Truck Driver Shortage

[passengerfan]

Years ago got stranded in Yelloeknife NWT for six weeks. Delivery was scheduled for friday AM and I was on time at Canadian Forces Bases Yellowknife. They refused to unload me until Monday well guess what the Ice Bridge went out over the weekend and it was four weeks before ferry service began. Government paid my truck 280.00 per day and I didn't turn a wheel until ferry service began. Flew home and waited for ferry service had a nice vacation. Apparently this happened every spring and fall don't know if it still occurs that was almost twenty years ago.

[chad thomas]

Good stories guys....Keep em' commin'

[edbenton]

A 500 mile run could be made by a driver in under 8 hrs as long as you keep the left door closed. I have repeataly done a 550 mile run in just over 8 hrs key is keep the left door closed and run like the wind.

[greyhounds]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MP173



Greyhound, that story of the Iowa trucker was great. Does the CN still run intermodal over that route to Iowa?

ed

No, they don't. CN shut down the Iowa intermodal operations of the old IC and the Wisconsin intermodal operations of the Wisconsin Central.

Like a trucker, an intermodal operation that goes only 500 miles has to be on its toes to make money. We had to keep it balanced - loaded both ways, watch equipment utilization like hawks, etc.

CN has bigger fi***o fry. In the marketing world this is known as "Discrepancy of Size". CN's too big to be bothered with a customer like Marx Truck Line and a 500 mile intermodal haul. That's not a knock on CN. That's just reality. That's the way the economy works and you ain't gonna' change it with a law or anything else.

I think a 3rd party intermodal company that aggregated these opportunities to get the attention of CN and others could make a good buck. But I have no idea how to start sutch an enterprise.

[Anonymous]

MP173 you run pups and doubles? If so, I salute you bouncing along with that short wheel base. And a touch of jealousy as these rigs fit into places I wont even consider getting a 53" into for coffee. (I have done it but those stories I keep just for me. I may share one later today about city driving)

I did LTL where freight is gathered from all over consolidated into several drop offs in one region for FFE out of Lancaster TX and thier system works. But I was also thinking about Restraunts like Red Lobster that requires special kind of LTL.

Take care y'all. I'll be back later with the horrors of Hunt's Point NY where some drivers deliver and somehow never come out.

[MP173]

Very entertaining thread.

I worked for 13 years in the LTL industry. It was (is) much different than the TL side. I really respect you guys out there, particularly the OO's that try to make a living while putting up with shipper demands, dispatch, and all other issues.

Greyhound, that story of the Iowa trucker was great. Does the CN still run intermodal over that route to Iowa?

ed

[passengerfan]

To all those drivers running I-80 west of Larimie over El Mountain in the winter their is a much safer way and the old timers know it. That is the old route 30 that parallels the UP main and stays down in the valleys. And if you are a train watcher you will see plenty of action along the route. First starting running this route before I-80 was completed it was the only route. After one trip over Elk Mountain in blizzard i reverted to the old route and found I made just as good a time. Just because it looks shorter on the map doesn't mean that it safer or any faster. This is just one case of where older is better.

[Anonymous]

routerock, You brought up some good points. Showers were a problem out there. Alot of other things like trash was also a problem. I think the last 5 years up until December of '01 it was pretty bad with the amount of garbage. I am talking actual trash like snack bars, soda pop bottles and unmentionables. They were either too tired to dispose of them or did not care.

My wife and I were two hours from home when dispatch stopped us and had us run our wheels off into Voss MO truck stop and retrieve a flower load. A load of Cut Flowers is one of the hottest time loads in trucking. Those things you gotta get a star trek transporter to keep em fresh.

Upon arrival in Voss I learned that the trainer had a student driver who apparently could not drive. The dispatch told us they spent 10 hours in Phoenix and again in New Mexico another 10 hours lost. It was my judgement that the trainer failed to remedy the situation by sending the trainee home on a bus and trading off to a team while still in Phoenix.

When problems develop you want to reach out. Not wait for someone important to say "OMG! EHAT THE HAU_LL IS WRONG WITH THAT L:OAD!? CALL ME!!"

In the days of quallcomm a satellite message stating "CALL ME" means that the dispatch has already gone volcanic and you are up to here in trouble.

Back to flower load. We grabbed the trailer and ran non stop that evening to Chicago despite having just completed a 1800 mile run. We made it at midnight to a grateful customer. They fed us, coffeed us and gave us first class treatment. IF we did not make it it is quite possible that stores would not get thier flowers and it will roll all the way uphill "Downhill" to the trainer who wasted the 20 hours while out west.

