The daycab difference

AMEN!.....Short wheelbase single axles are very unforgiving in the snow and ice. Add to that a light load and dropdeck van trailer....... driving one of these things gets to be a handful real quick!

And you guys running 70-80,000 gross with a twin screw wonder why we are taking it easy.

Having a day cab has it's advantages. I get a free shower every morning, free breakfast and coffee, a nice tv and a desk for my paperwork when I layover at the hotel. My Volvo flat top didn't have all that. It's kinda nice now that I think about it......

 

With an empty pup trailer is no fun either!

 

I don't have a short wheel base daycab.... It got a 214 wheelbase... Basically a sleeper truck without the sleeper... It's suppose to help out the bounces from the road...

I find a daycab regardless of wheelbase is hard on your body... When I am loaded and hit a uneven part in the road (or when I am off-roading.. yardwaste is never store in flat areas) that the suspension just bangs... Couple that with the fact I don't like using my airride seat and I end up with a crappy ride all day.. But as mentioned before the perks are great... Like I am home everyday in my own bed !!!

 

Used to run a daycab with a 212 wheelbase, thought it rode just as nice as my sleeper actually.

Sometimes here in the Northeast, only problem I ran into with my daycab was finding a hotel at night once in a while if in a not so familiar area.

 

I didnt think of including that in my post;
yes, I'm paid hourly, not by miles or loads. and mine is a double axel on the tractor. I average about 50 hours a week, so almost always have overtime. some days longer than others, you know how it is.

 

I run a daycab, mostly within 100 air mile, but sometimes a year at a time outside the logbook exemption. I'm on the clock and can tell you first hand it's nice to get paid on the clock, but it doesn't remove time pressure, it just makes time pressure more exact. If your boss is paying you by the hour, he knows what you are doing with more detail, not less. Many OTR drivers think their life would greatly improve if only they were paid by hour rather than CPM. I think that is a "grass is always greener" assumption. The schedules just get tighter when time is money rather than miles are money.

My company treats drivers very well so my only real problems, the one's not between my ears, are with customers that think deadlines are suggestions.

 

I agree with you TSCOTTME ..... When you get paid by the hour companies tend to want more productivity from you then if your getting paid by the mile.. Guys who get paid by the mile just need to make sure they get the loads delivered.. Sometimes you have appointments and sometimes you don't.. But in the end time is money and when your getting paid by the hour they want as much out of you to make the hourly rate worth it...

Every job has it's good and bad points tho.. I mean the other side of the stick is OTR your personal life is affected where a local driver gets to have more of a personal life and be with family...

Because I work a government job people get a misconception about city workers (all around the world).. People think they are lazy for the most part and get to sit around with thumbs up the bum... This can't be any further from the truth... I mean sure certain departments have those "lazy" workers.. But in the Solid Waste division of my work you are working hard... I mean I work harder hauling waste material then I had to work on both OTR and local private companies.. I run 4 loads a day and push hard to get them all done in 8 hours.. I start a 4am and I hit traffic on my 3rd and 4th loads... It's go go go for me.. I don't even take a lunch or breaks..

 

8 hours????

Sorry, no sympathy from this driver. I push hard too. I rarely take more than one or two 5 minute bathroom breaks in a 12 hr day and if I didn't push hard they would all be 14 hr days.

 

many people have a missconception when they see a daycab that you work 8-10 hours a day..I run a daycab prostar ( like my old columbia way better) on average I get 2700 miles per week haul 4 loads and make 12-15 deliveries usually push up to 13.75 hours a day whenever possible hit amotel everyday around 200pm I stay out 5 days and on rare occassion Ill stay out 2 weeks( yes in a daycab) cab is small not much room for any extras(only have 1 seat) I carry safety gear,hard hat,nomex,suitcase,raincoat,parka and toolbag...cab is full...ran a sleeper for a couple of years it had good points and bad ..good was I had room for everything,bed If I couldnt find a motel and great ride..bad points tractor was heavy, carried less product,longer wheelbase and no back window makes innercity deliveries more difficult..I did prefer having a sleeper but mainly due to weight I run a daycab now( we haul our own product the more we haul the more the company makes) running a day cab OTR is a totally different beast than most people think, its not for everyone..i will also add running down the WV turnpike grossing 80000 with no jake is not for everyone either ..but its a great job and waking up in a holiday inn and taking a shower is way better than when i started trucking and was waking up in a 36'' fiberglass bunk on an old 5 speed mack r -model on a ramp somewhere....

 

Daycabs pulling tankers (Liquid oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen). Run 3 states. We have sleepers if you want to take one, but no-one does as we get paid for all time and all meals and hotels. Only out maybe one to two days a week to Phoenix, Las Vegas, occasionally Reno/Sacramento. The "clock" hits 10 hours and we are done..And I take ALL my breaks and my lunch hour..It gets there when it gets there...