General Freight Inquiry: Slow?

It is almost like a relaxant to my mental perspective to sit here and read the posts of real people in the trucking industry. I've just returned home today for the second "home time" since beginning with Schneider. Great people to work with, but rather irritating when you "need" to speak to someone personally ....... yet all you get is the automated message, "when you look at your fifth wheel, do you think green?" or "all associates are busy assisting others, please hold and we'll answer as quickly as possible".

Although I have only been OTR about a month I have learned how the system works I suppose. You schedule your ETA later than you will know you'll be there (simply so if worse comes to worse you can be either on-time or preferably early). And when it comes to those pesky questions that you need to confirm with someone about before proceeding ........... just take the initiative and make the decision. After all it is "my" responsibility and "I" am the driver calling the shots during the game (so to speak). And when it comes to those 14 On-Duty Hours, use them each with care! Not to mention those precious 11 Hours of Drive Time. People on the road (other than truck drivers) generally have no idea about how their driving affects these commodities, do they?

Over the past two weeks I have logged about 3,200 miles (about 1,600 a week). Where is the 2,300 to 2,500 per week that the recruiter assured me? The word I have been getting from the DBL Room is "freight is slow". If freight is slow, why are there so many trucks on the road? Or is it because there are so many trucks on the road? Or is because I am still a newbie have to prove myself?

During a 34 hour restart in California last week, I met with some people that I attended orientation with in Fontana. They are driving team (together as long-time friends) and making good miles! Do teams get more freight moving opportunities?

Here's the deal. According to the ledger book, my earnings as a driver currently is less than I could make working at a call center. Bottom line, it is all about the money. I really do need it. Not looking to get rich, but I am looking for some type of consistent, sustainable wages.

Any ideas?

Or is it just the way it is?

Before I go back out next week OTR, I hope to spend some time just chilling here and letting myself relax. And wait until I tell you about my time in lower LA after Qualcomm literally froze! But for now, I must go. Supper at home! Already had that long, hot shower!

Sincere inquiries here, so honest answers are appreciated. Thank you.

As a whole, Freight is down year over year but not a ton. Freight is also down from April to May. 2014 was a ton of growth in the industry. I have been getting a daily email from JOC.com that has a pulse on that kind of stuff. It cost a ton of dough to get full access, so I just read the headlines and synopsis.

Hopefully the more experienced drivers will be able to help you out on the other questions.

Since I run teams I can answer that Simply yes. Teams are treated like kings at almost every company. Newest trucks. Priority dispatch. Basically they get the loads before solo drivers. Teams are jumped ahead of solo drivers when it comes to getting a truck fixes.

In our truck we do roughly 6500 to 6800 miles per week. 3250 to 3400 a week if you spilt it. We even it 7000 miles a few times.

The reason teams are treated better cause they are able to run non stop without having to shut down for 10 hours. Therefore generating alot of revenue for the come. High value security sensitive freight has to be taken by a team cause someone must always be with the truck. Extra money for those type of loads.

Team drivers are not better than solo drivers. There are some very good solo drivers right here in this forum. Companies get better clients with promises of faster delivery and on time service. A solo driver can fulfil a promise to make a delivery of 1200 miles in 24 hours or less. Teams can.

When I was a solo driver with JB Hunt I routinely did 2900 to 3100 a week and did my restarts at the house each week. I am not special. I have 17 years worth of experience to fall back on. In that amount of time you learn to be efficient.

You have done 2 weeks solo. Don't be discouraged. Your learning and will continue to pick up things that will make your job easier. It does take time.

To your dispatcher you are just another truck he is tracking in his computer screen. You have not had the time put in to stand out to him and prove yourself yet. There is no time frame for that. It could be a month or 6 months.

Yes. An actual radar tracks your truck and they can watch you on a map to see where you are.

Give it time. Things will start to improve. This topic is the exact reason why we always say the first year is the toughest in trucking. It takes time to build up a reputation of being a good driver.

Also to another point you made.... If the only reason you got into trucking if for the money then you will be disappointed the first year. Your first year, if everything goes extremely well, you will make between 28k and 32k. That's pretty standard. The 2nd year will see you close to 38k to 40k.

Remember you are completing against millions of drivers out here for money and they have more experience than you. You can't expect to make what a 10 vet makes in one year even if your making the same mileage pay. Just won't happen while your new to the industry.

This may not have been what you wanted to hear but you needed to hear it all the same. Be patient and things will come together. The world's worse thing to do at this time is to start questioning your company this early. You can have a sit down talk with your dispatcher and let him know how you feel. You can tell him you want/need more miles.

But you also have to realize if you did any research into different companies that almost all with very few exceptions treat their teams better. So don't compare what a team truck does to your solo truck. It will drive you batty.

GuyJax, I've been hanging out in this forum for about seven months. You have pretty much condensed my picture of a rookie's first year into this one post.

My first few weeks solo were horrible as I learned the relationship between Hours of Service rules and making money. ClassA is on the right track!

Thanks, GuyJax, for your insight.

ClassA there's a few things here to mention....

Great people to work with, but rather irritating when you "need" to speak to someone personally ......

Dispatchers much prefer you to use the Qualcomm , not the phone. A dispatcher will typically handle 50-75 drivers at a time. They can't handle that many drivers if they're constantly interrupted by phone calls. When you send messages in over Qualcomm they're received just like with email so the dispatcher can pick and choose which situations have the highest priority and deal with those first. So try to avoid using the phone for dispatch. Other areas of the company like safety or human resources it's fine to use the phone, but not with dispatch. Keep dispatch over Qualcomm.

During a 34 hour restart in California last week

Was this for home time? Why would you be taking a 34 hour restart when you're only turning half the miles you should be turning?

You schedule your ETA later than you will know you'll be there (simply so if worse comes to worse you can be either on-time or preferably early)

One of the big things you have to do if you want to turn big miles is to make pickups and deliveries early. If they give you a 700 mile run over two days, call ahead to the consignee and tell them you'll be there early. Get there in one day instead of two. Then if it's 10:00 a.m. and they assign you a load that picks up the next day, call the shipper and see if you can come in today and pick it up early.

Your company isn't going to assign freight to you earlier than you tell them you'll be ready to go. So if you push your ETA out further than it needs to be you're going to be further down the list for getting the next load assignment and they might run out of good freight before they get to you. Give them the most accurate ETA you can give them. You won't be considered late if you come in a few minutes after your ETA but you will be late if you show up after your appointment time. Those are two different things.

Most companies also have a PTA which is Potential Time of Availability. They'll use that along with your ETA to the consignee to determine when you'll be ready for the next load. You don't want to push yourself down the list by setting those too far in the future.

If you want the big miles you really have to hustle. Normally drivers aren't handed big miles. They're handed average miles but they run them so hard that they're always ready for another load sooner than most drivers would be ready. If you simply take what they give you and run it in the time frame they give you the miles will be disappointing. You have to constantly push to get ahead of schedule so you'll be able to squeeze in an extra load or two during the week. That's when you'll start seeing 2,500+ miles per week.

Now freight could indeed be slow right now at your company and if that's the case there isn't much you can do about it. Just run everything they give you as hard as you can safely run it and be available for freight as soon as you can. Take anything they give you, meaning don't refuse any loads, but keep pushing them for more and more miles.

Class A, you are experiencing all the same things that make so many wannabe professional drivers give up at the beginning, and trust me every rookie goes through the same things that are troubling you.

The problem with low miles: This is usually worse when you start with the larger carriers. You really are a nobody right now, but if you will hang in there and keep taking care of each load without complaining and doing your best to manage your time so that you can always be on that available list of drivers you will begin to be noticed and those miles will come. There are certain methods that you can practice to help put you on their radar screen. Things like trying your best to get unloaded early in the morning. This may require sleeping right in the receivers yard, or it may require that you really get on with it the day ahead so that you end up sleeping close to the receiver with enough time left to get your ten hour break in before you start up the next morning. Once you've established productive habits like that then they will start planning your next load before you ever get unloaded because they know that you are a driver that "gets it" so they can count on you being ready for a load when they need you.

I understand what you were saying about setting your ETA later than what it will actually be, but in reality that is not the kind of method you want to practice to get yourself noticed and established as a "go to" guy.

The problem with communication: This is one of those things that drove me crazy as a rookie. I was self employed all my life before this second career, and I always stressed to my employees who were out on the road or in the field to call me anytime you are not sure about something. Everyone had all my personal numbers and I would answer them any time day or night. It's just not that way in trucking, and what Brett said is correct, the dispatchers simply do not have the time in the day to personally visit with each person out there who has questions or problems, they already are doing an overwhelming job at times anyway. I tell people all the time that this job is much like being self-employed. You really do have to be able to make a lot of decisions on the fly. This is a problem for the beginners, but it will become much easier as you get a feel for the job and the customers, and just how it all works in general as you gain experience.

The problem with slow freight: This happens at times, but it is usually short lived - I'm talking about weeks, not months. It is completely beyond your control. When it takes place you can be assured that the more experienced drivers are getting the best loads, not because of seniority, but because they are practicing the kinds of methods that will keep them on that "available list", and the company knows what they can expect out of them. Just hang in there - remember you are in a one year learning curve right now.

We recently had another driver in here who started with Schneider, and he experienced the same things you are. He got flustered and quit. He started a local job, and then he discovered the grass was not as green as he was convinced it was going to be. Guess what? He's back at Schneider now! He realized that he's got to hang in there and stick with it until he "gets it" - I was so glad to see him return because that was the best thing for him to do. He will eventually be a great driver who is making good money.

The problem with small paychecks: This problem won't take a year to resolve itself, but it might take up to three months or so. I remember well getting some three or four hundred dollar paychecks, and it was very frustrating because I felt like I was working hard, and making the sacrifice of being away from home. If you will concentrate on that one method I mentioned above about doing your level best on each load to get it off your truck early in the day I think you will see those paychecks increasing very quickly. Look, if you get unloaded early and you still have to sit most of the day waiting for a dispatch, keep yourself on the sleeper berth line (conserving those hours) and when you do get dispatched do your best to end up getting unloaded early again. Keep that pattern going and things will turn around, sooner rather than later.

Hang in there Class A, I've got a feeling from your post that you are going to make it!

Brett wrote about two time hacks:

Most companies also have a PTA which is Potential Time of Availability. They'll use that along with your ETA to the consignee to determine when you'll be ready for the next load.

Like they say, you arrive at your ETA, and you are ready to take the next dispatch on your PTA. The PTA is the estimate of dropping/hooking trailers or waiting for the live unload to be done.

Also, you can use this PTA time to let the DM/dispatcher know you'll be taking your 30 minute of even your 10 hours break, of that's the situation you're in.

As a whole, Freight is down year over year but not a ton. Freight is also down from April to May. 2014 was a ton of growth in the industry. I have been getting a daily email from JOC.com that has a pulse on that kind of stuff. It cost a ton of dough to get full access, so I just read the headlines and synopsis.

Hopefully the more experienced drivers will be able to help you out on the other questions.

Thanks.

I've seen several articles recently along the same lines. Something to it!

Give it time. Things will start to improve. This topic is the exact reason why we always say the first year is the toughest in trucking. It takes time to build up a reputation of being a good driver.

Also to another point you made.... If the only reason you got into trucking if for the money then you will be disappointed the first year. Your first year, if everything goes extremely well, you will make between 28k and 32k. That's pretty standard. The 2nd year will see you close to 38k to 40k.

Remember you are completing against millions of drivers out here for money and they have more experience than you. You can't expect to make what a 10 vet makes in one year even if your making the same mileage pay. Just won't happen while your new to the industry.

This may not have been what you wanted to hear but you needed to hear it all the same. Be patient and things will come together. The world's worse thing to do at this time is to start questioning your company this early. You can have a sit down talk with your dispatcher and let him know how you feel. You can tell him you want/need more miles.

Give it time. Things will start to improve. This topic is the exact reason why we always say the first year is the toughest in trucking. It takes time to build up a reputation of being a good driver.

Also to another point you made.... If the only reason you got into trucking if for the money then you will be disappointed the first year. Your first year, if everything goes extremely well, you will make between 28k and 32k. That's pretty standard. The 2nd year will see you close to 38k to 40k.

Remember you are completing against millions of drivers out here for money and they have more experience than you. You can't expect to make what a 10 vet makes in one year even if your making the same mileage pay. Just won't happen while your new to the industry.

This may not have been what you wanted to hear but you needed to hear it all the same. Be patient and things will come together. The world's worse thing to do at this time is to start questioning your company this early. You can have a sit down talk with your dispatcherand let him know how you feel. You can tell him you want/need more miles.

Thank you, guyjax, for truth!