HB, I'll give you every little detail if there is any drama, I promise you.

Jon, There was one guy from my orientation that lives in Florida. He could have run out of Jacksonville, but opted for the southeast regional out of Atlanta instead. If you look on their website the region for Jacksonville is only Florida. Of course you go out of region all the time (I'm going out of mine Monday and spent nearly all lat week out of it) but still, having just Florida kind of limits your options. He said he would also get paid a few cents less per mile if he ran out of Jacksonville as opposed to Atlanta. Thats all I know on that subject.

Going to pick up my load today and then I'll head out tomorrow morning early. Its going to be a long day on i 81 tomorrow. At least I can sleep in Carlisle at the yard Monday night and not have to fight a truck stop!

You guys have a good one!

 

The guys I talked with said they were getting .50/mile plus but were only doing 1100-1200 a week. They were going up into AL and GA also but you are right, constrict your range and it gets tuff in a hurry. Still, that works out to $600 a week or so and home on weekends. The main beef I heard was that they sat around alot. Of the 5 I talked to 4 were going to quit. However, that is not a turnover rate much above alot of other companies out there so I dont know.

Drive safely. I think its going to be a brutal winter in the north with lots of ice on the snow line of PA and MD.

 

Howdy all. I'm going to make this quick since it is Christmas.

Went up to Carlisle Monday. Was supposed to deliver the load Tue. just south of Scranton, but they wanted me to drop it in Carlisle (decided this Mon afternoon). Wasn't real thrilled, but it only knocked 100 miles off paid milage. Dropped it about 6PM Mon. Thought for sure I'd have something 1st thing Tue morning. During Christmas week? Yeah, right.

My FM told me to get an empty about 9:30 or 10. Had a load that loaded in Denver PA and went to VA somewhere (but it was a tail-gate unload... uck). While sitting in the inspection line (for over an hour-they need to figure something better out) they cancelled the preplan. That was great. Finally got another load. Pick up a loaded in Carlisle (that wouldn't be there till 8PM) and make it to Suffolk VA for an 8 AM live unload. Got it, made it (with lots of Pilot coffee). Got to Sysco systems in Suffolk, its all stacked on the floor, and they want $360 for a lumper. Thank God Heartland paid it. I did not want to down stack all that crap onto pallets.

Now, I was supposed to work over Christmas. Not because I had to (they were supposed to have 95% of fleet home) but because there is not freight to haul. Picked up in Windsor VA headed to Kansas City MO for a Tue AM appt. 1121 paid miles. They told me to bring her home (even though it is out of route), so I did. I'll leave here Sunday morning and go to my parents house in IL (about 25 miles off of I 64) and go to KC Monday afternoon and get a break in before my delivery.

Miles this week absolutely sucked. 500 some to Carlisle, almost 300 to Suffolk. So about 800 paid miles for this week. Because I won't get this load off until after this Friday's Midnight, I won't get paid for it this week. This is one reason I actually volunteered for working Christmas so my pay check wouldn't be nothing this week. You think, I knew I would be coming out this last Monday, then home WED night or THUR morning, thats only about 3 days. Can't get miles.

Hopefully the miles will be better next week. I know Christmas screws freight up every single year, so maybe it'll get better. Can't complain about the week before, but this week was abysmal.

Bad:
800 or so paid miles.
Sitting in Carlisle, PA for 26 hours.

Good:
Paid the $360 lumper for a 6200 # load.
Got home for Christmas (even though I was willing to work).
They let you bob tail off the yard to get meals and such (most companies this size, once you're on the yard, you are there to stay).
Good 1st load for next week. Plus, I'll be 800 miles from home when I get empty. Got to get home sometime (hopefully by the weekend).

Thats all I got. Hope you all had a good Christmas.

P.S. If you stop at the TA in Roanoke, VA the one pound Sirloin meal is good and a good deal. Real nice people there and clean showers.

