Thank you Blizzard for saying what I've been saying for oh so long now, and that is if you work for under $1.25/1.30.mile you're killing the business. I know that YOU know exactly what I'm talking about because we've talked before about this, even to the point of you saying that when you get back to driving you'd like to hook up with my brokers, and living in the LA area airfreight is just a given aspect of this biz. You want to work, you do airfreight, and you go out, make your delivery and come home every night (most nights that is). The rates are usually in the $1.40 - $1.75/ mile range, and yes, you deadhead home, unless you've got a dispatch guy who really cares and he can get you something going somewhere that picks up close to your delivery. A lot of times it just ain't gonna happen. And then I come on here and read about how $.90/mile and sitting for 3 - 7 days at truck stops waiting for a load is a normal thing. No it isn't! Over the last 20 years of doing this, I've managed to have a wife, raise two boys who are now out of college, and am on my second home purchase by running airfreight, as well as continue my music gigs with bands. Try committing to a gig and then explain to the guys why you can't make because it's Friday afternoon you're sitting in SLC waiting for a load to get you home... sounds like a long weekend to me, and the next starving bass player has just taken your spot.
Point being, DRIVERDUDE has himself a gig that works for him, and he is happy with it. He is within a 500 mile range of his home and he knows where the cheap gas is, where his favorite eatery's are, and in case of a breakdown I'm sure he has that figured out as well. I do in my corner of this country, and it works. Living out of a cargo van in a truck stop is a royal pain. Getting home every night makes this a somewhat normal job and having a normal life.
