Here is what you can sightsee while laid over. Does this qualify as being back on topic and make you feel better?




:lol: :lol:

 

Sightseeing doesn't necessarily have to be done while laying over, there is much to see everyday.

Truck stop parking lots are also full of interesting scenery if you know where to look;



As well as the sights of highway carnage caused by fellow truckers not paying attention,



And who can forget the beautiful winter scenery one can see,



Or the sights of dysfunctional drivers that lack basic math skills.

 

So True. Last month I drove ~40 miles for the entire MONTH and grossed ~$3200 as a LTL Combo driver who mostly works the dock.

I can understand straight mileage pay in a 100% drop & hook, longhaul scenario. As soon as you throw in shipper and receiver delays, dealing with railyards or container ports, going 50miles out of route for 25 gallons of fuel for the carriers mickey mouse fuel routing (Swift) etc it becomes a ripoff.

 

Golfhobo,
You are right.....there are times you can take the time to see the sites!! There are several car rental companies that will come pick you up..cheaper than Enterprise, too! Be sure to ask if they give CDL discounts since this saved us about $20 on a 2 day rental.

For hotel stays look at http://www2.corplodging.com/indexa.c...5&B=CID&A=7739 We usually paid half the price for a room. They charge you $5 for using this corp card but it is still worth it!!

A few places that we have been able to sitesee have been Hollywood CA ( the sign, Rodeo Drive, Walk of fame, etc ), Baltimore Harbor, and parked at a terminal in NJ and went into NYC.

We are no longer running OTR but still want to get to the GC as well....hopefully one day soon.

Hope you enjoy your trip...let us know how it went!

 

Okay..... I'm BACK!!! It was a BLAST!!! But, I've spent the day argueing with knotheads about politics, and now I'm too tired to tell my story! :lol:

If the thread isn't HIJACKED again by morning..... I'll be back to tell how it went, with an added bonus of the Pacific Ocean! :shock:

Geez! I can't believe they PAY me to do this stuff!!! :shock:

 

hey golf, all that sightseeing and I don't see where you took a sightseeing trip to the golf course.

 

Yeah, Gary.... you're RIGHT!! I'm a bit embarrassed!! One of the problems is that I drive TEAM, and the clubs take up alot of room. I'm planning on making a "travel bag" out of some PVC pipe (similar to an item I saw on TV once) with a cap over the top, that I can bungie strap to the back of my tractor. If I were a solo driver, you can BET I'd have gotten in some rounds by now!!

I HAVE been taking some notes though, on where to play when I get the chance. One place even advertises club rentals and truck parking! (Sydney, NE... I believe it was.)

For4Roses: I would love to take that walk in the sky sometime, but it is some 65 miles WEST of the Grand Canyon Village on the south rim. It's hard enough to get to some of these places, THAT one is way out at the end of some dirt roads, I believe! :shock:

Doghouse: Yeah, I remember that spot! Nice weed crop you had going there!! :shock: :wink: Just Kidding!! Seriously, where were you in relation to Red Lake or the Cinder Pit?? Or were you up closer to Spring Valley Wash or the old station at Valle??

Anyway.... about the trip: It was, well..... GRAND!!! Seeing the canyon on TV and in movies, just does NOT do it justice! It was AWESOME!!!

Someone on here suggested I take the Bright Angel Trail. :shock: Lucky for ME, that advice came too late and I'd already left out on my trip! :lol: You obviously don't realize I'm 51 years old and smoke WAY more cigarettes than I should!! :P

We DID walk along the RIM trail though, as far out as Hopi Point! Provided some really different views, and hopefully some good pictures! Taking the train really doesn't give you much time there, but I always wanted to take the train, so I DID! Next time, I'll see if I can clear it for the 100 miles or so out of route to just drag the trailer up there to Tusayin.

Funny thing, I stopped at the NEW Pilot at Bellemont (it replaced the older truckstop at exit 185,) and picked up this months copy of their "Challenge" magazine..... but didn't LOOK at it! A day or so later, I DID look, and there was an article on how truckers can take a sidetrip to see the Canyon! :evil: Anyway... they say there is an IMAX theater in Tusayin (6 miles south of the Village) that is very trucker friendly with parking. You have to take a cab from there, though, cuz big rigs aren't allowed in National Parks.

Next time, I'll see if I can do THAT, as it would give me more time at the Canyon. I'd love to take the mule ride to the canyon floor!!

So..... on THIS trip, I got in TWO episodes of sightseeing. Besides the Canyon, when I got to Salinas for my pickup, I had about 4.5 hours to wait before checking in at Dole in Marina (right on the beach.) So, I found a place to park the rig, and walked down a little trail and over the dunes onto the beach just north of Monterey. Took off my shoes and walked in the water for awhile!

