The Early Bird Gets The Worm.

My dispatch yesterday brought me to a steel building manufacturing plant in Wisconsin. I was to drop my stepdeck there and pick up a pre-loaded flatbed to bring to Illinois.

Upon arrival, I'm checking in at the guard shack when I see another Prime truck drive by on the way out with the trailer I was supposed to pick up. I told the guard and he said not to worry since there are several loads going to the same receiver. They'll simply assign me another trailer. Okie dokie, so I wait...

20 minutes or so goes by and the guard calls me to say that I'll be getting the last of the 6 loads going to this receiver. But it's not ready yet, so they'll have to live load me. Another delay but I understand things happen.

I reminded him that I have a step deck, and the load I saw leave earlier would not fit on a step deck. It required a flatbed.

So he calls back to the shipping office and let's them know. They say a stepdeck won't work. Shocker. They ended up having to unload another Prime trailer just so they could open up a trailer for me. In the end it took an extra 3 hrs to get my load and beat feat out of there. No biggie but a delay nonetheless.

So fast forward to my delivery. My original appt was 10am, which is kind of odd for flatbedders. Usually I'm given a window of several hours to drop off.

After getting a different trailer and getting the last of the 6 loads, my appt was moved to noon. That just sucks. I figured they must be spacing the 6 loads apart from each other. It makes sense since the 90 is a new construction site. Undaunted, I took a page from Old School's handbook. I grabbed my shower on the way, then continued on to my 90, arriving last night and parking myself directly where I would need to be unloaded, knowing most forklift operators don't give a hoot about appointment times. They just want to get the truck unloaded. I removed most of my straps, had supper and went to bed.

While the other 5 trucks were parked at the truck stop, I was at my 90, set up to be first in line. Wait till noon? I don't think so.

I awoke at 0500 and had my coffee. By 0545, one truck had pulled up. By 0600 another 2 showed, as well as the construction crew, who promptly began unloading me. By 0730 I was unloaded and dispatched on a new load, all before even starting my clock. The other drivers simply had to wait, and they're clocks we're probably ticking.

What I did may not exactly be fair. But it's an example of what I do to try and stand out and get ahead in the business. I see this as a competition between myself and the other drivers. If they want to hang out in the truck stops that's ok by me. I'll continue to get the loads, the consistently high miles, and the respect and admiration of my dispatcher.

Great job Turtle!

Yeah there's nothing fair in this game. It's do or die out there, and you mainly want to serve the customers well while also looking out for yourself.

I let the chips fall where they will as far as what other drivers think about me out smarting them sometimes. I've had em get really mad at me, but in the end they realize they could have taken a few simple steps and gotten ahead of me. They know it's their own fault when you beat them.

There was one particular driver who came up to my door one time and congratulated me, telling me he just knew he was going to be the first one to get unloaded. That was up until he pulled into the yard and saw me already there ahead of him!

Congratulations! Keep up the good work! We love hearing these success stories.

Last week was the first week in the yard since January. Sat in the Cafe a while drinking water so I could get my physical it's amazing overhearing the conversations of constant complaining how these drivers aren't making any money out there. No need for me to interject because some of them were sitting there when I rolled in on January.

Turtle it's sounds as if you found the secret sauce Congratulations! It's great when someone actually listens to old geezers like Old School and takes the bull by the horns. Keep it up!!!

Hahaha that is awesome Turtle! That's exactly how you do it! I've done that more than once at construction sites with appointments.

Once a guy went to the forklift driver and say, "My appointment was for 7:00 a.m.! Why are you unloading him first!?" The forklift driver shrugged and said, "He was here first."

And I'll bet you a dollar the guy who stole your trailer was one of those who had to wait. I could tell you a story about a jerk who stole my load once, but I won't. He works for Prime, though, so get to your shipper early too if you can.

That is the difference between drivers that end the week with 2000 miles versus 3000 miles. Good job Turtle.

Last week was the first week in the yard since January. Sat in the Cafe a while drinking water so I could get my physical it's amazing overhearing the conversations of constant complaining how these drivers aren't making any money out there. No need for me to interject because some of them were sitting there when I rolled in on January.

Turtle it's sounds as if you found the secret sauce Congratulations! It's great when someone actually listens to old geezers like Old School and takes the bull by the horns. Keep it up!!!

THIS!!!! Because.you proved you are the go to guy...you've been racking up the miles since day one. Good for you.

Its fair. And when you need a break once in awhile to slow down, you will get it with no problem. Lol

I see this as a competition between myself and the other drivers.

It is absolutely a competition.There is only so much freight to go around and so much time available to make money. You get paid for getting work done. The more you do in a given amount of time, the more you make. Well that all sounds like a competition to me! At least that's how I approached it. If either you're gonna make money today, or I'm gonna make money today, then I'm gonna make money today.

On any given day you have X number of drivers and X number of loads available. If you don't get a load that day that means it went to someone else, and now that load is gone, and you're sitting around going broke, and the other driver is making money, and you can't get that day back. So the competition is to see who can haul the most freight, and the winner gets the prize money.