NoProblem
Expert Expediter
I was in Nashville Tn. waiting about a day for a load. I called dispatch a few times bugging them to get me a run, any run - and here is my story.
The gave me a HOT run: pick up near Louisville Ky. and drop off in San Diego Ca. WOW AWESOME! On my way to the p/u, they called with additional stop to p/u near Indy before proceeding to San Diego.
Paid miles were unsure - somewhere around 2100 or so, they'd tally it up later since it was Saturday and this dispatch seemed to be basically "done on the fly". No problem.
Well, I (solo) drove 2518 (actual) total miles in just over 48 hours and made my delivery 2 hours early - not bad (or "am I crazy?") I thought.
I also thought that once I rested for 24 hours or so that I would get at least another one or two thousand miles and have one heck of a good $$ week.
So now its Monday afternoon, I just made my drop, did my empty call, told them I would be out of service for a day or so and asked them to look for another run, preferably back east but I won't be picky, any run will be fine.
Tuesday, I called to see if there was any freight - nope, no freight.
Wednesday - no freight - and I let them know that I was itchin' and ready to roll anywhere - at least 5 times.
Thursday, no freight. They suggested I drive empty, no pay, to Mo. (1500+ miles) to see if there might be freight there....either that or try Denver Co. (1000+ miles) empty, no pay. I chose Denver since it was a little shorter.
Saturday I'm in Denver, no freight and looks bad, they suggested I try Mo. or perhaps Ne. might have something - I chose Ne., once again, it was shorter. By now, I had been empty and driving for free, (minus fuel) with only getting alot of "perhaps", "maybe's" and "mights" along the way. After having made at least 20 phone calls along the way to dispatch, the basic message as I understood it was - "I am screwed", they could not find freight at all anywhere in the western U.S. and gave me no hope of ever locating any.
By now, I had zero confidence in dispatch EVER finding me a load at all anywhere outside of the tri-state area, I suggested to dispatch that I could wait in Ne. till "hell freezes over and still have no freight" - they basically agreed and suggested "for me keep rolling."
Sunday, I made it home.
Well, here I am, at home in Mi. after deadheading 2500 miles across country while my dispatch could not locate freight or even tell me where there was freight, other than in Wi. - while I was in Denver!
This is a serious question: Am I wrong to depend on dispatch to be smarter than that? By that I mean, shouldn't they be smart enough to know not to send a guy somewhere where there is no hope of any freight at all for 2000+ miles?
I am confident that if I was still in San Diego, I would still be without a load and no hope of any load in sight. What would you do (or have done) if you were me?
The gave me a HOT run: pick up near Louisville Ky. and drop off in San Diego Ca. WOW AWESOME! On my way to the p/u, they called with additional stop to p/u near Indy before proceeding to San Diego.
Paid miles were unsure - somewhere around 2100 or so, they'd tally it up later since it was Saturday and this dispatch seemed to be basically "done on the fly". No problem.
Well, I (solo) drove 2518 (actual) total miles in just over 48 hours and made my delivery 2 hours early - not bad (or "am I crazy?") I thought.
I also thought that once I rested for 24 hours or so that I would get at least another one or two thousand miles and have one heck of a good $$ week.
So now its Monday afternoon, I just made my drop, did my empty call, told them I would be out of service for a day or so and asked them to look for another run, preferably back east but I won't be picky, any run will be fine.
Tuesday, I called to see if there was any freight - nope, no freight.
Wednesday - no freight - and I let them know that I was itchin' and ready to roll anywhere - at least 5 times.
Thursday, no freight. They suggested I drive empty, no pay, to Mo. (1500+ miles) to see if there might be freight there....either that or try Denver Co. (1000+ miles) empty, no pay. I chose Denver since it was a little shorter.
Saturday I'm in Denver, no freight and looks bad, they suggested I try Mo. or perhaps Ne. might have something - I chose Ne., once again, it was shorter. By now, I had been empty and driving for free, (minus fuel) with only getting alot of "perhaps", "maybe's" and "mights" along the way. After having made at least 20 phone calls along the way to dispatch, the basic message as I understood it was - "I am screwed", they could not find freight at all anywhere in the western U.S. and gave me no hope of ever locating any.
By now, I had zero confidence in dispatch EVER finding me a load at all anywhere outside of the tri-state area, I suggested to dispatch that I could wait in Ne. till "hell freezes over and still have no freight" - they basically agreed and suggested "for me keep rolling."
Sunday, I made it home.
Well, here I am, at home in Mi. after deadheading 2500 miles across country while my dispatch could not locate freight or even tell me where there was freight, other than in Wi. - while I was in Denver!
This is a serious question: Am I wrong to depend on dispatch to be smarter than that? By that I mean, shouldn't they be smart enough to know not to send a guy somewhere where there is no hope of any freight at all for 2000+ miles?
I am confident that if I was still in San Diego, I would still be without a load and no hope of any load in sight. What would you do (or have done) if you were me?
