Waiting time ?

[Pat Hasler]

Since moving to this country and driving here I am amazed by the tales I hear about drivers sitting around for days waiting for loads without pay !!!

I have to say that if in any job I had to sit around in a truck stop for days without any financial compensation I would be headed home empty and the company could keep their job.

In my first driving job here with Bill I have to say I never had any problems, we would wait 2 hours if needed and after that we were paid hourly, if it went too long we were just told to forget it and return to base, this to me is the sign of a good employer who knows that family comes first.

The company I work for now has very few backhauls, I usually return to base empty without even calling in. If there is a backhaul I am usually informed of it before I even set out.

I heard two drivers talking on the CB at Bordentown NJ Petro about being there for the week waiting for reloads.  I would no longer be there LOL

[Tami Paulus]

In every driver's life there are some tails, being in Truck services, I have also listen of some tales. One of my regular customers and a good friend of mine was saying to me that his company made him sit for seven hours while getting the packages loaded up. I was amazed that in today's world it is not a lengthy process, then he told me that the loader loaded the wrong packages and they have to do the unloading and loading again. It was hilarious and stupid as well. I surely want to add that you are one who has luck on his side because nowadays they keep their employees waiting for some unusual reasons.

[Rhett Butler]

Ya know I've heard tales of drivers waiting go several days on a load but the most I have ever sat waiting for a dispatch is maybe overnight or through a holiday weekend. There were usually some circumstance that prevented me from grabbing the load the same day. Every employer I have worked for would rather pay to send a driver as much as 300 miles deadhead to grab the next load than have them sit in a dry area for days on end.

Perhaps it's owner operators that are sitting that long not wanting to grab that $1.00/mi freight and think they are ahead waiting for the $1.50-$1.75/mi freight. Or they work for a small 3-5 truck company and the boss/owner thinks like that.

My dad once went into the terminal in Indianapolis on a Friday night, out of hours and tired. There were about 8 or 9 other drivers sitting there bitching about the slow freight for the weekend. He though "Crap, stuck for the weekend" until he checked in at the dispatch window. There was 1 load, in the yard, that delivered to St. Louis on Sunday, and nobody else wanted it. Of course he took it and asked why nobody else wanted it. Several drivers said "not enough miles to bother with" which my dad replied "Well at least I won't be here on Sunday waiting for something to break loose!" The moral of the story is why sit and wait when you can head off to the next destination and take your chances there.

I think some guys would just rather sit around and bitch about nothing to do rather than do the little things and grab something better down the road. Dad's load out of St. Louis went to Seattle, picked up Monday morning and delivered Thursday morning.

[Tami Paulus]

I m with you,its big mistake that does happen with some companies .if anyone is waiting of lot of hours due to company reason then company must be pay for this. Infact trucks and drivers are the pillars of his company but drivers also taken care of it the policy of company and circumstances.