Line haul bid process and how it works

Well if you been there at that terminal the longest you get to bid on any run you want and get it. And the ones under you do the same. The bottom guy are girl gets the left overs!

 

Bid process in freight ltl is for runs and vacations only. If you are thinking it is a price bid the rate of pay is the same, except most start at a reduced rate for a year or two. Most bid for the longest run that pays the most, some bid for starting time, you will learn as you go along. Not all employees are bid position. The extra board, which you will most likely be your position are dispatched by senority, a hog board, or a wheel board, first in, first out. Where I work, 60% of the runs are supposed to be bid, with the extra board doing the remainder.

 

how the bid process works in a nutshell.:

Whatever run you want, there is always someone with more seniority who wants it too.

 

@Naptown knows the drill there.

It's a little different at every company, and sometimes even different between terminals at the same company.

Generally, low-seniority drivers get the scraps, either short runs to terminals with dock work or long waits, or open bids which may vary wildly between feast and famine. The higher-seniority drivers at my place might not make the most money, but they get paid extremely well for a very short night. Most of our senior men opt for simple meet and turn runs that come back home, avoiding waiting at other terminals.

From what I understand, though, a new linehaul driver at OD can do very well running "wild" extraboard if they aren't afraid of running hard and staying in hotels.

 

Most likely , you will come in as a 5 day wild bag , or just wild. 5 day you run for 5 nights / 6 days , each night in a hotel. Wild no set sch . Both run anywhere they send you. Been a 5 day wild for three years at OD.

 

Seniority allows you to choose run. I'm senior linehaul driver at terminal. I keep scheduled run I have because I like it, only 450 miles. There are more lucrative runs I could take but more money means more miles

 

All ternimals across the USA run the same union or non union. You go to the long house on the dock and sit. Wait for name to be called. If you are called you work today. If not? you dont.

In the truck company maintains a list of senority by hire date. If you are a newbie, you aint bidding *&^% for a while. Maybe 6 months. maybe 5 years and might be 50 years....

 

To clarify for the OP, wild means open (going wherever they send you), and wild bag means staying in hotels (packing a bag, going wherever they send you), correct?