 

hey. Pa

Thanks for posting on my thread on Henderson

Serious question

If they could get u home enough at Henderson where u live now and after beiing at heartland for a few weeks

Would u

1 stay with heartland

Or

2 go with Henderson

Still weighing my options any advise on this would be cool

 

Kentucky,

I really don't know the answer to the question. I haven't been with Heartland long enough to know how it will work. I know I make about 3 cents more per mile at Heartland, and a lot more drop and hook than I would ever get with Henderson (thats the curse of pulling a reefer), but there are a lot of other factors to consider. I'll let you know later I guess.

There is good and bad I could say about both companies. You also have to keep in mind I ran a dedicated route with Henderson, so I was never OTR or regional. I don't know how much better/worse my opinion of them would be if I had done either of them.

If you decide to go with Heartland or Henderson, PM me, I'll give you some more info. Wish I could give you more info at this time, but I'm still so new at Heartland, I'd hate to say good or bad yet. Only time will tell.

Good luck!

 

Don't be discouraged over your miles this week and next. Those of us that have been at it awhile can tell you that freight this time of year is a real hit or miss thing. Some places are open some days and not others, people are clearing inventory for next year..it's just tough. I had 300 miles Christmas week, home Christmas Eve and Day, got about 300 miles Friday and Saturday and am off till Tuesday. At least I'm home. Thats just the way it is.
Make sure you give it 6 months. Find out the in's and outs of your company, where they run, how to get different loads, get off bad ones and get on good ones, how to drop stuff and keep running, what area's to run into and where to keep out of, which yards to get service done on your truck and where to never ever let them get near your vehicle, etc.. before you quit.

 

Well, this week sucked, and I mean MAJOR sucked!

Delivered in Kansas City Tuesday morning early. Get to KC Monday evening to take 10 and head to consignee first thing in the morning. I get a preplan. Load at 2PM, deliver by 1AM wednesday. Not going to work. I have to start my 14 at 230 AM to make delivery appt. Call dispatcher "Well, I changed your availability cause I thought you'd be able to take your break at the consignee." Well, I called consignee, no parking, when I set my availability. I guess I'm new enough he doesn't realize I take these things into account. If he would have kept it like I had set it, who knows how much better my week could have been (cause it couldn't be worse).

Delivered Tuesday AM in KC. Takes 5 hours. Go to Lees Summit, MO (Southeast KC suburb) to pick up a load heading to Baltimore. I think, right on, its 1000 paid miles to Baltimore, this'll be great, not. I have to drop it in OFallon, MO (St Louis). I still don't know why, I could have delivered it no problem and Baltimore is in my region, St Louis is not.

Because it took so long to unload and load in KC, my 14 is up when I get to St Louis. No problem, I figure it'll be Wednesday morning before I get a preplan. Apparently that was wishful thinking.

To make a long story short, I sat in St Louis until Friday around noon to get my load going to Atlanta. It was a long 3 days. He's given me a little bit of layover pay, but I told him it won't cut it, and he says he'll get me some more, but who knows if I'll see that. Basically the only miles I'll get paid for this week are from Windsor, VA to KC and back to STL.

I keep telling myself this is just a bad, bad week for freight. There were several other drivers there, I had the longest wait by a few hours. Some of them were very senior drivers.

It had better be better this week. I'm leaving here early Monday AM to head to Palmetto, GA for drop/hook. I hope the Atlanta yard isn't as bad as when I did orientation. I have a feeling I won't be leaving there till Tuesday, but I hope not. K Mart is there in Newnan (as well as PetSmart) that has a lot of freight coming this way, but you have to fight with the salary drivers to get anything out of there.

Here's the strangest story I heard this week. A guy was coming through the O Fallon Terminal. Picked up in Baltimore, taking it to Denver for a team to take to California. Yeah, you heard me right. Solo takes it 3/4 of the way across the country and THEN the team gets it. I thought thats what teams were for, taking freight across the country real fast? Oh, well, just kinda struck me as odd.

All-in-all this was a bad week. I hope and pray next week is better. I know freight is slow, but 3 days in St Louis? That is ridiculous.

I'll let you know something next weekend.

 

I hope it works out for you.

 

You must not have many financial burdens. Seems as though it would be difficult to provide for your family on that income. Good luck, though and stay safe.

 

Don't despair. From what others have written here on CAD, this is the slow time of year. It has to get better, right!!!

Good luck out there and be safe.