OTR deliveries..

When you are dispatched, you need to know how much time you have available HOS-wise, when the delivery is scheduled, and how long it will take you to get there. Then is the time to speak up if you know you can't make it. I think if you accept the load, then the ball is in your court. I know there is forced dispatch and all, but know those 3 pieces of info, will warn you that you need to have a discussion with dispatch.

 

you are joking,right? it happens routinely and is done by companies,brokers,dispatchers,etc. and then when the load does not make it, the real lies start and could be generated from the broker,the company,and even the driver.Wherever the buck stops,the lies begin basically,for the most part.

I have had loads like that and some got there,some did not.It is a part of trucking/transportation and happens to eloggers,eobr drivers,log bookers, and loose leaf loggers.It keeps trucks running,companies afloat, and our economy from completely stagnating-

 

My current load seems like that, at first glance.

The pre-plan had a delivery date of 06/26 0830, so I accepted it.
When I get the actual load assignment it has a delivery date of 06/25 1230 - a full 20 hours before when I thought it had to be there.

Swift's Plus-1 scheduling - gotta love it.
Thing is, I already know there is a time window that I have not been directly shown. So tonight when I shut down I sent a late call that said I would deliver on 06/25 at 1900, which still gives me plenty of time for sleep and breaks and such.


It is up to the driver to approve or reject a load - or work within the system to make things work out.
Even forced dispatch is not really a 'forced' type of thing, since the driver is ultimately responsible for running the truck safely and legally.

As a company driver I am under 'forced dispatch'. Which really means that I have to accept a load if i can do it safely and legally, but I can't turn down a load simply because I don't like something about it - like the miles, the destination, etc.
I can also turn down loads that are not heading me home, if I have a home time request in and time is getting short.

Some companies may work things differently, especially if they are not using Qualcom and/or e-logs. Electronic records are a big plus for drivers in cases like this because they leave a 'paper' trail that can be used in court.

My current load, for example.
I accepted a load based on certain information, knowing that I could make an on time delivery. Then I was thrown a curve ball, so that 'on time' delivery was impossible.
Had I received a message back that I would receive a service failure if I didn't make it in the specified time, I could use those electronic records in court to prove my case.
As it was I got a message saying, "OK, THANK U."

 

It happens but usually it's NO surprise to ANYONE with most organizations. This day of computers and very effective planning dispatch software, loads are known to be late (or going to be late) typically before the load is even sent to the pickup driver. But the originating driver needs to bring it up to dispatch by electronic means (figure it out) within a few minutes of dispatch specifying the circumstances that will cause the load to miss the original appointment to reinforce the problem, remind someone, and to protect yourself.

People understand the logging rules and they understand your current and projected hours and if you claim or think you have 20 hours available today/tomorrow and the system says you have 24 hours available, somebody is going to have to do some explaining and it won't be the dispatcher. Bottom line is if a driver screws around and makes a load late it will frowned upon, but if a load was going to be late from the git go, it will be no problem for the driver and will be up to the CSR to fix the issue while you continue on with the pu/load.

 

Getter Done!!!

 

Impropper scheduling does none of those things.
What it does do is cause accidents and deaths due to driver stress and fatigue.

There is no load that can't get there a few hours, or a day, later, that will cause a company to fail or a truck to stop running or the economy to tank.

And, ultimately, it is up to the drivers to enforce that.
We simply can not be forced or coerced into driving that way.

 

The answer is yes.

Some companies do it quite often.

 

I take it that you,driving a slow truck perhaps and having the attitude that you do,have never pulled JIT freight.I mean JUST IN TIME too as the freight getting there JIT can keep awhole comapny from shutting down.Yes gertrude,it happens.Trucks are nothing more thanportable warehouses/storage because many comapnies refuse to warehouse goods,can't afford to,or whatever.I submit that during your 1 year of trucking combined w/whatever amount of time that you spent in class answering multiple choice questions and listening to some trainer that may have had 3 years otr before being "promoted",that you,driver(used loosely),need to remove those rose colored glasses.

Trucks delivering late often enough can, and indeed do,cause severe monetary damage to half of the companies that wholly depend on JIT freight. Shutting down entire production capabilities will cripple and has rippling effects,that could very well make it back to the company that you drive for.merely an example. you really do not grasp the totality of trucking do you and just how critical some loads actually are?

 

What he said. If I get a load I know I cannot deliver on time, or it's tight enough something like traffic or an accident could make it late I first call dispatch to let them know, usually they know already. Then I send a message on the qualcom so there is a record of it. Generally they either tell me to get it there when I can (if it's a drop) or to give them my best, ie. most accurate, eta after I'm loaded and they will schedule me a new appointment if it's a live unlooad.

Also I have been given a load In place of another load I had. In this case the load I originally had didn't leave until 4am and I had been parked a while so I started a 34 hour reset even though I still had some hours. Around 9pm when I was getting ready for bed dispatch calls with a repower on a hot load (that driver screwed up and accepted a load he didn't have hours to deliver and started HIS reset during the load making it late). I informed dispatch that while I did have hours to deliver the load, which required 10 hours of driving, I had been up since 7am that morning and if I got fatigued during the trip I would pull over and rest load delivery be ######. It was not my load and I didn't make it late in the first place and I was doing them a favor. Dispatch understood this and told me to do my best and if I had to stop to rest to inform them so they could notify the receiver.