There were diversions like casinos. Some of these have truck stop facilities and for what it is worth they are truck stops. But they also are a place to waste time and money while under a load. I have seen many a driver stumble out ashen faced after wagering that "Last 10 dollars" in hopes of a good hit. I myself enjoy the tables but always when off duty for several days and wife and I bring in 200 dollars to spend that day. If we make something then we go home. Otherwise we are in for a decent rest, meals and a bit of cards.

Some drivers just toss a comcheck down and spend the money without thought to the needs that they may have, meals for the week, tolls, family bills etc. These are the ones that wind up back home broke with creditors calling. What a waste.

You mentioned Mount Eagle. You will find it in TN at the Alabama/GA line on the interstate. It to me is a small mountain but to many a very dangerous one. You knew one of two things. You knew the weather at the bottom and are about to find out the weather at the top.

I think out west in the Sierra range it is quite possible to eat breakfast while it is 60 degrees out, climb a pass and be in roaring winter with chains out and cold penetrating the cab by lunch and down in the blazing 100 degree desert by dinner. Fortunately for me such extremes in one day were not too common.

You mentioned the "Cabbage" that refers to the Blue Mountains in Oregon. (Correct me if I am wrong) in winter that is a pretty challenging and dangerous drive. Sometimes a winter storm hits the coast and spreads over the NW so fast that you may find yourself coming out of Oregon into Utah on chains for many miles at 10 mph at 4000 feet for a hundred miles.

Alitiude was important to the trucker. You may sit in Philadelphia at sealevel and it would be 50 degrees. Above you it may actually be snowing only it is too dry for you to see it unless you got high enough. Sometimes wild weather plays a role.

One more story before I head out. I was past Rapid City SD heading west trying to out run a winter storm warning for Rapid City. I figured I had some time to get into the Wyoming range and get "Past" it with a chance of not having to deal with "Split ice"

Well it caught me at Sturgis at the 13 yard stick when I heard the CB say... "westbound" "Yea come on, pick it up and kick it back!" "I just come out of the worst whiteout a mile behind me I'll pray for you" "Thanks driver, see you on the flip side."

A mile later I was wrapped in a total whiteout being lashed by hurricane force winds and actually by feeling the steering wheel bumping the rig against the barrier rail as far right as I could get it without regard to damage to get off the pavement as I hollered for those behind me to stop where they were.

The whiteout was so total you could not see the hood of the rig, the mirriors and the temperature reading from the outside combined with the wind meant you dont ever open the door or anything. Just hold what you got and wait. An hour later I was free to move again luckily the snow blew up, not down or sideways and did not pile up anywhere serious.

5 hours later I learned that Rapid City got hit with 3 feet of snow forcast by morning. I made the right choice by going but was to hit Ice on the back side of the storm. If you can walk on it, you can drive on it... but dont take my word for it. Especially those little bitty 4x4's that think they can OWN the winter. They cannot. In fact... if truckers stop, everything else should stop except maybe trains.

[route_rock]

He hehehe Flashbacks [:D] I learned in a one stack Mack witha window in the back, raced down Montegle ( you JB Hunts that threatened to turn me in when I asked "Hey JB want to race to Chat?" they never caught me) Had a combine at 100+ on the back of a W9 550 cat . Went down Cabbage at night with snow. My wife and I ran team for Chicken Flippers (not what we called em) Inc and ran from Ohio border to Sacramento over Donner in snow ( she was training) in 36 hours OR ELSE!

Screw driving anymore get out now while you can if you are! I read earlier back where someone said O/O's can raise their rates. Nope sorry not with Ill haul it for a penny a mile companies out there. Driving was at one time fun. After the new HOS law we thought ok cool but as a team we got blasted BIG time. 5 days no shower cant think straight to answer a yes or no question. As soon as Max (CFI used mobilemaxs) said you were mty there was a hot load 100 miles plus away and you had to be there in 45 minutes. ETA means EXPECTED time of arrival not estimated.

35 mph dispatch ohhhhhhhh God love ya man! Solos were at 45 mph and teams were 47 one time we were dispatched faster than the truck could run! Imagine telling a guy " I cant be from Sacramento Cali to Laredo Tx in 24 hours!!" and he says Sure you can I can do it in 18 HA I may have been born at night but at least the lights were on! Once we were a full team we said no to Priority dispatch. Well when you drive off all your drivers guess what. You are now just someone to move all the loads they booked. Sleep? Do it when your dead! My wife naked? Never saw it for over 2 weeks we showered at different times so we could move the load! We were dedicated good little truckers till finally I went postal and said enough!

