What happened to long runs?

drivingmecrazy · May 1, 2008

We are a team truck leased to the Cat... seems all we have been offered lately is short runs? It's Thursday and we have just a little over 1000 miles in! We can still pull out a week- we have before... is anyone else experiencing this? We might just be in the wrong area at the wrong times... hoping it will change around soon! Spoke with another team last week that said to stay out of Michigan, nothing moving up there anymore since the axle strike... have you found that true? We went to Mississippi a couple of weeks ago... that place is dead now too - never used to have trouble getting a load out of there... had to DH to Memphis.. and it was slow there too....
Just curious to how everyone else is doing, what areas have died off or gotten hot!

Be Safe !

CharlesD · May 1, 2008

There's plenty of stuff moving in Michigan, just short stuff across the state, at least from what I'm seeing.

redytrk · May 1, 2008

A lot of the long stuff is going by air. FECC has it down to a science. Fast PU by a local truck. Fast delivery next day by local truck.

dcalien · May 1, 2008

What happened to any runs? I would love to get 1000 miles a week right now. Of course I am running single, so I guess I am doing about as well as you are.

davekc · May 1, 2008

For the ones that are totally reliant upon the US auto business, it has to be a struggle. With a strike and numerous plants idle, I think there is fierce competition on any kind of related freight.

piper1 · May 1, 2008

April started great for me and then tanked. Last 2 weeks I've been home every night. I love my wife but not this much!

greg334 · May 1, 2008

I wish I had this luck when I can actually drive, but I got offers yesterday and today while I am working on my truck and out of service, so it has been 3 out of 4 days with offers so far.

dcalien · May 1, 2008

greg334 said:
I wish I had this luck when I can actually drive, but I got offers yesterday and today while I am working on my truck and out of service, so it has been 3 out of 4 days with offers so far.

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that it IS your fault that congress has passed laws that hurt me.

cheri1122 · May 1, 2008

We can always blame Greg, whether it's his fault or not, lol

he's married, so he's used to it, no?

greg334 · May 2, 2008

cheri1122 said:
We can always blame Greg, whether it's his fault or not, lol he's married, so he's used to it, no?

Yea, I am the cause of everything.

OntarioVanMan · May 2, 2008

greg334 said:
Yea, I am the cause of everything.

Woke up this morning with snow and ice on the ground and a 30-40 mph wind... wind chill of minus 20 BUT what I really blame greg for is......The coffee pot is EMPTY!!!

OntarioVanMan · May 2, 2008

Its hard to tell where the long runs have gone to? Are they really gone and your not getting them?

Some say shippers are finding alternative ways to ship because our FSC is getting way high BUT wouldn't the alternatives have the same increases, making it all relative? I'd prefer to think its one of them pattern things...ya know some weeks shippers are ordering only straight trucks and vans are backed up to the Mississippi and some weeks the shippers are ordering vans and when you pull into a truckstop the straights are sitting in a pool of tears! *L*

pelicn · May 2, 2008

I think having a reefer and gov clearance has helped us in the last few weeks. We took a load to FL, and got a reefer load right back out the same day.

OntarioVanMan · May 2, 2008

pelicn said:
I think having a reefer and gov clearance has helped us in the last few weeks. We took a load to FL, and got a reefer load right back out the same day.

In these tight times in our biz..it's not a time to get too fussy...as in
I don't do NYC
I don't do northeast
I don't do Canada
I don't do hazmat
I don't do Chicago
I don't do hand unloading or loading....

Ya know there is actually owners and drivers out there that all of the above applies to and they THINK dispatch should appease them....and they think they should make equal money to those that do any of the above....I don't think so...

Each one of them don'ts cost you money right off the bottomline and you get whats leftover. Not much Eh?

nightcreacher · May 2, 2008

when I got into this,the aveerage load went about 350 miles,and you had to run 150 miles to pick it up..O V M,i once had a driver call me for a job,he said to me all the things you just posted,and i said to him you cant work for me

pelicn · May 2, 2008

I don't do NYC
I don't do northeast
I don't do Canada
I don't do hazmat
I don't do Chicago
I don't do hand unloading or loading....

Makes ya wonder why they got into trucking?

OntarioVanMan · May 2, 2008

pelicn said:
Makes ya wonder why they got into trucking?

Come on now...Because they are PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS!! and because they have a RIGHT to say NO!

Same as they have a right to go broke! And when a driver says all of the above I just have no time to hear them whine!!

Wonder what the % in $ value each of them DON'Ts is worth?

CharlesD · May 2, 2008

Out of all those "don'ts" the only one I don't have is hazmat. I gladly go to the northeast and Chicago because I always seem to get loads out of there. I just got one from Chicago to Laredo, so there are some long van runs out there, just few and far between.

Speaking of that, I'll be delivering in Laredo tomorrow and most likely hanging out there until Monday. If anyone else is sitting there for the weeend, shoot me a PM.

OntarioVanMan · May 2, 2008

The other don't that comes to mind is overloading...

Twice last week I was asked to take loads of 3400 and 3500 lbs...900+ miles each...now that hurt!!

RLENT · May 2, 2008

I was talking to a friend last Thursday or Friday who also drives a Sprinter for Bolt - he had just gotten dispatched on a run from Chicago to Torres, CA (sp ?) ...... south of LA - 2012 miles. So like Charles said, long runs are still out there.