What Is A Normal Wait Time?

Hi all, I've been on my own for a couple of months now..love it so far aside from one thing. I hate waiting for the next trip. I play the game with letting them know when I'll be available, how many hrs I have left, that I'm on time for a deliver etc.. everything they say keeps the ball rolling. As I sit here in a drop yard for the 2nd day, hoping for something to come along..I'm bored to death. Is this normal, waiting for a day or two between runs? Or have I somehow ended up on the naughty drivers list? I've never been late, had an accident, issues or refused a load.. Before I get too ****y about things and start looking elsewhere, I want to make sure I'm not making a mountain out of a molehill Thanks

Hi all, I've been on my own for a couple of months now..love it so far aside from one thing. I hate waiting for the next trip. I play the game with letting them know when I'll be available, how many hrs I have left, that I'm on time for a deliver etc.. everything they say keeps the ball rolling. As I sit here in a drop yard for the 2nd day, hoping for something to come along..I'm bored to death. Is this normal, waiting for a day or two between runs? Or have I somehow ended up on the naughty drivers list? I've never been late, had an accident, issues or refused a load.. Before I get too ****y about things and start looking elsewhere, I want to make sure I'm not making a mountain out of a molehill Thanks

I had to wait 4 1/2 hours once and it irritated me but it was the weekend dispatcher so...its hard to say why this is happening to you, could just be your company, could be you, you could have made someone mad, could be an issue with a shortage of loads with your company you may have an inexperienced dispatcher etc. Have you talked to other drivers in the company to see if it's happening to just you or to everyone? Perhaps asking someone why you have to wait a day or two for a load would be wise before quitting. Has this just started happening or been like this from the beginning? How many miles do you turn per week? Hopefully you're not confusing a 34 reset with waiting for a load? I generally have to wait less than 15 minutes during the week with my regular if I'm not already preplanned. Usually a couple hours or less on nights and weekends.

What type of freight do you haul? Has this been an ongoing problem? With all the closures many companies are doing it could be cutting into available loads. It may also have something to do with where you're currently located. It could just be no loads available. You've only been there a couple months so you're still developing a relationship with your dispatcher. Have you tried having a professional, non confrontational discussion with your dispatch to address it?

What is the "normal" wait time? I guess it would have to do with a few factors, such as what type of freight you haul, if you are OTR , regional , dedicated, or local.... I can say that when I was regional/OTR, I waited from less than an hour to almost a full day or more on the weekend with an overnight/weekend dispatcher. While I was on dedicated it ranged from me having my pre-planned load on Monday for the entire week (my last manager was great to the drivers who he knew could get the job done, and our paycheck showed it) to a manager on a previous account that would wait until we got back before he even scratched his head on what load to give us. and if it was a Thursday afternoon when you got back, you may not get a load until noon or later on Friday,...

My suggestion would be to call the dispatcher and ask nicely "hey, I've been sitting for x amount of time, and I was wondering if there was anything to get me moving somewhere to keep my boredom down..." and that may be the thing the dispatcher needs... and keep track of the dispatchers (especially if they are not your normal dispatcher), and if the same off-hours dispatcher keeps giving you loads when you call and ask nicely, just remember them, and maybe send them a gift card to a restaurant or some other place near where they are as a thank you... Nothing much, maybe $25-50, or a gift basket... And then they may remember that and give you better loads quicker... Just my opinion though...

And if you want to go someplace for a little break, you can always ask if they have anything headed towards that location, and let them know you would be interested in doing a reset there, especially if it is near a heavy load count area....

Last thing I read today was that loads are dropping off. This doesn't really affect me as I pull liquid. It may in the future but for now I bet I can count more freight haulers than tankers and even less that haul food in this truck stop parking lot. But your new aka bottom of the food chain. And that really only comes into play by location. If you have a lot of your company's trucks near you that's strike one. And if you have a lot of other trucks near you strike two. No loads leaving that area.... You get the picture.

Could be as simple as a bobtail to another location or your company may have a policy against that... Weird times right now but I wouldn't jump ship just yet. Especially not solo at a couple months. Don't be afraid of picking up the phone but don't pick it up every hour. And remember they have your number also.

And now would be a good time to get out of that truck and explore... Have a little fun... Yes things are closed but... Long walks on empty trails never hurt... Just see whats near you.

How long did you wait before calling in? What did they tell you when you called them?

I wouldnt call... i would.put it in writing. Weekends can be bad with freight. that way it is documented. i would be messaging every 3 to 4 hours asking for an update.

A long time ago i asked to be preplanned "i can't sleep.without a load cause im afraid i won't hear it and wake. i don't want to be late, or worse, ha e an accident due to lack of sleep". that was enough to always be preplanned.

sqeaky wheel gets the grease. building a relationship with dispatch is paramount.

I wouldnt call... i would.put it in writing. Weekends can be bad with freight. that way it is documented. i would be messaging every 3 to 4 hours asking for an update.

A long time ago i asked to be preplanned "i can't sleep.without a load cause im afraid i won't hear it and wake. i don't want to be late, or worse, ha e an accident due to lack of sleep". that was enough to always be preplanned.

sqeaky wheel gets the grease. building a relationship with dispatch is paramount.

I completely agree with all of this.

I believe the time of waiting depend on freight you haul. But I don't think you are making a mountain out of a molehill, because all of us has their own limits of waiting.

I believe the time of waiting depend on freight you haul. But I don't think you are making a mountain out of a molehill, because all of us has their own limits of waiting.

Howdy, Alex ~! .... and WELCOME to the forum !!!

I checked your bio; company driver in training...and I love your Avatar btw, also~!

It would be awesome if you could start a thread here in the General Discussions part of the forum, and tell us a bit about yourself if you have time. Again, welcome to Trucking Truth~!

Anne :)