Kids if you want to drive no one can tell you how it is. You have to find out for yourself. I wouldnt trade 13 of my 14 years of driving but that last year you can take it [xx(]

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the update, it was much appreicated.

The Seven Mountains was where I trained in mountain driving. Dispatch made sure that I ran that thing many times by winter.

Then they had me run the PA Pike instead of the US 40 (Soon to be I-68 at cumberland) in bad winter weather as it was safer. Town Hill on 70 south of breeze wood was another favorite.

New drivers were kept on local mountains with trainers until they run the hill with disclipline the same methods every time. Then they were cut loose to run where they are sent.

With that in mind Dispatch of the bigger companies did not allow any driver into the rockies for a very long time virtually everyone banned I-70 between Denver and Utah in winter and nothing but the most experienced (And some locally raised folks) ran that road.

I was to meet much bigger and stronger mountains since Seven Mountains but it is a favorite. I ran it the same way every time without any issues.

I was wondering when they were ever gonna get the roads sorted up there, it is kinda "Bottlenecky" thru some sections years ago.

I also remember Babcock ridge near Altoona with that 10 mph switch back curve near the bottom. If you ever drive a flatbed with no load on it on ice in winter down hill with all of those cars around you... I salute you.

Mountain driving kills if you dont do it right.

[ajmiller]

Yes, the seven mountains is a steep decent on a section of 322 between State College and Lewistown. There's a runaway ramp at one of the sharp turns. I don't go that way often because I don't like driving on I-81/78 between Harrisburg and Allentown. PennDot has been slowly expanding 322 to 4 lanes over the years, including the Narrows stretch south of Lewistown. But there's still a two lane section from the top of seven mountains to Boalsburg just south of State College.

Also, if you haven't been through in awhile, they've been building I-99 between Bald Eagle (just north of Tyrone Pa.) to I-80 at State College. The portion between I-80 and the US-322 bypass around State College was opened a few years ago, and they've rerouted US-220 to follow the new section instead of going down the Bald Eagle valley at Milesburg which they now call Alternate 220. So now 322 and 220 (and eventually I-99) share the same route between State College and Port Matilda. PennDot ran into problems though when they discovered that they exposed a major lode of pyritic rock where the highway is to go over the Bald Eagle Ridge at Skytop just west of State College. The rock is causing acidic runoff in local streams and they've had to delay construction to figure out what to do.

[Anonymous]

There were sections of interstate in those days that were not under construction Note that I said a little over 3 hours. I think it takes about 6 to make the trip today.

I was not able to maintain such high speeds all the way across PA. I am using PA as a example because alot of traffic came down 322 to 15 from State college to points south. Once off I-80 it was no longer a speed issue. I think there was a grade of several percent for several miles down a very steep and winding pass called 7 mountains or something like that. When you did not have Jakes you had to be slow to make it down that natural barrier.

I recall a winter storm that left 2 feet of powder we made the trip in a little over 7 hours because traction was a problem (we are not required chains like the Northwest)

My thinking of 3 hours or so is contaminated by the fact that State College is one of the jump off points to and from I-80 and points west. Alot of the freight I ran with the company required State College to be one of the main "Junctions" for getting on and off a interstate.

Your milege is correct and I recall that many sections especially towards NJ was not suitable for high speed.

Even so a successful high speed transit saved hours that would make the difference between being on time or late.

I am sorry if my numbers confused anyone. It was a long time since I made the trip. However, it was FAST compared to the 55 mph speed limit in those days.

[ajmiller]

QUOTE: Originally posted by HighIron2003ar
Travel time from Ohio/PA line to NYC on I-80 was about 3 hours and some change at night when proper communications over CB is maintained slowing only at known State police speed traps. Major barriers was State College and Columbia New Jersey as the hills and curves are just too tight for high speed. Milesburg eastbound leaves me with a sense of dread because of the broken concrete and the curve at the bottom.

Milesburg west was 80 MPH loaded up hill at times in the left lane. It is a 10 mile pull and the last 6 miles are so are still over 45 mph. When you run this empty let;s say two things, westbound left lane open? and how much cross wind? What a ride. Think of the fastest elevator you ever rode and add about half again to that feeling.

I live in State College, and my parents live near Allentown, so I happen to drive I-80 between State College and route 33 near Stroudsburg from time to time. That's about 140 miles on I-80 and I probably rarely drive that stretch (usually always late afternoon to early evening) in less than 2 hours. The Ohio border to NYC is probably what, 350 or 360 miles? And you say you did it in 3+ hours? Wow you really must have been averaging 100 mph or more! And even going east there are still plenty of steep hills. I wonder what you averaged on the down hill sections. The speed limit on I-80 is 65 until you get to the I-380 junction where it drops to 55, but the traffic flows at about 80 mph except if it's backed up because of construction.

