UPS AND DOWNS IN TIME AND TRUCKING

I got to Omaha yesterday. Close to out of hours and nothing coming back on recap hours meant having to shut down for a 34. I don't mind shutting down, but I'd rather work. I know that sounds weird, but I really like working. Just driving all day or all night and getting to where I need to go. I like it.

This 34-hour reset was a little different. I needed to do a safety review for the company. So, I took a hotel room for a couple of days. Between the review and some basic housekeeping, I stayed, not busy, but not bored either. I got to say, "Howdy!" to some of the guys and gals at the office. I also got a 100,000 mile safe-driving bonus and a certificate.

Now, that I think about it, I don't even know how many miles I did drive with C.R. England. I know it was close to 100,00 miles. Another 10,000 or so for Celadon. This truck had 1100 when I got it in October, 2016. It's 110,000 now. Another 40,000 on the first truck with Hill Bros.

So, let's do some math.... 100,000+10,000+40,000+110,000=260,00. Those numbers aren't exact, of course, but essentially, since July of 2016, I have driven more than a quarter of a million miles. It makes the 100,000 miles safe driving placards seem puny. lol

.... Well, it's been a week plus since I started writing this post. Last week was super busy. I hit the next 34 reset in Omaha again. I thought it would shape up another awesome week or two before heading to Oregon for my family. So far, that hasn't been the case.

Live loading and unloading takes a 5-hour drive and turns it into an all day ordeal. I can use that time you boogers just wasted! It's totally frustrating to find my time used up before making any money. I'm enjoying driving and that aspect of the job. I see new places and old places all the time, each time with fresh eyes and a different thought going through my head. But, and this is a huge but, I'm not out here to go broke.

During training and for the first few months after training, I was B R O K E! No money, nothing reserved. No real resources to get the things I needed for my job, much less myself or my responsibilities at home. I thank God for the teammates and trainers I had. Decent people, every one of them, but generous? Nope. I think I got one meal out of any of them while I was drinking water from a bottle filled at the sink and living on points from my Love's card.

My Driver Manager (DM) changed several times and the real piece of crap was a man whose name I have chosen to forget. This piece of crap would schedule short runs, use up time, and then become unavailable to set up the weekend so you could work when you could (had the hours). Over and over and over, he'd set up one, maybe 2 runs for the week, and then leave you hanging out to dry. I lost weight, my house was getting eviction notices, and my attitude stank. I finally started writing letters and emails (because the calls I made weren't getting any responses.) I stated, "I did not come to WORK to lose my house and get skinny."

That did get a few responses, but it didn't stay consistent and I was just not getting anywhere with my financial stress levels. I took training classes and became a trainer. This upped my income level a little bit, but was still contingent on the loads and miles my students and I were given. The base pay rate was really so low that it wouldn't have made too much difference in anything other than whether I could eat a real meal once in a while.

When my income actually was less than that of my student's? I took a hike. I had a contract to complete, which I did, but when that was up I ran for the hills. Being roped into a contract on a new truck in a lease purchase program did not alleviate any stress whatsoever, so I booked it out of the new company as fast as I could. Hooking up with Hill Brothers has been a wonderful next step.

Hill Brothers is a local company out of Omaha, Nebraska. The pay is decent with a per diem attached to every mile you drive. Tons of resources, bonuses, and an attitude that customers, trucking company, AND driver are integral to everyone's success makes this a great company for me. They figured out fairly quickly that I like to work and will work myself to exhaustion before I'll call for a break.

No company or person is perfect. This weekend is the perfect example of trucking ups and downs. As I said, last week was the best! Tons of miles, run the load, grab and go, on to the next town. It was cool. I felt like the majority of my available work time was used AND, best of all, they were miles so I'd get paid for them. The last 2 days have been....not so cool.

Live unload and there was a problem with the shipment. The shipper sent different amounts than the order. They finally unloaded and released me, but a 2-hour job, became 5. Then, I get sent on a relay to pick up a load from another driver. This was a 6-7 hour job. To get

it unloaded? 48 hours plus. Most of it sitting in a truck stop. The DM did call and tell me he's got a load out as soon as I'm unloaded and he added $100 layover pay.

The layover pay helps alleviate some of my bad attitude, but it does nothing for my stress levels and my paycheck is still going to stink.

So, what to do with my copious amounts of time between when I picked up the relay and get it to the customer? I pretty much slept myself out on my 34 reset a couple days ago. The last 2 nights, I got pretty decent sleep too. I cleaned the truck inside and out. I can do some deep cleaning, bought a book called "Successful Women Speak Differently" by Valorie Burton, which I've started and appears to be something I can sink my teeth into, I can write, blog, make calls, sleep, walk the dog, and generally just do whatever I feel like.

Hmmm... looks like there are a few perks to some extended downtime. See, I'm smiling already.