I have a friend who works for an (unnamed carrier) who was recently forced to drive in an unsafe manner. He had to unplug his quallcom immediately after he was dispatched on a higher mileage load because he knew that if he got held up at the shipper he'd be swapped. He unplugged his qualcomm and drove 15 miles to the pick up location,and then spent 2 hours dilly dallying around trying to get loaded. He finally got loaded a few minutes before his actual protect time. He promptly plugged the QC back in and hit arrived at shipper. Not more than five minutes later he sent in his depart shipper macro. This gave him the entire 16 hours of the 16 hour rule for vans that his (unnamed carrier) gives unregulated drivers to complete their miles, before either being swapped, or forced to take a 4 hour break.
About 15 minutes into his trip he receives a QC message that says "he will have to drive the entire 16 hours in order to get far enough into the load that he will have time to take a 4 hour safety break." Now he is forced to drive a little bit faster in a mad attempt to build up enough extra time to take his 4 hour brake, and be able to keep the load. He called me on the phone and told me he was not feeling up to driving an entire 16 hours straight, but would have to push through in order to make some money. He was very stressed out not knowing if he was going to get to keep the load or not. He ended up getting to keep the load, but he had to work within company regulations to do it.
My question to everyone is...Do you think it is safe or in the drivers best interest to be regulated by a carrier? What if my friend could have taken his break earlier when he really needed it and then built up time in the load on the back end? Is it really safe to force drivers to take brakes when they are not tired and then force them to run when they are? I was once forced to take a 4 hour break on my way to Dallas by an (unnamed carrier) and I told them I feld good, and was wide awake. I only had 200 miles left to go and they forced me to stop and take a break. All I did was stare out my windshield for four hours twiddling my thumbs and looking at the clock. When I finally got back on the road, I began to feel sleepy and tired, but I then had to fight sleepyness and traffic. All of this could have been avoided if I would have been allowed to drive when I felt good!
I have driven 1600 miles straight before in a safe manner. Other times I have struggled to drive 620 miles over night. It all depends on what the driver can handle and how much energy they have when a load offer comes across the QC. The company that i'm with now does not macro/micromanage me. I had a run out to ST. Paul on Wednesday night and I had to stop and get an hours worth of rest 26 miles from Delivery. I stopped for a nap at the TA in Hudson Wisconsin. No one bombarded me with a sleu of macros and QC messages asking why my truck had been stopped for over an hour, or threatening to send out the state police to check on me.
I am a professional driver and I know how to manage my time. I know how to balance safety with on time performance. That is because I am allowed to work breaks into my loads when "my body" actually needs them...not when some computer or dispatcher behind a desk tells me I need them.
About 15 minutes into his trip he receives a QC message that says "he will have to drive the entire 16 hours in order to get far enough into the load that he will have time to take a 4 hour safety break." Now he is forced to drive a little bit faster in a mad attempt to build up enough extra time to take his 4 hour brake, and be able to keep the load. He called me on the phone and told me he was not feeling up to driving an entire 16 hours straight, but would have to push through in order to make some money. He was very stressed out not knowing if he was going to get to keep the load or not. He ended up getting to keep the load, but he had to work within company regulations to do it.
My question to everyone is...Do you think it is safe or in the drivers best interest to be regulated by a carrier? What if my friend could have taken his break earlier when he really needed it and then built up time in the load on the back end? Is it really safe to force drivers to take brakes when they are not tired and then force them to run when they are? I was once forced to take a 4 hour break on my way to Dallas by an (unnamed carrier) and I told them I feld good, and was wide awake. I only had 200 miles left to go and they forced me to stop and take a break. All I did was stare out my windshield for four hours twiddling my thumbs and looking at the clock. When I finally got back on the road, I began to feel sleepy and tired, but I then had to fight sleepyness and traffic. All of this could have been avoided if I would have been allowed to drive when I felt good!
I have driven 1600 miles straight before in a safe manner. Other times I have struggled to drive 620 miles over night. It all depends on what the driver can handle and how much energy they have when a load offer comes across the QC. The company that i'm with now does not macro/micromanage me. I had a run out to ST. Paul on Wednesday night and I had to stop and get an hours worth of rest 26 miles from Delivery. I stopped for a nap at the TA in Hudson Wisconsin. No one bombarded me with a sleu of macros and QC messages asking why my truck had been stopped for over an hour, or threatening to send out the state police to check on me.
I am a professional driver and I know how to manage my time. I know how to balance safety with on time performance. That is because I am allowed to work breaks into my loads when "my body" actually needs them...not when some computer or dispatcher behind a desk tells me I need them.
Last edited by a moderator:
