So, you’re thinking about hiring a driver. Unless you are a full fleet and can afford to park a truck for a few weeks you probably don’t want to consider this. The only other option would be if you just wanted to keep your truck moving and you had a good friend who is retired and willing to help you out for a couple of weeks and you don’t need to make any payments or anything. This would generate enough income to handle your fixed expenses such as insurance, permits, and plates.
Note you won’t generate enough income to make payments, unless they are really small (ie: $800.00).
9 out of 10 times hiring a driver for a single or very small operation (2 or 3 trucks) ends badly. Especially for a single truck operation who just needs to keep moving. Here again unless you have a very good friend or family member willing to help you out for a couple of weeks.
My experience with this (which happens to be almost identical for most people I have talked to) started out good and soon became a nightmare.
If you are an anal person, opinionated, stubborn, or not a real people person this just compounds problems.
I was doing well and had this crazy idea of buying another truck and hiring a driver. I found a qualified driver, a truck identical to the one I was driving so I knew the fuel mileage, how it ran, etc.
I told the driver when I hired him I would never book him on anything I would not do myself. Asked him if there was anyplace he preferred not to run, etc. Gave him a contract explaining exactly what he would be paid for and how.
Now, this started out great. I kept him running steady miles and asked him if he needed more or less, to get home and when. Every week I would direct deposit his money to his account. It seemed like everything was going great.
After about 4 months things, started changing. All of the sudden, I was running him to hard. I had kept him right around 3000 miles a week. And depending on the runs this can be a hard pace, especially if they are in the form of many short runs between northern FL and central OH. So, I slowed him down a little bit too around 2500 a week. Now I wasn’t running him enough.
I switched him up to longer runs so he would be able to set his own schedule and he was happy with this setup for about a week. Then he was getting to far from home. He started being late on deliveries. The truck started breaking down all of the sudden. So I brought him in to check out the truck and see what was what.
What came back was appalling to say the least. The truck was disgusting, smelled like BO and was filled with trash.
After this, the rude comments, being hung up on, I was done. I asked him if he wanted to buy the truck or I was selling it to someone else.
He bought it from me on a payment plan, I would keep the payments out of his settlements, as well as any other expenses associated with the truck and he would get the rest. He found his own loads and did all the work himself. Each week I gave him a copy of the settlement showing him exactly what his truck made and the money that was held back.
Still, we had issues when he wouldn’t make any money and he tried to blame me because he did something stupid or took a bad load.
Eventually I told him he had to come up with the cash to buy the truck out, I was done. He had a girlfriend front him the money and bought the truck. It wasn’t long before the girlfriend threw him out of the truck and parked it. I guess she didn’t like the headaches either.
This story seems to be consistent with the majority of people who hire someone to drive their truck. People are not going to every take care of your equipment the way you think they should. You can NEVER make people happy, and friendships go nowhere in the employee / employer relationship.
It basically becomes a babysitting gig as you spend more time listening to them cry than getting actual work done. Good drivers are very hard to find. Yes once in a great while you get lucky, but my experience is that if they are worth anything they already have a job they are very happy with, or are doing their own thing.
The ones who tend to be looking for that very small operation tend to be job jumpers, guys who tear up equipment and can’t get on with a large company for whatever reason, and they just don’t care. I know one guy who when he finally had enough and fired the driver he found old molded food under the mattress, and filled a trash bag up with bottles of piss that was under the bunk. The side boxes had oil dumped all over and the truck smelled so bad you almost couldn’t bear to get in it.
Some people have had success with this though. I know another fellow who has 2 trucks and the same guy has driven for him for several years. However this guy has a dedicated lane his 2 trucks run every week. Nothing ever changes and the driver likes it that way. He knows exactly when he will be home, where he has to go and when he has to be there every week.
There are also other things to consider before you tackle a driver. Are you going to pay him as a contractor or an employee? As a contractor you will 1099 him at the end of the year, He is responsible for his own taxes and such. As an employee you have to withhold taxes, and issue a W2. Either one costs you additional money so that has to be figured into the operating costs.
If you decide to go this route I wish you luck. You’ll need it.
But, in my honest opinion, if a person gets into a position where they have to hire someone to drive their equipment or lose it; sell the truck and start over again later.
As I read both sides of the argument for heavier weight limits on trucks, I can honestly see pros and cons on both.
So, the primary question comes into play; which has greater merit, the pros or cons?
On the pro side of the argument, we have some key points that make a lot of sense, and, at the same time, some points that can be shot down very quickly.
For example, more weight (in this case 17000 lbs more) could take a few trucks off the road. I do mean a few! For the small amount of companies who get regular HEAVY shipments such as Con-Agra who gets large totes bags of flour and oats on a daily basis, they could eliminate 1 out of every 4 trucks essentially saving them money on shipping charges which could be (even though we all know it wouldn’t be) passed on to the consumer.
Now they proponents of this argument would scream that this would save fuel and reduce emmissions as well. Let me shoot that one down real quick. A truck hauling 97000 lbs will average 1.4 mpg less in fuel. That times 3 = 4.2 mpg. The same amount of fuel that the additional truck would use. The only savings is to the trucking company who no longer has to employ that driver or have that additional piece of equipment.
Now someone inevitably will want to know where I get my figures from. Questioning my education and engineering degree or whatever. It’s real life experience! I’ve ran loads that grossed 97000+, so I know what it does to MY Fuel milage, and I am a conservative driver. Meaning I keep my foot out of it, progressive shift, and do whatever else I can to squeeze a extra tenth of a mile out of each gallon of fuel.
In the above argument, let us also look at this factor. Trucks grossing that much will have to run on special routes. Our infastructure is not sound enough to support this weight. US 63 up through Arkansas to Missouri is a very popular truck route. Going from Memphis to Kansas City, it is the logical way to go, not to mention the shortest. This route has several bridges on it that have been posted at 15 tons or less. They are starting to write tickets for trucks exceeding that limit. To my knowledge, these bridge limits are fairly new since I don’t recall seeing them that low in the past.
Someplace I have read that this limit will only apply to trucks with “Special” Brakes. The article I read did nothing to define “Special,” so I will guess the big companies will want it defined as “attached to truck in a way that assists stopping the vehicles motion”. In layman's terms, normal brakes.
What are some of the benefits I see from heavier limits on trucks? Well, loads that pay by the hundred weight (melons and potatoes) suddenly become more profitable. However, I am going to say with pretty much a certainty that they will want us to do it for the same money, and lower the per hundred weight rate to make that number.
Another advantage would be for people like me who have heavy trucks. I currently can’t haul many loads that I use to be able to haul for the simple reason that my truck is too heavy. At 36500 tare weight I am pretty much limited to 43,000 or less.
Not that I mind being limited, but I have missed a couple of very good paying loads because of weight restrictions.
Personally, I think if you want something that heavy moved, put it on a train. Since the Government seems to be pushing for more freight moving on the rails, let them have the heavy stuff that would require extra weight limits. They’re bridges are already built to handle the weight and it can be busted down at the rail yards to truck limits for the last 100 miles or so.
This would reduce the emissions of the trucks they want to reduce, save wear and tear on our highway infrastucture, and create some local jobs for people.
To Possibly be continued.
I think one of the biggest fears we as drivers have is the one we never
talk about. It isn’t so much being involved in an accident or even running
over a little kid chasing their ball into the street. We “Professional”
Drivers watch for that, prepare to react to those situations. We do
everything in our power to try and ensure that don’t happen.
No the biggest fear I think most of us have is not getting to go home, ever.
We spend days, even weeks alone. Not exactly the ideal job for a social
butterfly but those of us who do it, and do it well, like this life. We
enjoy the sounds of the tires humming along on the pavement. We prefer the
static of the CB and the hum of a big diesel to the constant barrage of
people talking. We are a peaceful people who like a quiet and peaceful
existence. And as long as you don’t tread on our lifestyle we tend to
mind our own business and keep to ourselves.
But even though we are loners in our own way, we still have family. And we
enjoy our time with that family when we get it. But in the back of our
minds, never to come forward if we can help it, is the fear of never
seeing them again when we walk out the door.
It happens every day, but we don’t really talk about it. Drivers are
killed in bad areas, pass away in their sleep, or just go missing to never
be heard from again until someone stumbles on their body laying in the
woods someplace.
