They are not going to park their rigs enroute to the delivery. These loads have to be delivered on time. Things are different now that electronic logs are the law. Companies who have been using paper logs until a few months ago are struggling to get the dispatchers and drivers used to the fact that they can’t cheat anymore.
The people who want a load from Nashville to Orlando on their timeline don’t understand that a driver who gets stuck for 3 or 4 hours between Atlanta and Macon can’t fake it anymore. On the peoplenet, the home office can see when a trucker is stuck in traffic for hours going 20 miles an hour. The DOT can too. My husband thinks they are a good thing. He has been driving for over 20 years and he is tired of seeing the assholes driving at 80 miles an hour in the left lane when the sign clearly says trucks in right two lanes. These companies are still trying to adjust to this and if they don’t stop making unreasonable promises about these loads, they are the ones who are going to have a walkout on their hands. But what the Hell do they care, if a trucker gets busted over his hours, it doesn’t count against them. It counts against the driver and they don’t have to pay the fine.
The majority of trucking companies are coming around and are strictly enforcing the new rules but the others are slow to learn. The drivers are coming around too but some of the old timers are very resistant and losing their jobs and that’s a good thing.
So many people have romanticized truck driving from the songs and movies and it isn’t like that at all. It can be a good living so I’m not complaining just trying to be realistic.
I ran my tail off to get a load to Greenville, Mississippi by early on a Friday afternoon and was promised a load to Knoxville afterward in Meridian. We hauled electrical transformers for McGraw Edison and other freight. I made my delivery and pulled into Meridian plant just in time to watch a company truck driving off with a load. I went in to the company and asked about my load and they said it just left on the other truck. My Dispatcher knew I was headed there. I called in after I had made the Greenville drop. There went my weekend home. I live about 20 miles north of Malfunction Junction aka Knoxville..
I sat in Meridian till noon Monday and got another load this one headed to Idaho. I wasn't really that ticked off yet. I got south of Nashville and my head lights started going out on me and it was about 4:30 in the afternoon. I pulled into the TOA and asked if their shop could take a quick look as I suspected it was a bad relay and a quick fix. They said it would be morning at the earliest. So I located the Freightliiner Dealer and went there to get a relay and do it myself. I had called the Freighliner Dealer and they had one but closed in about 30 minutes. So I headed to the dealer for the part.
Along the way there I clipped the trailer into a steel pole on a real bad turn at the bottom of the exit ramp. It was a cosmetic ding no harm to anything else but I was honest and told the Dispatcher. The same Schmuck who had me going after the missed load Friday and left me sitting in Meridian all weekend.
He proceeded to start blessing me out. He was well known for it. I proceeded to tell him no harm was done and I was saving the company a repair bill on the lighting issue and getting the freight moving again. He kept yelling and I said look you can either shut up and I'll get the load back on the road or I'll just park it and I'll head to the house it's your choice. He started yelling at me again so I repeated my words. He kept up and I said OK then you decided. The keys are at the fuel desk find another driver. Bye. LOL. I came home and got a 40 hour week job in building maintenance and made a lot more money with a lot less stress.
I also got put out of service once at the scales in Ringold, GA. They hit me on a worn trailer tire and put me out of service. Just so happens next exit of course was a Truck Stop that sold nothing but brand new tires. I called the company from the scales to wire them my fine. I got to the truck stop under escort and when I told the company they only had new tires he said OK get in the truck and make a run to the Tennessee line. The guy I was talking to at the company was the company safety officer and a former trooper.
The truck stop employees had an eye on me and the mechanic caught on to it. I asked him who he was calling after I had hung up he said the scale house. I called the company back and said you're buying a new tire. But it's been almost 30 years ago.
I didn't mind the driving or even the paper work. But I did mind staying out over two weeks with little pay to show for it because I got laid over in New Jersey or elsewhere for up to three days. We only got mileage pay that was it. I think it was about $.18 a mile solo.
My best lady friend in this town thinks she is my guardian. Her mother is about the same age as I am, so she has this “take care of mother” thing with me. I finally got a familynet thingy and she can go there on her computer and see where my phone is if I have my phone on. When I leave the house I have the phone on. I don't care if she knows where I am.
I suppose if a truck driver was doing the right thing, he wouldn't care either, but I can see how some would think “big brother is watching me”.