[Anonymous]

I knew the dollar trucks will get into the picture sooner or later.

I know very few people and trucks who can run faster than I did. All I will say is the time period of the early 90's prior to widespread qualcomm monitoring and goveners imposed on trucks is what I call the "Happy Time"

Before I get into the rest of the story, I state that excessive speed in a full loaded 18 wheeler is probably the worst thing you can ever do from a safety point of view because there are just no recovery from any of many points of failure.

Example if I am at 110 mph at 40 ton on a 5 percent downgrade and something gets into my travel lane, it's just it's day to die. And the question remains how much damage would the rig sustain before it threatens to kill or main me for life. There is always a point where excessive speed strips any human reaction to failures.

Now for the fun part.

I was given a Detriot 460 on a Rockwell 9 with rears geared for 70 mph travel at just over torque on the Tach curve. The rig was capable of about 118 on the flat at max rpm and I have broken 132 counting milemarkers against stopwatch on downgrades.

Travel time from Ohio/PA line to NYC on I-80 was about 3 hours and some change at night when proper communications over CB is maintained slowing only at known State police speed traps. Major barriers was State College and Columbia New Jersey as the hills and curves are just too tight for high speed. Milesburg eastbound leaves me with a sense of dread because of the broken concrete and the curve at the bottom.

Milesburg west was 80 MPH loaded up hill at times in the left lane. It is a 10 mile pull and the last 6 miles are so are still over 45 mph. When you run this empty let;s say two things, westbound left lane open? and how much cross wind? What a ride. Think of the fastest elevator you ever rode and add about half again to that feeling.

Speed in those days made the shippers and recievers very happy. It did not matter how long it took or what kind of delays you had as long as you can break 100 and average at least 60 mph at the mileposts.

Way way faster than the standard 35 mph average speed I plan my trips in the later years.

Out west I have seen flame from some incrediably fast trucks and as fast I was, felt like I was chained to the fence post.

Those days are long over. And I am not sorry to see it go. I have seen wrapped and organized pallets of cargo get totally shaken through out the trailer with some damage.

People who bought things at the store have NO idea of the loss, waste and other issues at the warehouse. That was then. It is much better today. But some waste still remains.

I think I wrote enough about high speed. I advocate safe fast travel today. But not at manifold melting, tireshredding and law breaking speeds.

Many times I have read where steam locomotives were pushed to thier limits and railroads were able to "fly" and some are legends and other stories relate real life travel at very high speeds over long distance.

But I have gotten a little older and slower. Speed is good. to a point.

1- Team drivers 24/7 with onboard coffee making and cooking as well as toilet facilities so that you are free from the truckstop except for fuel and oil changes

2- Dispatch that can run with you in terms of scheduling. They need to be giving you the next load before you are finsihed actually unloading the truck. And allow time for you to get ready for the next run.

3- Minimize problems from shippers and recievers. There are many issues that pop up and the #1 question from these people is:

"Can you get it there faster?"

Imagine. They are getting top notch service from quality equiptment, fully experienced team and a company that knows what needs to be done and gets it done ahead of time... and they still ask for more speed.

[edbenton]

The only reason my father and I got that many miles was due to a computer governer failure [;)][;)]. I knew the password for the feul rack settings and removed the governer form our truck. It was a 97 pete 379 with a 500 kitty cat under the 13 speed double over nad 3.33 rears topped out at 100+. Lets just say I made time at night when I was about the only thing on the road and it helped the boss did not belive in advertising who the company was. Trailers only had a bumper sticker on the reffer unit and the tractors had a sign about the size of a piece of paper. We were the only truck that could run 75 all day long in the states that allowed it only probelm was the fact I knew we would get caught by the company sooner or later what helped is we had a computer failure and it ereased who changed the settings. Man I love a paperclip on 2 points and a 9 volt battery.

[passengerfan]

Ihad one load with 78 drops starting in Washington State, through Oregon California and ending in Arizona. With drop off money was one of most profitable I ever had. The store chain I delivered to had docks open and 7:30 AM and they closed at 9:00 and 10:00 PM so was able to make a lot of drops per day. Believe I was to deliver the entire load from Friday to Tuesday. Many loads I carried had multiple drops or LTL and I doubt their was anyway a Railroad could even begin to handle them. Especially on loads down the Oregon and California coast. Having deliveries along California 1 was interesting as trucks are not allowed on this highway unless delivering and was stopped several time by alert CHP officers. Sure was nice to be able to show freight bills showing deliveries, as I understand the tickets for trucks on this route expensive. Railroads will never be able to handle loads such as I used to carry many had an average 24 drops along the route particularly loads from N. Carolina to Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

[Anonymous]

Handling multipule loads is rather tricky but can be done.

I point to your LTL example. "Less than truckload"

Let's see here. Myself and the wife had a orange load out of Florida. This load was bought and paid for by a loose knit group of people spread between where was it... oh yea.. in the New York state near the Newburgh River Bridge.

I believe there was about 9 stops on that load. The mission was to deliver oranges to individual people and to church groups who are selling them locally to the people who generally may not be able to get fresh oranges that time of the year.

One thing they dont teach in driving school: You dont take a Century and a 53' trailer with a reefer unit humming into a residentail area of single family homes at night and back down someone's driveway where you have 20 people eager to get you as close to the door as possible.

I rather have one trained driver who thinks like I do and knows how to back me into a hole. (Dock, doorway, parking space etc) than 20 people trying to guess which way that creaking trailer was going to go. *Sigh.

Anyways every stop was executed to best of ability and all have thier oranges.

Anything you can imagine to any one who has driven any length of time probably did happen.

I was told in my trucking school that 100 people wanna drive a truck. Cool aint it? 60 will fail the medical exam, or have issues that cannot permit them to be on the road.

40 left. 32 will make it to school. halfway thru 20 will remain.

I think about 19 will graduate with a CDL License. Of that 19...

3 months later 2 will be dead or injured pernamently, 8 quit forever.

9 left.

after one year 5 will stay on. The other 4 will either be injured or have issues with the job's breaking on the body and mind and quit.

After 5 years 2 of those 5 drivers will stay on for the rest of thier lives.

Those are the drivers we want to keep. Recruiting hundreds of thousands of people a year to keep millions of rigs running.

By comparision the railroads run a hell of alot of freight using a handful of professionals.

[greyhounds]

Great thread. Really great thread!

I have sent it to a Professor of Transportation at Northwestern University and The University of Denver and suggested that he bring one of you drivers in to speak to the students. I don't know how he'll respond, or if he'll respond. But I do think you'd be a great educational experience for the students.

The award for the best use of intermodal by a small truck line that I've ever seen has to go to Marx Truck Line of Sioux City, Iowa.

They would haul grain into Chicago for export on the Great Lakes. Then they'd take steel or whatever back. They'd have a driver shuttle two loads of grain over to the ICG ramp at Sioux City. Then, after proper rest, "I'm sure", the driver would drive a load of grain into Chicago. In the mean time, we'd "rail" the other two loads into Chicago.

He'd deliver his grain load, pick up his backhaul and take it to our Chicago ramp. He'd then take one "railed" grain load to the export elevator, get the backhaul and again bring it to our ramp. We'd start the loads westbound while he delivered the third grain load, picked up the backhaul and, drove it back west.

One time the owner's son was the driver. He stopped by in a suit and tie to negotiate the rate down before driving his load west.

One driver handled three loads.

We just basically admired that.

[Anonymous]

Greyhounds, The stephens city was in Virginia along I-81. I think it is near Toms creek around the I-66 changeover. Part of my weight issue was my fault. I was told in no uncertain terms "FILL DAT UPITH!" so I did. I only hoped that box made it to destination overseas intact.

I did have a standing permit for 99,600 pounds gross due to the intermodal weights. The derisive (Scornful) laugher from the officers gathered around my meager paperwork and that permit I still remember to this day. I am just glad they did not add in the axle fine, just the gross. I think the Axle fine would have placed 3 months profits out of the window.

The scale house is a platform about 75 feet or so (I realy dont know how long- I do know the new 53's and long wheelbase trucks had to axle out at times) It is sensitive to about 20 pounds. So if you walked across it they knew your weight.

I ground my way off the highway onto the ramp knowing I was doomed. The tower filled with Officers watching thru the glass expectantly as I groaned onto the scale. The platform should float a little bit under legal loads. This one did not. A dull flat "THUMP" as each axle climbed down 4 inches or so into the platform. When I eased it to a halt the scales groaned with the stress. The C.B. was absolutely silent as well as the "Intercom" next to my cab.

Silence.... finally I heard a female officer "Yer way too heavy! Get it around back and prepare for tickets."

3 hours later I walked out with several thousands of dollars in fines against the company and a admonishment to work AROUND the maryland I 70 scales near Baltimore.

To make a long story short I painfully dragged that load thru back roads around the I-70 scales stacking up traffic at 10 honking road range miles an hour (There were several poleece in that reear view mirrior) made it to baltimore and handed the papers and the keys in. I found better work later on but never again did I load dangerously heavy.