The other day FB and social media everywhere was bombarded with requests
to help locate a missing driver from WI. He was last heard from that
morning heading out of Spokane, WA and spotted by a camera going through
the port in Montana. Almost a week later they found him passed away in his
truck. He was only 66.
Our lifestyle can take years off of our lives if we don’t watch how we
live. It is very easy to become complacent with our exercise and diet.
Drivers become lazy and choose poorly the foods they eat.
Now I don’t know if this is what happened to the driver that went missing,
but they say he appears to have just passed in his sleep. But think about
the fact that it took almost a week to find him. A week his family spent
wondering where he was and if he was okay.
Our lonely job makes it easy for us to just fall off the radar. Now
granted in this day of modern technology it isn’t as likely since we have
GPS systems tracking our every move in many company trucks. But
independents that don’t have these electronic devices can fall out of
touch very easy.
I guess we need to think more about this unfortunate possibility before we
leave our families. Make sure we tell them we love them and let them know
how much they mean to us. In the back of our minds we know every time we
walk out the door could be our last.
Yes I am well aware that an ugly truck makes just as much money going down the road as a good looking truck. I have also been guilty of making the comment you can’t eat looks. (That also depends on where your mind is at the present moment) But we are talking trucks.
Even though the looks of a truck has absolutely no bearing on how much money that truck generates it has a huge impact on the drivers attitude.
Perhaps this is not the case with all drivers, but I can attest that ANY Owner/Operator that has pride in what he does cares what his/her truck looks like. A positive attitude comes with a nice looking piece of equipment. We take pride in our rides and the job we do. And if we don’t look good, our trucks don’t look good, well, we just don’t feel right.
Possibly it is just an ego thing. After all we love it when we pull into a shipper or receivers yard and they compliment us on our equipment.
Now perhaps I should retract my previous statement about an ugly truck generating just as much income as a good looking truck. Why? Think about it this way for a minute. If you are a shipper who is paying a couple thousand dollars to move your freight, would you rather hire the guy who obviously takes pride in what he does, or the person with the equipment that may or may not be able to deliver the freight?
As far as driver attitude goes? Well, if he/she is happy with what he/she drives, then they take better care of it. He or She will also take more pride in their appearance. The end results are the customer gets a person who presents themselves and the company they are working for as professionals. This again results in more business for the company ensuring more business for the truck.
Now I am pretty sure my wife would say I am a little too quick sometimes to spend money on the truck. After all if it isn’t broke why fix it? And even though she doesn’t always understand my thought process I am one of these people who believe in fixing it before it breaks if possible. Preventive maintenance goes a long ways to securing your money.
Trucks are mechanical, just a piece of equipment, and as a result things on them wear out. Replacing that part that is bound to wear out before it fails costs much less at home or your local shop than it will on the road. Take belts for example, a set of belts on my truck set me back 200+ bucks with tax. They take about an hour to swap out, when it’s not 100+ degrees outside. Should that belt break out on the road and I don’t have the tools or a spare, we are talking 500.00+ bucks. Replacing shocks costs about 80.00 a piece, however not replacing your shocks results in early tire wear and failure. Failure on the road = 500.00 or the difference between 50,000 miles and 110,000 miles on a steer.
So we like our trucks, clean, shiny, and in good repair. Perhaps that doesn’t make us more money per mile at times, but in the end it equates to customers who feel more secure and want to use us more. It tends to result in us having more pride in what we do, hence making it easier to pull that 700 mile over night run if we need to because we enjoy what we are doing. Customers look at us as professionals and I have noticed if my equipment is clean at times I get greeted with a more positive attitude than the guy with the floppy bumper brand truck that hasn’t been washed in a month.
Take pride in your ride, yourself, and your profession!
Once upon a time there were three young men who went to truck driving schools, and they were each taught in very different ways.
The first was taught just what he needed to know in order to pass the CDL examines and get his license. This student was then hired by a company with no real world knowledge of the profession. Now granted he knew what to look for on his pre and post trip inspections. He had an idea of how the truck operated and how to maneuver it around cones in a parking lot without traffic around him. And he knew what his blind spots were. In other words he knew the very basics of truck operation.
