I am going to talk with my DM or above to see about a dedicated account. I need consistant miles.
Woah. Someone listened to my advice. No one ever takes my advice. This is a special moment.
I recommend letting your driver leader know you're interested in dedicated, but then calling the general number for your terminal and asking about dedicated accounts. Your DM may not be very happy to see you go, so I'd do my own homework if I were you. Hopefully you can get in touch with someone who knows about or runs all the dedicated accounts in your area and find out from him/her what's best for you. Also, keep your eyes and ears open. I've found out about accounts in my area I didn't even know existed by listening to other drivers talk.
If you like traveling the 48 states, Swift has some national accounts like Miller Coors and Kraft. I'd imagine Amazon is national too, but I don't know. We've got Farmland dedicated which runs in the Midwest. Not a super high mileage fleet but still consistent.
Something to keep in mind is that some of these accounts have their own planners. Walmart and Miller Coors both have their own planners. The result is quicker and better planning. On Miller Coors I have the planners' numbers but I've never had to call them to get a load. Ever. In fact they've called me before. Totally totally different than otr. Once I got to a shipper and my load wasn't ready. I called my dispatcher and they switched me to an identical (as far as I was concerned) load that was ready. Took all of about five minutes for the new load assignment to come in on the Qualcomm. Unfortunately I didn't get paid detention for those 5 minutes..pretty ****ed about that. Haha
Dedicated feels so different, it literally feels like I'm driving for a different company now.
I was thinking, too, part of this might be that you just don't have a very experienced dispatcher. Who knows. I think dedicated is your best bet.
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Qualcomm:
Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.Dispatcher:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.New Reply:
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Stevens Transport Swift Transport Dealing With The Boss Dedicated Jobs Dispatcher Issues Driver Responsibilities
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There is a trucker in Laredo.
His miles for the month, they are too low.
He needs a trip plan,
To make money, man.
Sitting still makes no money, must go!
Sent this freeform. I 'threatened' to write more bad poetry if they don't get me a load soon.
Two minutes after sending, I got a reply. "I'll poke the planners for you!"