I can say that Mack is tough. If it was a ordinary road truck that we have today it would have broken in half at the frame rails just ahead of the 5th wheel long before it got that far.

I also concur with the nature of the complaints. The complaints are a varied nature. I cannot remember them all but I think the top three are in this order:

1- I slept last week
2- Where is my pay? (Comcheks drained the pay last week)
3- My spouse (Kids, dog, dispatcher, reciever etc etc) is (Insert action)

And my favorite top three questions:

1- You want that load WHERE?
2- You want it there at WHAT TIME?
3- Do you understand I cannot average mileage that high?

(Average mileage I plan trips at 35 mph from the moment I get dispatched against the delivery schedule. If I come up short time wise, I tell boss you aint putting that load on me unless you can get a better schedule.)

Boss says either one of these two things:

1- Get moving and fast yer late!
2- Ok ok ok Let's get it moving and I will call em. (Does he or anyone?)

If you have a accident with the rig, the number one question:

"WHADDA YOU DO TO THE RIG? WHERE IS MY LOAD?" (Who cares about the driver?)

I can add lots more but I think I better stop now.

[Anonymous]

Greyhounds,

Not to nitpick, but what I said was "ag" products dominate going to the West Coast, not "apples". Wheat, hay, ect are mostly bound for the Pacific Rim, while fresh fruit is bound for domestic markets. The PNW fruit growers keep trying to expand their Asian markets, but for some reason they always seem to run up against some roadblock put up by the Asian authorities. The Pacific Rim is just a hard market to crash for quality specific food stuffs.

With regards to your topic question, it may be that the railroads simply don't want to deal with sensitive commodities. As I've said before, because of the railroads' current economic classification (it begins with an "m" and ends in a "y" and is also the name of a popular Parker Brothers board game), they are more risk averse. Truckers are in the opposite category (e.g. highly intercompetitive), thus they are more willing to take these risks despite all the hassles.

[passengerfan]

Remember running eastbound on I-40 one trip when DOT inspoectrors were at Blue Springs scale just east of Kansas City. Since my route very rarely took me through KC they red lighted me to pull to the side and bring in my log book. I had stopped about fifteen minutes before scale to make my log book presentable when other westbound drivers passed the word what was going on eastbound. The DOT man obviously saw the bags under my eyes as he read my log book that said I had just completed eight hours rest. Finally after loooking back several pages and seeing that I at least kept a neat log book he handed the book back and stated if god loved a liar he'd squeeze me to death. It was all I could do to keep a straight face as i exited the scale house.
Another time I completed a day long loading in Marina Del Rey and the company boss asked me how long would it take me to get it to Albuquerque. I said that if the weather held out I would have it their by noon the next day. He said he would really appreciate that. Well I ran all night and had it their by eight the next morning only to be told by the receiver that hye had me schedulked for unloading the next AM as it was not legal for me to have run from LA to Albuquerque as fast as I had. I made a phone call to Marina Del Rey and was told to return to the unloading dock. As I backed up to the dock and went inside where I had been fifteen minutes before I witnessed the former receiver packing the contents of his desk and a five man crew waiting to unload my truck. Went to the same dock many times thereafter and always received excellent service. Some shippers a driver would go out of his way for others were given what they deserved. Once called the DOT myself in Denver for a shipper that wanted me to run straight through to LA. Needless to say I never loaded there again but kept that load.
The major reason there is a shortage of drivers is the same companies are the ones always looking for drivers. If they ever learn to treat there drivers with respect and a decent pay and benefit package they will keep them and not be constantly searching and recruiting for new drivers. That CB radio in each drivers cab lets drivers know what companies are good and those that leave a lot to be desired. And time and time again when I was driving the complaints were always the same companies.

[greyhounds]

" had a load of Turkey meat on a Harrison Burg to Baltimore for the ship (Intermodal container) 40' reefer with a U model Mack (Offset cab) and a gross weight of 139,800 pounds at the stephen city scales (This was before the new computers, I think I hurt the platform there that day)"

Good Lord!

What were the Stephen City Scales? Were they a truck stop scale or what? I can't imagine the cops....or can I, they like turkey too.

You know, I've also enjoyed this thread. It says a lot about the compitition the railroads face. The trucking companies (and employees) can be, and are, much more innovative and flexible than the railroads. One trucking manager can size up a situation and set up a beautiful move that pours money onto his bottom line and into his drivers' pockets.

Of course there's a downside. It's aparently illegal to abuse a draft horse but not a truck driver. Anyone who worked a horse the way some of you drivers were worked would be in trouble with the law.