I was excited to see (when I got back) that this thread was still on page 1 and had 4 pages of its own!! THEN.... I saw that it had been hijacked! Oh well..... :lol:

Time to start planning my NEXT "vacation." :wink: Gotta get some specifics on Mt. Rushmore! I hear you can drive a rig (or at least the Bob) right down to the best viewing spot! YeeHaw!!

 

That sucks, that they don't allow rigs in National Parks anymore. When I went to the Canyon, I was able to park ($12 for all day) in the lot right there about 100' from the South Rim. Gave me plenty of time to hike and take many a picture.

When I go home, I'll have to find the pics of me AND my rig there. You can see that little tower, that's right on the rim, in the background. I literally walked, ummm... let me not tell a lie, crawled up to the edge and took a few pics straight down. :shock: The wind was too bad to walk to the edge, AND worse yet, I had heard of those gusts taking many a people for a trip over the edge. :shock: So, yes, I crawled. :wink: :lol: :P

 

You WIMP!!!! :P :P

I saw a girl, couldn't have been over 10 yrs old, walk right out onto a rocky ledge not 10 inches from the edge!! Of course, I thought instantly that her parents must've been crazy or stupid! I'd NEVER have let MY child get that close to the edge! :shock: (My WIFE?? Sure!! :wink: )

As for trucks in Nat. Parks.... well.... that's what I read in the magazine article. Don't know for fact. If true, it's sad..... I was really hoping to get thru Yellowstone one day! :sad:

 

Gee, thanks, Sheepie! This thread was really a DUD without you hijacking it! :lol:

But, I don't know if you really got an answer to your question, so I'll give it a try.

Remember that I don't drive solo, and am not out for weeks at a time.

When I deliver a load in Portland, and have to deadhead (paid) to Yakima for a load the next day, that is certainly not a "layover." But, if I get there the next morning, and dispatch doesn't GET me a load out of there THAT day, and I have to sit for 24 hours at the "Jammer" with NO miles driven, then YEAH..... I want layover pay! I was ON TIME, in position for a load, and ready to drive! If my company can't get me a load that day, I should get SOME kind of pay.... REGARDLESS of what I do with my "unrequested" time off.

Most of the time, I sit in or near the truck all day waiting to SEE if I get a load. Legally.... I should be on line 4!! I'm not free to go do as I please, until they tell me to "fuggetaboudit!" :lol:

If I happen to get a 34 hour reset in the process, that only benefits my company! So, why shouldn't I get layover pay?

For those drivers who stay out for weeks at a time, IF they get "laid over" for a weekend (or anytime of the week) and they get a 34 hour reset, again this only benefits the company - and they are not at home (cuz you didn't or couldn't get them there.) Regardless of what they do with their OFFTIME, why shouldn't they get layover pay since it was YOUR scheduling requirements that put them out there??

If you don't want a driver to GET or NEED a 34 hr reset while on the road, then it is the dispatcher's job to keep him moving EVERY day, but not more than 8.75 hours per day! But, if you burn up his 70 rule getting a load delivered "just in time," and he has no CHOICE but to sit somewhere when he'd RATHER be driving..... why shouldn't he get layover pay?

If you want to look at it THIS way.... a driver is just another "resource" like your trucks are. If the truck is sitting for 34 hours somewhere, it most likely will be idling... costing you for fuel, and unless you paid cash for it, you are making payments on it whether it moves or not. So, it's all part of your "overhead," and SO IS THE DRIVER. Why should HE give you that TIME for free? He's obviously not on HOMETIME with his family. So, if he's "generally" babysitting your truck, waiting for a dispatch, positioned where you NEED the resource, what do you care what he does with his time off?

Now... if you want to send the company jet to fly him HOME for 34 hours to be with his family, and then BACK to work when and where you need him, then no.... I guess he doesn't deserve layover pay. But, as long as he is "out there" on the road, positioning your equipment where it is needed, he is doing a JOB for you. And it's a hard and sometimes lonely job. If he gets a chance to do a little sightseeing along the way to fill his time, what's it to YOU??

So, in all your years, you've never been sent to a convention or trucking show or whatever?? And they didn't have some side tours to take up some of your time? I pity you. MOST decent jobs DO! And it is the American Way!! It's a "perk!" Why shouldn't a trucker get a perk now and then?

Anyway, I hope that is some kind of an answer for you. Now.... how about letting us truckers, who are out here earning the money your compnany uses to pay your salary, get back to discussing how and where a driver can see a little country while DOING HIS JOB?? Okay? :wink: