Running On Empty

Wow, I've been hitting it hard the past two weeks. I haven't been in here much because it seems that by the time I finish up my days lately I'm exhausted and just hit the bed and crash. I had to chuckle when I saw that thread asking what we have in our trucks for "down-time". I restrained myself from a reply, because it would have been biased due to my schedule of late, and I might have come across as a smart-alec.

I've been doing back to back split sleeper berths most of the week just to make my hours work out with the work load/schedule my dispatchers been giving me. Most of my work days this past week have been starting out somewhere around one or two in the morning. That's sort of my fault, because I got the opportunity at the beginning of the week to get a load delivered early, and it just kind of juggled my schedule around to a night time shift. Most of the time my dispatcher will have a pre-planned load on me before I've delivered my current load, but sometimes if it's Friday and I haven't heard from him I will send him a reminder and just say something like "hey it's Friday, and I'll have this load delivered by around 3:00, don't forget about me - I'm ready to run this weekend". I'm coming up on my one year anniversary and I have yet to sit around for a weekend waiting on a load unless I was on home-time. Well, today, (Friday) I finished up right at about thirty four hundred miles for the week by around 5:00 pm. I hadn't heard from my dispatcher all day, but I just decided to not bother him with a reminder since I was give out, and figured I could take a breather and not worry about making all that money. Wouldn't you know, as soon as I sent in my empty call, my qualcomm starts chirping at me like an agitated squirrel with my next load assignment. Just about two days ago I was in Texas, tonight I'm in Virginia, and come Monday I'll be in Connecticut. That's something like 4,200 miles I've been dispatched this week. I'm running on empty, I'm grateful for the confidence they show in me, but I can't keep up with this pace much longer.

It's really nice having such a knowledgeable and helpful group of people here in the forum right now, I don't feel like I need to jump in here as much because I know someone will be in here and offer some helpful advice to those who are inquiring or curious. It seems often times when I'm really busy like I've been, someone will get in here with helpful answers before I can take the time. Jopa seems to be the only slow one that I can still get the jump on!

I definitely know how you feel. Im glad to be on solo loads again. 20 hrs a day and 7900 miles in 2 weeks was just too much! Gotta love those overnights (not).

Sometimes ,you just plain get messed up with your hours, and the time you usually like to drive..and fixing it is hard !!! For me, it was driving all day...I LIKE to drive all night...it suits me...So when the sun came up, and I still had to drive, with my Dracula Eyes...I was a sorry sight...pun intended....

Jopa seems to be the only slow one that I can still get the jump on!

I resemble that statement!!

Jopa

I know there would be very little down time but I was curious what you all do to relax and have a little fun while not driving.

Didn't mean anything else by it.

I know there would be very little down time but I was curious what you all do to relax and have a little fun while not driving.

Didn't mean anything else by it.

Oh there's no concerns. We knew what ya meant. It's actually great to see that everyone is running so hard and makin money out there! You just happened to ask about down time when everyone happened to be running their brains out.

Reading or surfing the Web (once the Web came along - it didn't exist early in my career) were always my two favorite ways of passing the time. Especially reading. You get so wound up in the trucking world out there with the tight schedules and a flurry of activity all the time that diving into a good novel, even if only for 20 minutes or so, is a great little escape and really lets you recharge.

It's really nice having such a knowledgeable and helpful group of people here in the forum right now, I don't feel like I need to jump in here as much because I know someone will be in here and offer some helpful advice to those who are inquiring or curious. It seems often times when I'm really busy like I've been, someone will get in here with helpful answers before I can take the time.

We've got it covered! Daniel B. has been super busy also these days. Seems like everyone is running their brains out and hiring is definitely picking up from what I'm seeing on the job board so that means the spring rush has begun! Money in everyone's pockets!

I know there would be very little down time but I was curious what you all do to relax and have a little fun while not driving.

Didn't mean anything else by it.

Tony, I knew exactly what you meant, it was just comical to me at the moment because I was so busy. I would have been more than happy to get a little down-time this weekend, but in this business it's kind of like that old saying about "making hay while the sun shines". When they've got all kinds of loads they can give you the freight prices tend to start increasing and it gives your company an opportunity to maybe start making a profit during that time of the year. That is definitely the time you want to shine as a dependable responsible driver that is willing to "get er done". With the current regulations in place any flat-bed driver that's doing over 3,000 miles a week is more than likely doing some of his work (loading/securing) while his clock is on the sleeper berth line. If you do too much of this you may not be getting the proper rest. A responsible driver knows his limits, and acts accordingly. The load I got for this weekend is a 700 mile trip with the load already on a pre-loaded trailer that I pick up this morning. So that gives me a chance to take it a little easier this weekend and catch up on my rest.

Tony, as to your question about entertainment, I enjoy reading and perusing Trucking Truth's forum, and I keep a few DVDs in my truck that I can watch on my lap-top. My daughter gave me a set of CDs of C. S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia" books that I some times enjoy listening to while driving. I also like to get out and take lengthy walks if I'm in an area that is interesting to me. I've been known to just walk laps around the truck stop for some exercise, I just feel better after driving all day if I can get out and get my heart-rate up a little with some mild exercise.

C. S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia" books that I some times enjoy listening to while driving.

Old School,

I knew it! I knew it for sure. Not only did C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" start me down the path to being a Christian, I had previously read the entire "Chronicles of Narnia" series to my (second, oops) wife out loud (before I became a Christian). I would read to her in bed until she fell asleep, then continue to read a bit further till I was too sleepy. The next night I would have to go back to where SHE fell asleep and start again. That meant I read each book a couple of times. I did the same with The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings. It was so much fun. But, anyway, I think you can tell a lot about someone by the books they choose to read and C.S. Lewis is my all-time favorite author. So, that means we have a common interest in similar things (and it marks you as having a higher intellect as well - IMHO). Funny how those things come to light over time.

Jopa

I know there would be very little down time but I was curious what you all do to relax and have a little fun while not driving.

Didn't mean anything else by it.

Tony, I knew exactly what you meant, it was just comical to me at the moment because I was so busy. I would have been more than happy to get a little down-time this weekend, but in this business it's kind of like that old saying about "making hay while the sun shines". When they've got all kinds of loads they can give you the freight prices tend to start increasing and it gives your company an opportunity to maybe start making a profit during that time of the year. That is definitely the time you want to shine as a dependable responsible driver that is willing to "get er done". With the current regulations in place any flat-bed driver that's doing over 3,000 miles a week is more than likely doing some of his work (loading/securing) while his clock is on the sleeper berth line. If you do too much of this you may not be getting the proper rest. A responsible driver knows his limits, and acts accordingly. The load I got for this weekend is a 700 mile trip with the load already on a pre-loaded trailer that I pick up this morning. So that gives me a chance to take it a little easier this weekend and catch up on my rest.

Tony, as to your question about entertainment, I enjoy reading and perusing Trucking Truth's forum, and I keep a few DVDs in my truck that I can watch on my lap-top. My daughter gave me a set of CDs of C. S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia" books that I some times enjoy listening to while driving. I also like to get out and take lengthy walks if I'm in an area that is interesting to me. I've been known to just walk laps around the truck stop for some exercise, I just feel better after driving all day if I can get out and get my heart-rate up a little with some mild exercise.

Thanks for the response!

C.S. Lewis is my all-time favorite author

Awwwwww man! I just bought a couple of Kindle books yesterday. I was looking for something new. Well that's cool...now I have some new ideas. I think the Lord Of The Rings trilogy was the best fiction I've ever read...period. The most immersive experience imaginable.