The railroads have got to figure a way to cut through their corporate beauracracies and get to a better level of this innovation and flexiblity, and they need to do it without mistreating their employees.

[Anonymous]

edbenton, the stories you tell are one of the reasons why some folks dont choose the driving life.

I will share a few of my own. These rocords I made are rather small and of little value to the trucking industry but show what one person and a husband and wife team is capable of doing.

My top single mileage a month stands about 16,000 give or take 500. I cannot reconcile the exact mileage because for the last 6 days I had no hours and logged that entire work week as vacation at home and picked up the log book again from the same place the last duty change was made. Literally off the books. *Shudders

I had a load of Turkey meat on a Harrison Burg to Baltimore for the ship (Intermodal container) 40' reefer with a U model Mack (Offset cab) and a gross weight of 139,800 pounds at the stephen city scales (This was before the new computers, I think I hurt the platform there that day)

The load took many hours because the steering would go out at about 22 mph because of the weight on the axles was too great for the hydralic pump to handle.

A personal distance record is from Ohio to Garden city (Kansas), 2 days sleep waiting on a meat load and then a 2500 mile run down to I-40 across to Mohave and up to Salinas (CA) without stopping except for fuel. I needed 15 hours sleep plus one day to recover from that one but it was on time. I think I left on a saturday afternoon and was there monday afternoon.

I had a single onion load from Washington across the North Dakotas (In -40 temps and a 50 mph wind) into the Boston market as a single driver in less than 4 days. Teams usually run these loads and the reciever was NOT happy as his restrauants were out of the product. I never did figure out why dispatch gave me that one.

I have at times gone 4 days without eating due to payroll / paperwork problems to make ends meet. When I got out of there I was down to 130 pounds Now I am back to near 200 where I should be.

I have had more than one inspection done to me where the LAW knows DARN well that I broke the HOS somewhere but cannot find it in the log book I gave him. I would rather run Donner or Emigrant in a roaring blizzard with half tanks of fuel and a failing engine than to sit for an hour and stress as the "Man" carefully examines and calculates literally every mark I ever made in that book with the pen.

The stack of unfinished laundry, unshaven face, sunken eyes and a nervous tic that comes with fatique and trembles along with a million mile mug of steaming coffee is all that the officer needs to clue in that I broke the hours law somewhere.

He never did find it. If you are reading this today officer... I apologize to you. I had my job and you had yours. (I used household miles rather than actual miles to make it all work to within 15 minutes of his traffic stop that morning) And yes, I took your advice not to return to PA the remainder of the day =)

And you wonder why you cannot keep drivers sometimes in this kind of industry.

[edbenton]

Newer turbos can handle 1300-1500 on the turbo temp but dont keep them there all day long. Boss got the download and asked us what was going on for that run constant up and down with a headwind and fully loaded did not help. Plus the fact we found out in the shop we were losing the #4 hole due to a bad injector at the time. I have to say one thing about Cat they build them to pull. I sure miss those days kind of ironic both my father and I are now on disability him for eyes and lung issues and me for seizures. But while we were a team we were known as Fed-ex when it absoulity possitibly had to get the **** there we got it. The following month we set a record that still stands 36000 miles took mutilple logs and a stuffed gorillia known as Harold the 3rd to do it but we did not get caught until the end of the month when I made the mistake of giving the boss the wrong logbook he was wondering what we were doing at the shop getting our oil change for the second time in less than a month.

[Anonymous]

I have enjoyed the Ontairo 76 TA stories regarding the Whiskey. I also have enjoyed the hospitality of Ontario (Ambassador-Buffalo) The whisky bit got me laughing today because I hope no one comes up to me asking about cheap steak.

(I keep the steaks to myself once everything is settled with claims even today I am not so sure if it was all above board although the entire company on both sides told me gwan.. take it home!)

I have to express surprise that the onboard computers would even allow Pyros to run that high. 1100 or so is the highest Ive seen and that was on Vermont's 18%er near the Canada Border. Certainly the newer alloys must be higher in heat tolerance these days.

Churn (Aka driver turn over) is a problem. Railroads dont have much churn however they treat power like a commodity. Airlines simply park the plane at the gate and find pilots to man it. Pilots make like 150,000+ and perhaps fly 30 hours a month. But when they do fly they are absolutely under great stress every second from gate to gate.

Yes I agree with the 4,000 to 7,000 cost of replacing a driver.

What bothers me is some companies refuse to replace a set of Bobtail tires at 3,000 dollars + Shop work twice a year to keep everything on the road.

Pups that run LTL usually run out of say... little rock, meet a driver somewhere 250 miles away, swap trailers (Doubles) and return. Home every night. I think some of these are union with the pay and benefits that makes it all worth while. But god help them pups in bad weather as they cannot hold the road as well as the heavies. Or bad roads.

