stuck at truck stop another week-end
#11
07-07-2008, 10:58 AM
I'm sure some drivers love the OTR life. I did it for a year, and hated it. Once i figured up all the hours i worked for 7 days and came up with an hourly rate i was disgusted. I remember sitting in Mass. for 2 days waiting on a load, Not alot of truckstop options in 1995 up there. I got on LTL and have beenwith the same outfit for over 12 years now. home daily or every other day, off weekends, and all my time off is at the house, not spending my whole paycheck sitting in a truckstop like i used to do. There are other jobs out there. Let me give you a little help, stay away from anybody that advertises in all the magazines or has a recruiting dept. They have recruiters for a reason, they have no drivers. I get paid $.547/mile, no gimmicks, no bonuses, just straight pay, $22/hr for breakdown (immediately) and the same for delays(give them the 1st hour). There are good paying trucking jobs out there. YOU HAVE TO FIND THEM, they don't have recruiters because they don't need them. get all your endorsements too, keep your options open.
#12
07-07-2008, 02:12 PM
Even when i was a non-cdl delivery boy, i never got overtime, well, not over 40 hrs. If there's overtime out there, i never hit it. I just accepted taht's the way it was and took my lumps until i found something better.
40 hrs, IMHO, is not an apples/apples comparison. It's not like we're spending 70 hours a week at an assembly line or in some cubicle somewhere with a timeclock and a middle manager with his/her nose up our butts. I know what the industry is, i know what to expect, i don't accept a job and then complain about the terms to which i just agreed. If I don't like it, i go somewhere else. personally, i dunno if i'd like local work. I'm afraid it would be both hectic and boring. i like a little variety in my scenery, and I like not having to hit multiple daily stops on a schedule regardless of traffic or weather. When I drove a van for DHL, I had anywheres from 70-90 stops in a day. One day I hit 99, would have been 100 if i hadn't pulled the plug and went back to the terminal. And I also like that I finally got a job that pays me for time that I sit as well as time that I roll. So for me, I drink the Flavor-Ade when it comes to hourly vs. mileage pay. I don't know if it's acceptable, but I accept it.
#13
07-07-2008, 02:58 PM
Hey seadawg??? That weekend sitting (for FREE) is what broke the camels back for me. My last trip for Shaffer was a two stop in NJ.....with the guarantee that if I deliver the 2 stop load in NJ, first friday night the second saturday morning.....I WILL have a load out of NJ. After I got held up with a refused pallet at my 2nd stop (I was supposed to get the next load at 12.00)
which took dispatch to find out what to do with till 04.00pm...............I lost the weekend load and got a new load offer for Monday 02.00pm. I was 60 miles from home. I asked to drive to the house.....got refused.....i was told to park it at a pilot where I was NOT allowed to fuel and would have to pay for the parking myself..............I told them.... i go HOME NOW and you will have your truck back on monday. And thats how it went. B.T.W.......I drive LTL now and average $5000-$8000 more a year. The weekends???? HOME...every one of them!!! 
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Live free like an American, drive a German car and eat like the French! OR DO YOU WANT to live like a German, drive a French car and eat like an American? Quote from Tonn Ostergard(CEO CRETE Carrier in a Pilot mag. interview): I HOPE for an economic downturn...that FORCES people out of their jobs and into TRUCKING!
#14
07-07-2008, 03:29 PM
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: the Buckeye
Posts: 1,732
Originally Posted by unclehotte
Hey seadawg??? That weekend sitting (for FREE) is what broke the camels back for me. My last trip for Shaffer was a two stop in NJ.....with the guarantee that if I deliver the 2 stop load in NJ, first friday night the second saturday morning.....I WILL have a load out of NJ. After I got held up with a refused pallet at my 2nd stop (I was supposed to get the next load at 12.00)
which took dispatch to find out what to do with till 04.00pm...............I lost the weekend load and got a new load offer for Monday 02.00pm. I was 60 miles from home. I asked to drive to the house.....got refused.....i was told to park it at a pilot where I was NOT allowed to fuel and would have to pay for the parking myself..............I told them.... i go HOME NOW and you will have your truck back on monday. And thats how it went. B.T.W.......I drive LTL now and average $5000-$8000 more a year. The weekends???? HOME...every one of them!!!
#15
07-08-2008, 09:36 PM
Originally Posted by belpre122
Originally Posted by BHG0069
I was layed over at the consignee for 26hrs on tuesday-wensday. Got paid for all 26 hrs. Great feeling. 8)
He seems to enjoy the industry. Yet is stuck in that coolie carrier rut. I can empathize. Unless you are willing to look away from the conventional modes, it all is really a dead-end for the most part. These guys are so accustomed to being used and abused by these coolier carrier cut-rate outfits, that they find it almost unbelievable that you are paid all of that lay-over pay, plus wsyrob shacked up at a Holiday Inn for the weekend. These guys unfortunately only understand shacking up at the Carney Point hook for a reset/weekend in the hot-box. The coolie carrier companies would prefer that the truck be shut down completely, and the driver take a sleeping bag out behind the coolie campground and find a nice comfy spot amidst the wonderful activities that take place behind the last row of trucks at a coolie camprground. The dissent amongst quality drivers like seadawg is growing. Coolie carrier operations are merely in survival mode now. It's a day to day type operation for many of these outfits. Credit lines have tightened so much because creditors already see what I am telling you now; Irregular-route coolie carrier, hobo style OTR in it's current form is over. The shake-up is going to be nasty and protracted. In the end, it will be the true professional drivers that will benefit. So long, scumbags. :sad:
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I'm willing to die to protect my Right to Bear Arms. Are you willing to die to take them away from me?
#16
07-09-2008, 01:10 AM
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally Posted by Karnajj
Hey Belpre, why don't you see how many times you can use the word coolie in a post? You seem to be obsessed with the word. We all get how you feel so why don't you move on to something more interesting? Please?
#17
07-09-2008, 02:04 AM
When you continue to use the word "Coolie" it comes across as an insult to any otr drivers. If you have a problem with otr then you don't have to do it. There are many who do and enjoy it. You don't have to continue to insult them.
#18
07-09-2008, 03:04 AM
Originally Posted by LeBron James
Originally Posted by Karnajj
Hey Belpre, why don't you see how many times you can use the word coolie in a post? You seem to be obsessed with the word. We all get how you feel so why don't you move on to something more interesting? Please?
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I'm willing to die to protect my Right to Bear Arms. Are you willing to die to take them away from me?
#19
07-09-2008, 07:23 AM
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Speedway Indiana
Posts: 1,751
Originally Posted by GMAN
When you continue to use the word "Coolie" it comes across as an insult to any otr drivers. If you have a problem with otr then you don't have to do it. There are many who do and enjoy it. You don't have to continue to insult them.
I find it insulting that you continue to defend a dark part of the industry that I feel thrives on exploitation. We debate, but I never attempt to stifle your self expression. I would appreciate the same consideration from you in the future. Go sell it to the Air Force..............M-A-Y-O-nnaise
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Fuel for free. Pre/Post trip for free. Sit at shipper/receiver for free. "Work 80-100, log 70, get paid for 40." Welcome to OTR coolie carrier truck driving!
#20
07-09-2008, 11:47 AM
Originally Posted by belpre122
Originally Posted by GMAN
When you continue to use the word "Coolie" it comes across as an insult to any otr drivers. If you have a problem with otr then you don't have to do it. There are many who do and enjoy it. You don't have to continue to insult them.
I find it insulting that you continue to defend a dark part of the industry that I feel thrives on exploitation. We debate, but I never attempt to stifle your self expression. I would appreciate the same consideration from you in the future. Go sell it to the Air Force..............M-A-Y-O-nnaise
__________________
I'm willing to die to protect my Right to Bear Arms. Are you willing to die to take them away from me? |
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