This driver was hired by a company that was looking for a warm body to fill a seat. At which time he was stuck with another driver that they classified as a trainer because of his extensive experience behind the wheel. With his trainer (who himself had been driving for 6 months) he got a small taste of the real world and learned that Pilot truck stops with McDonalds in them were the greatest truck stops in the world.
After 4 weeks with this trainer he was put in his own truck and struck out on his own. 2 weeks later he was involved in an accident and killed a family of 5 on their way home from their child’s school play.
The second student’s school was owned by a large company who required upon completion of his training that he work for the company for 2 years or he had to pay for the school. A fair exchange if you think about it. Education in exchange for service is the basis of a good barter agreement. So the student completed his school training, passed his CDL examine and proceeded to be placed with a trainer for the next 6 months. Again the school taught him just enough to pass the CDL test and driving skills test in a parking lot with cones.
His trainer for the next 6 months was a gentleman who had been on the road for a little over a year so he had a basic understanding of the industry and different situations you can end up in. He immediately put the young student behind the wheel and climbed back in the sleeper to sleep while his student ran down the road. Now since the student hadn’t ever really hauled any freight yet and had no idea what to really expect he drove like he had been taught in his classes.
The first couple of days went okay while they had been running primarily throughout the Midwest. As they picked up their load that was headed out to central California the trainer gave no thought to the fact that his student had never been in the mountains before. Running as he had been the new driver dropped off a mountain pass and took a corner to fast. As the load shifted and pushed the trailer over it rolled both of them off the side of the mountain and down into the ravine. Both student and trainer died.
The third of our students went to a school that only promised to teach what he needed to know in order to pass his CDL and skills test. Upon completion of his classes he did indeed pass the exam and was granted a CDL. He had already discussed with a company getting a job at an entry level and was well aware he would be stuck with a seasoned driver for at least 6 months and perhaps longer. This driver could decide his fate and put him out on the side of the road if he determined he was being unsafe and refused to listen.
As he boarded the truck with the “Trainer” he was informed that he needed to leave any attitude and 99% of what he learned in school in the yard. It was the “Trainers” way or the highway. Now this “Trainer” had been out on the road for the better part of 15 years so he had a pretty good idea of what he was doing. The first week the young student wasn’t even allowed behind the wheel of the truck. He spent all his time in the passenger seat watching. He was required to be awake whenever the trainer was awake and in the jump seat whenever he was driving. During docking maneuvers the student was either in the jump seat or outside watching exactly what the Trainer was doing. He watched as the trainer went through gears, dropped off mountain passes, down shifted, did his pre-trip and post-trip inspections, etc.
At the end of the first week the Trainer put the student behind the wheel on the open highway. And started letting him back the truck in everywhere they went. For the first week he watched every move the student made and corrected him if he seen something he didn’t like. During the second week he would give the student a place to stop and he would leave him alone until they got to that point at which time he would take over to go through traffic.
After 4 weeks out he started letting the student deal with traffic. He explained to him how to move a little slower than traffic and let it flow around instead of staying right up against the vehicle in front’s bumper. And even though the student got frustrated a few times with people cutting in front of him and so forth he listened. Gradually he started seeing a trend in how things played out and understood the reasoning behind what he was learning. He was continually being made to back into every dock they went to. And whenever it was possible the trainer would actually make him blindside in to docks.
By the end of 8 weeks the student was doing pretty much everything except backing unsupervised. About the only time the trainer would sit in the passenger seat is when they encountered a new situation, icy roads, snow, heavy rains, etc.
By the end of 6 months and running through a winter, across the mountain passes, through the major cities, the trainer informed the company he felt he would be okay on his own.
12 years later this student is still driving and has never had an accident. He calls his trainer from time to time, usually on the anniversary of the date he got in the truck to let the trainer know how he is doing.
The moral of this story is that there is no substitute for experience. We learn by doing in this job not so much from books. A school can teach you the basics but it can’t teach you how to drive. A person who has a few months more experience than a student is not a teacher, he is still a student him or herself.
There is also a difference between someone with 10 years experience and someone with 1 year of experience 10 times. Some people refuse to learn and change their ways, this makes them dangerous. I understand that everyone has to start somewhere. But if a truly safe and experienced driver is available, pick his brain. Many are willing to share their knowledge and experience if you are only willing to ask.
The ones to watch out for are the ones who give unsolicited advice. They are the ones with the 1 year experience 10 times. And it really is only a matter of time before they kill someone.
So I have discovered that as we get older our time is apparently less valuable in people’s eyes. As truckers this is probably even more of a problem. We run into this with Shippers, Receivers, Brokers, Agents, Dispatchers, even family members. I’m not sure what causes this mentality but it does appear to become more and more prevalent every day.
Shippers seem to be under the impression we can wait around all day for them to DECIDE to load us. But in all honesty I have discovered it isn’t as much the shippers fault as it is the dispatcher, broker or agent.
Now how can I lay this much blame on the dispatchers, brokers, and agents? Simple as they are usually the ones telling us what time we have to be at the shipper. I have always found it amusing that an Agent or Broker would tell me that a load was ready to go NOW only to show up and have the shipper tell me it was scheduled to load 5 hours later. And I have run into this scenario enough that I have learned to require the phone number for the shipper in order to confirm when the load is going to be ready. Nothing worse than sitting at a shipper for 5 hours, or even worse arriving early only to be told you have to leave and come back when you are 30 miles or more from the nearest truck stop, now that agent or broker is getting into my back pocket and nothing will piss me off faster than that.
Now granted if you are really tired and need a nap then sitting there for 5 hours may not be so bad, but more often than not you would prefer to have some facilities around if needed.
Receivers are generally speaking, not as bad. Unless they are a grocery warehouse or something to that effect most of the time their freight is JIT anymore and they are glad to get it when it gets there. Dealing with a secondary warehouse may not have the same results, but nevertheless it is not near as common of an occurrence as the grocery warehouse chains are.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually use to like most grocery warehouses for the simple reason I was able to get there, hire my lumper, and crash out for 5 hours while they unloaded me in the middle of the night. The next morning I was empty, rested and ready to go get the next load.
Now family is the one that perplexes me the most.
I’m not sure what it is about our children, but they seem to feel that once they are grown and out on their own with their own lives to worry about, our time becomes less and less valuable to them. Apparently once they have gotten into their own busy schedules we are now required to work around their time frame.
Interestingly, perhaps this is because we have spent their entire lives working our schedule around theirs. And in their minds this is not suppose to change upon their growing up and getting out on their own.
Parents are not quite as bad as I guess they have already had to deal with us acting like our children are acting now. But they do have, and I look forward to developing this talent, the amazing ability of making us feel like we need to do it NOW as opposed to waiting until it is convenient for us. And I think their favorite line that embarks that feeling is “You don’t have to do it right now, but whenever it’s convenient for you.” This actually means “Get over here and get it done.” Trust me it’s all in the tone.
So at middle age with family we are stuck. Our children want us to continue to work around them; our parents want us to think we can do it at our leisure when in reality they want it done immediately.
In trucking the Agents, Brokers, and Dispatchers want us there 24 hours before the load ships, Shippers want us to wait until they are ready to load us at their convenience (this is really true for union shops). And some receivers want us to get there as fast as possible and sit around all day till they actually have room for the product.
WOW I love being middle aged and in the transportation industry.
I have this little debate going with IdleAir. They are trying to convince me they are a competitive solution for reducing idle times.
Now I have several problems with IdleAir personally.
1. IdleAir takes parking spaces away from drivers who don’t use their service.
2. Their services are overpriced for what they are.
3. IdleAir is a limited use system, since they are only in truck stops.
4. Most IdleAir spots are a pain to get in and out of since they are nose in only.
And that’s just to name a few off the top of my head. But my debate with them seems to be mostly based on cost efficiency.
IdleAir costs $5.00 for the window unit and$ 1.99 an hour. Personally I think if they were .99 cents per hour it would make a little more sense. All I would want would be heat or A/C depending on the outside temperature. I’m there to sleep and could really care less about internet access and cable television shows.
Based on those numbers it would cost you $19.90 a day for 10 hours of IdleAir service. Let’s figure you are out an average of 21 days a month. Now we are at $417.90 a month. You are out 11 months out of the year, annual costs of $4596.90.
Now I personally own an APU, and there are other options out there now besides an APU, Battery operated night systems and such, but since I am not aware of the costs of those I’ll just compare with the APU.
My APU costs me $4900.00 plus $1200 installation. I bought it as a repo unit. There are bargain’s out there if you look. If you financed this it would run you about $250.00 per month for around 24 months with 10% down. If you don’t have $610.00 to put down you probably shouldn’t have bought a truck.
These units use about 1 pint of fuel per hour, so for 10 hours at current fuel costs of $4.105 (national avg) it costs $5.10 per day, $107.10 per month and $1178.10 per year for fuel. This is based on 21 days out per month, 11 months a year. With Payments $4178.10 a year, and service every other month which runs about $40.00(less if you do it yourself.) So add another $240.00 for a total of$4418.10 annually. So far in 2 years the only work mine has required is an oil pressure sensor which cost $35.00 which brings my total annual costs to $4435.60. Now so far I am $161.30 less than the costs of the IdleAir solution, I can use my unit anywhere I park, not just at a limited number of truck stops. Which if I was to equate the convenience factor in would completely annihilate the IdleAir option in my eyes; however we are not figuring that.
Now some people will say you are going to have to service it more than every other month. Service intervals vary depending on the unit. I service mine every 500 hours approximately. However, I don’t use it every time I park. If the weather is nice I may open the windows on the bunk. Or if it isn’t real cold my blankets keep me warm enough. Hence an every other month average.
Now granted 161 bucks isn’t much of a gap to consider, and the question was brought up how long do I plan on keeping my APU? Well, I don’t plan on getting rid of it. If it wears out I’ll rebuild it, on the other side of the equation, IdleAir how long before you shutdown again?
A 2 cylinder engine can be rebuilt for around $2,000.00 and I’ll get another 5 years out of it if I take care of the unit. However my operating costs reduce by $250.00 per month after 2 years. Idleair stays the same if they are around. Even if I figure the costs of a rebuild in the annual costs it only adds 8 months to the original price.
Now should fuel continue to rise at the rate it is, the IdleAir solution will in fact for the first couple of years end up being the cheaper option. Are they competitive? Yes in practicality they would be. Are they convenient? Not really, nose in parking which means backing out of a relatively small space into a narrow passage in the mornings. If you have the plan of taking your 10 hour break at the receiver or shipper prior to loading / unloading you will have a hard time using IdleAir. And if you are someplace it is not available you are stuck idling your truck at 1 gallon per hour for a whopping $41.05 a day. And best of all if they again close down you are the proud owner of a $5.00 piece of plastic with a giant hole in the middle. (Okay had to throw that in for fun)
Well first I would like to welcome you to my blog.
My idea is to post my opinions on what is right and wrong with the transportation industry today. At first I will have a lot of posts as I move my blogs from MySpace to here that have to do with the transportation industry. After that I will try to keep it regular. However since I work in the transportation industry it will not be easy.
A little about me? Well I have been involved in the trucking side of things for over 20 years. I have seen a lot of changes both good and bad in this industry. Over the course of time I have watched this industry go from something that kids used to get excited over to something their parents look at with disgust. Unfortunately I must admit that considering some of the people and that have entered this field and their subsequent actions I pretty much feel the same way about them.
Okay, let me be a little more honest, I can’t stand 99% of the people in the trucking industry today. Most of the people that want to be called “Professional Drivers” are disgusting, revolting and make me sick to my stomach. They think it is proper to piss in a public parking lot when they are only a few feet away from a restroom. They aren’t really sure what a shower looks like. And if the way they act and keep their truck is any indication of how they are at home I wouldn’t want to be anywhere within a hundred miles of their house.
But even though I will from time to time vent about these so called people this is not the primary purpose of this blog.
I will deal with legislation regulating this industry. The organizations that claim to be supportive of it as well as the ones who seem to be strongly opposed to its existence. The people who want to regulate our industry despite the fact they don’t even know what a truck looks like and the ones who don’t have a clue what they are talking about. But want to pretend they do.
So welcome to the blog. Please feel free to submit your thoughts. It’s a free world and even though I may not agree with you (I’ll let you know), your opinion is welcome. Read, enjoy, agree or disagree, and lets have some fun.
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