[Anonymous]

I have certainly enjoyed reading this thread, and have learned a thing or two about the industry that I have been apart of for 35 years. I also have been reading Transport Topics now for several months.

I see that the driver turnover rate for TL (truck load) carriers has hit 136% and that rate for small TL carriers during the same period was 102%. That this “Churn,” term used to describe driver turnover, costs the companies between $4,000 and $7,000 per driver.

One expert that was quoted in this article said churn would continue to be a problem until pay for long haul drivers was ratcheted up to $60,000. As a non-expert I’d add the benefit packages might need sweetening too.

Also, from the articles read to date, I’ve gleaned that the LTL segment of the trucking industry doesn’t have churn problems.

It was also interesting to see some of the problems with churn listed in the articles read to date and Highiron’s remarks squared. Also, it seems many of the problems discussed have been around for more years than I’ve been in trucking, remembering articles from OverDrive magazine about similar issues.

If pay and benefits are fair and working conditions are decent, why would a company need driver recruiters?

I certainly see some opportunities for railroads if they are willing and able to market solutions. I think greyhounds touched on what is being done and what may be done.

[edbenton]

The 2 hardest types of fruit to haul are cherries and apricots look at them wrong and they bruise. Best load I ever pulled I was running team with my father for a good sized company out of IA we were sent to PU a load of Apples in Yakima and take them to Medford OR not a bad run but the only way we could get there was on I-5 the state rds were closed due to snow. pulled out at 81000 bs got on 5 and had a blast pulling all of the grades. Boss belived in HP luckily and still I had the Pyrometer showing 12-1300 and tranny was redlined at 350 degrees got to medford and lost a day reloading for Pittsburgh relayed the load in Gary IN to get a driver home for the hoildays. Funniset thing is that was the first time for the month of Dec we got east of Cheyanne exept when we left the house. still managed to get 25000 that month.

[passengerfan]

Can't mention the name of the company but was in dedicated service for six years from southern California to Toronto a round trip every two weeks. As an owner/operator it doesn't get a better than that I got the same rate of pay loaded or empty and most westbound trips were empty. The people at Windsor Customs got to know me so well they asked which one of two trailers I was pulling and handed me the correct number of seals eastbound. In fact they tipped me off to loads of whiskey going west from Windsor that i hauled one load a month to a west coast distributor and this was mad money for the driver pretty nice to get paid twice for the same trip. They were so happy with the ride on the air-ride suspension they used to leave a couple of cases of whiskey on the truck each trip for the drivers bonus. Used to sell the whiskey at the Ontario 76 truck stop as I could not go back to Canada with it. About eight years after getting out of the whiskey hauling business wife and I were at the 76 having dinner one evening and a guy walked up to our table and asked if I still had any of the whiskey for sale. I guess technically that was bootlegging but it sure used to make a few people very happy everytime I pulled into the Ontario 76 with the cheap whiskey.

[Anonymous]

edbenton, I had a shining oppertunity once I guess I was too young for it anyways.

A owner operator had a 379 pete with a dane spread 48' (8 foot spread) reefer and he was hiring for a driver specifically for Cookies out of Gettysburg PA-Harrisburg PA region to New Orleans and Seafood back to Baltimore. Salary roughly 1100 a week. I said salary not mileage pay. Home every saturday night until Monday AM. Dedicated.

Talk about paradise!

I showed up as neat and clean as possible with a stack of good papers for the interview. He was very nice, he had 6 other trucks on the same run. Then I tried to "Close the sale" by asking him if he knew if I was to be dispatched out... I had him leaning towards getting the rig out on the road as we both had that afternoon for it.

He leaned back and smiled, then reached over to the filing cabinet. Pulled 4 drawers open and papers fluttered out of all of them. Told me that is two days worth of applications since he ran the ad.

Someone is going to get it and it aint gonna be me. (experience etc) when I left there were 12 people waiting in the other room to talk to him. Man what a crew.

I learned something that day. I still smile at the recollection because that particular set up is really good if you can get 6 trucks on it and keep em going long term with just those two (Actually 4) customers.

I have been pondering refriegerated train service to that part of Washington State and it has to be worth something to somebody. But the railroads need to be very fast with these loads and they gotta be "smooth" not tripping over the rails and stumbling over the paperwork or slipping on the fuel puddles or getting run over by eager local drivers waiting for the quitting time whistle.

[Anonymous]

Cherries? I hauld em out of a state warehouse somewhere in the Northwest for Nevada.

Those are expensive and even more watched than apples.