staying out longer

[jerry-jones]

usually i would go home for the weekend if i was sitting by saturday ,,, but wow these fuel prices made me think twice about it and im sitting right where i am.... im about 600 miles from home i figure its about a 10 to 12 hour drive and then its close to $150.00 in fuel so i said im stying right where i am.... any one else effected this way by these fuel prices?????

 

[layoutshooter]

usually i would go home for the weekend if i was sitting by saturday ,,, but wow these fuel prices made me think twice about it and im sitting right where i am.... im about 600 miles from home i figure its about a 10 to 12 hour drive and then its close to $150.00 in fuel so i said im stying right where i am.... any one else effected this way by these fuel prices?????

Nope, not me. I would not drive home from 600 miles out at unless I HAD to be home for some reason.

When we go out we plan on staying out for a given amount of time. Then, IF we get within 100-200 miles of the house, on a weekend and have no run then we will head in and check things out.

 

[purgoose10]

Samo, Samo, If I'm 200 or less miles from the house, I'm gone. Doesn't do any good to dead head home and leave out in one day, if going home I'm going to take some time.

 

[fastrod]

I go back home after every drop, does not matter what the mileage is, I am headed home. I do this because I am an independent and all my customers are within a 75 mile radius of my house.

 

[Jenny]

When we were with TS, we only went home if we needed to. There are so many people that lived between detroit and toledo that it hurt us going home, and sitting to get out. We were usually out 6-8 weeks at a time, at least.

 

[BillChaffey]

If I was within 200 miles or so of my shanty and had been out two weeks or more, I would tell dispatch. Going out of service for a few days after delivery. Bolt Express asked for 21 days a month. Which was easy to comply with.

 

[ErieBigDawg]

These fuel prices are really affecting my decisions are how far I am willing to deadhead to pick up a load.

I work for companies which do not pay for deadhead miles. They JUST do not seem to understand not wanting to deadhead long distances, no matter how long the run will be. They always say, but you will be missing out on a $900 payday...oh well. Let them pay me for DH and I will go!

OH YEA...JUST my opinion!

 

[14Wheeler]

They always say, but you will be missing out on a $900

You're missing out of nothing if you're running at a loss.
Their pocketbooks arn't affected when people make good or bad
decisions. Why it's so easy for me to say "Nope,Sorry,No can
do, as that's a bad business decision "

 

[tbcabs]

I used to stay out 4-6 weeks at a time but now it seems I'll be staying out at least 6-7 weeks to make it more profitable. Then again I have always been a weekend warrior. With the fuel so high I lose money cause more people are staying out on the weekends.

 

[chefdennis]

I'll DH home only if I am within 200 or so miles...other then that, I stay out over the weekends and stay out to in the area of 21 days..

Now that being said, since i signed with Load 1, they work to get us back to the Taylor (detroit) Mich area as often as possible, so I do get home more then in the past...but the price of gas has no bearing on me heading home , if i am wihin 200 miles on a fri evening, chances are i a going home...if I am outside that distance, I am staying where I am...

 

[RoadKing06]

Same here, Chef

 

[Wolverine]

I think I'm turning into a recluse on wheels...I haven't been home since November 2009! I wonder if I'm still married....

 

[MR.SNAPPY]

I have been home every weekend but 5 since signing on with this company last August and if I am within 250 miles I go home..with that said been out for 2 weeks and this weekend I was 264 miles from home..here I sit..

 

[ATeam]

After a winter stay in our Florida vacation home, Diane and I have been on the road since mid-February. The freight took us to within 60 miles of that house just last week and we stayed out.

We have no desire to go home to Minnesota or to the Florida house but the need to renew our CDL's means we must go home to Minnesota sometime before July. If not for that, we'd try to stay out until Christmas.

If the freight took us close and gave us a weekend layover at one of the houses while we remained in service, we'd be OK staying for the weekend.

But the freight is running strong now and paying great rates. Happily, it is time once again to make hay while the sun shines.

 

[usafk9]

Like Phil & Diane, Myrian and I stay out for months at a time. We were home last weekend for the first time since December 29th of last year. We have been out of service for 14 days since that time; either for work on the truck we drive, or a family event or health emergency for my father; neither near our home.

Also as Phil states, it is time to make hay. Like them, we have specific financial and life goals. We are together, and our kids are grown and spread across the country. If we are home, it's because we have grown our fleet to the size that makes it unfeasible to remain driving (don't know if that will happen anytime soon), or we have retired from the business, or we just need to take a step back and re-analyze the important things to us in life.

 

[jerry-jones]

staying out over the weekend ... seems like if you dont get a load by say 5 pm on friday chances are you wont get one untill monday if your in a cargo van.. but i know sometimes you will get a load im saying chances are that you won't untill monday,

so figure about $ 20 to $30 dollars a day for food and drinks and another $10 bucks here and there you will average about the way im counting about $100 dolars...
saturday,sunday,and monday you have to count monday cause if you were home you would be eating at home on monday untill you got out.... point im trying to make is if you don't get a load by 5 pm on friday it might be better to take that $100 dollars and put it in the fuel tank and get home .... this doesnt apply to everyone there are those out there that might say well i dont think i spend a $100 over the weekend, i bet your not to far off try it add up what you spend on the next 2 or 3 weekends and see what you spend im curious to know how much message me or post i on this thread please thanks and everyone think saftyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ohh one more thing if your not in a good area to get out i understand staying out than just my point of view getting home allways refreshes me for the next round lol

 

[chefdennis]

I am in a Sprinter type CV..I have a refrig and micro wave i have food that i prepared at home...so fri is lunch and dinner in the van, Sat is usually lunch in the van and then and pizza for dinner...Sun is normally a sports bar for wings and football or nascar and dinner is a good steak house...I spend well over a hundred dollars on any given weekend..but $100 is going to get me approx 325 miles at todays $3.84 national avg for gas and home is not always the best place to get loaded from on a Monday...so as i said, 200 or so miles, yea i am heading home..over that and depending on the area, i am staying put and enjoying my weekend....but even if the area isn't great for freight, I will DH on my own dime to a better area and still stay out all weekend....spending the money out here or at home isn't an issue...because I will go home and call my kids and go out and spend more then that in one night then have spent the gas money to go home and more then if i had stayed put...

not to knock anyone, but the price of gas/fuel is what it is, there is nothing we can do about it...so if you are going to be in this business, make sure you can afford it. Yes people need to be aware of how they spend their money, but I don't let the business dicate to me how I live out here, I told my wife when I started this almost 4 yrs ago that I was going to be comfortable and live my life as i always have, if the busness couldn't support it, I'd have left long ago....

I guess that is why I am often referred to a a "vacation or recreational expediter".... but don;t bet for a minute I don't do this for a profit, its just that my profit, wants and needs are not always the same as most others...

PS: after i have been home for a weekend or a week off, my wife and daughter (17 is such a pita age) do a little dance in the middle of the living room when dispatch calls with a run offer...

 

[cheri1122]

staying out over the weekend ... seems like if you dont get a load by say 5 pm on friday chances are you wont get one untill monday if your in a cargo van.. but i know sometimes you will get a load im saying chances are that you won't untill monday,

so figure about $ 20 to $30 dollars a day for food and drinks
Do you eat out every meal, or what? Cause I don't, and spend less than half that on food and drink.
Ice and water are free, everything else is purchased at WalMart, or grocery store, restaurants are seldom. [Cause the ones that cook better than I do are too expensive, lol].
and another $10 bucks here and there you will average about the way im counting about $100 dolars...
saturday,sunday,and monday you have to count monday cause if you were home you would be eating at home on monday untill you got out.... point im trying to make is if you don't get a load by 5 pm on friday it might be better to take that $100 dollars and put it in the fuel tank and get home .... this doesnt apply to everyone there are those out there that might say well i dont think i spend a $100 over the weekend, i bet your not to far off try it add up what you spend on the next 2 or 3 weekends and see what you spend im curious to know how much message me or post i on this thread please thanks and everyone think saftyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ohh one more thing if your not in a good area to get out i understand staying out than just my point of view getting home allways refreshes me for the next round lol

I get more rest staying out - so many relatives act like I live out of state, and should visit them when I'm home, sometimes I have to sneak in and out.

 

[layoutshooter]

You are not taking into account the wear and tear on a van for that 600 mile run. That has to be added into the cost. As cheri said too, that is 10-11 hours not resting, but working. Just needs to be accounted for.

 

[jj214]

Each unit will handle staying out differently. Running as a single from mid-michigan means I am rarely more than 5-6 hundred miles from home. I can still get home for 100-125 dollars. Sleeping in my own bed, with my beautiful wife, and spending time with my children and grandchildren is priceless. I know it is not for everyone, and many simply cannot pull it off. I may have stayed out a total of 4 weekends in 22 years of expediting. I credit that with keeping me in the game this many years. I helps to have a pension also. As others have said, there can be an expense in staying out. I have seen some of my fellow drivers pounding money into the video games like there was no tomorrow. I also see a fair number of expeditors parked in the casino parking lots. No one way is the right way, each driver/team has to figure out what works best for their situation.