Archive for November, 2009

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Truck Driving School Students Don’t Worry About Layoffs

Monday, November 30th, 2009

layoffsWell you definitely haven’t if you work for CR England. CR England is still hiring even through the recession, but not all carriers are.

This article is about the many other truck drivers out there that have been hearing the whispers about layoffs. Rumor has it that after the holiday rush is over, there may be layoffs coming. They may or may not be rumors. Only time will tell.

We wanted to throw a few words down here that discussed this issue so students out there can relax when they here the truck stop cowboy chatting away.

You would be surprised to find out that most layoffs in the trucking industry in general involve office staff and not drivers. CR England hasn’t laid off a driver in 90 years. Another thing you should consider is all the “other” people involved with trucking that are relieved before a driver. Other people are chrome shop guys, tire salesman, and the guys who detail trucks. They all count as layoffs because they are in the industry.

Next, the type of carrier you work for could have more layoffs than another. For example, if you were a truck driver working for a small carrier that hauled mostly ice melts, when the winter is over, you may no longer have freight. Also, companies may end up with an abundance of drivers in a particular region because of business activities. A merger might have this effect. Also, if your carrier works primarily in a niche that had a lot of layoffs you might see more layoffs at your company. If you stay away from a carrier that operates in niches than you’ll be fine.

Also, bad drivers get in accidents, deliver late loads, get tickets and accumulate log violations. This creates turnover. Large fleets naturally have turnover, so there is usually no need to layoff truck drivers. That’s why there are so many job boards like National Truck Driving Jobs, and BubbaJunk.

If you’re a student driver, rest assure you will be least likely to get laid off in the trucking industry. The odds are stacked in your favor. Drive safe and provide on time service and you’ll be A OK.

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Trip Plans The Easy Way For Truck School Students Continued

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Part 3 of 3

This is our final article in our series on Trip Planning. Hopefully this information can serve as a supplement to truck driving school instruction. This article should tie together the last 2 discussions we have had and give us the opportunity discuss how the previously discussed issues will lead you to the performance benefits that come with on-time service. In truck driving school often the discussion turns to the importance of on-time service and its benefits. We are going to list a handful of tips that will help you form a habit of on-time service and round out the process of profitable trip planning.

On-time service is the ultimate goal when you plan a trip. When you plan your trip properly and deliver on time, you’ll be ready for the next load sooner. Many companies will give you priority dispatch when you have established a history of on time delivery. Ultimately this will turn into more money in your pocket.

Here is how to plan for on-time service:

Plan your trip so you arrive at least 15 minutes early at each destination. Remember this when it comes to late loads. One minute late is still late. In truck driving school a lot of experienced trainers will tell you to plan in a 15 minute buffer. This buffer will leave you room for the unexpected traffic back up or missed turn.

Another benefit to planning with on-time service in mind is that if you arrive early you may be able to deliver early. If you are running early make sure to contact your driver manager and ask about delivering early. Wasting your drive time at a truck stop because you’re early may be relaxing now, but when you consider what it may be costing you, you may reconsider. The sooner your empty, the sooner your on the road again and miles equal dollars.

The last benefit to on-time service will make you more money than anything else. If you Arrive on time, that will prevent the “back of the line” instruction you may find from busy shippers out on the road. It seems silly, but the shipper planned to have the freight delivered at a certain time, and the next truck after you at a certain time. When you’re late you are disrupting the shippers schedule and so you may have to wait until they can work you in. Waiting around the the receiver for hours can be very expensive, especially if it happens in the summer or winter where you have to idle. Murphy’s law says, the time that your 1 minute late, is the time you wait!

This article ends our series on trip planning for truck driving school students. We tried to stress the importance of planning and staying organized. Following the tips in this article and previous parts in the series will help you realize your ultimate goal of making as many profitable trips as you can. Many of the daily headaches of a truck driver are greatly reduced with proper trip planning.

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Trip Plans The Easy Way Continued

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Part 2 of 3

In part 2 of our series on Trip Plans The Easy Way for Truck Driving School Students we are going to look at the basic principals needed to track your trips. In truck driving school this principal is often called the key to making more money. With that goal in mind we wanted to provide you with a few tips to help you track your trips so that you can meet the goals of a profitable well planned trip.

Tracking your trips can be the key factor in making more money from each load. When you look at your daily logs you will be able to recognize areas where you can improve and make more money for your self. You will also be able to identify areas where you may be losing money.

Your daily logs can act as a business record and they can be used to improve profitability and do more than just keep the Department of Transportation from ticketing you. They can also be a valuable tool when it comes to tracking your trips.

Here is how your logs will help you track your trips:

Remember that the more accurate you keep your log books the more accurate your current and future plans will be. No one wants to make a plan that includes 9 hours of driving when they only have 6 hours of driving left when they get to that part of the plan. Also, past experiences can help you plan as well. If you know that 7am traffic in Phoenix always takes an extra half our or so, you can plan for it because you will know where you have been and when.

Another way that good logs can be a tool for you is when you compare your “hub” miles with the miles your getting paid for. Looking at this will teach you what the real cost of your empty miles is.

Use logs to help you keep track of maintenance and repairs. This will help you budget for expenses. Some drivers know just about how many miles it will be until the need new tires. If you could get new tires before you pick up a load, you will avoid accidents or waiting around for road service while under a load. This will save you money in the long run and may even keep you alive.
When you look at your logs as a tool for trip tracking you will see more profitability. We will look at On-time Service and how it affects other parts of trip planning in part 3 of this series of Trip Plans The Easy Way Continued. Even though you may still be in truck driving school, this article and the article to follow will help you develop into a profitable driver.

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Trip Plans The Easy Way for Truck Driving School Students

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Part 1 of 3
Trip Planning is a major subject for discussion throughout truck driving school. Our goal here is to give you some tips on how to plan your trip in a manner that will help you maximize your income.

Trip planning and logging go hand in hand because you need to understand Hours of Service rules in order to trip plan properly. In a trip plan, you lay out what you are going to do. Your logbooks show what driving you have already done.

A basic Trip Plan is designed to answer these four questions:

    Where am I going?
    How long will it take to get to my destination?
    Where and when am I going to stop along the way?
    What can I do to make my trip as profitable as possible?

Some successful drivers have provided these tips to students so you’ll know what to expect after truck driving school.

Spend your Hours Of Service Driving and not handling personal business. If you are able handle all of your personal business outside of driving you will be able focus on meeting your driving goals.

Run ahead of schedule so you can take your slack time at the end of the trip. Professionals are often looking to deliver early so they can reload that much sooner.

Practice multi-tasking. If your waiting at a shipper, get other things like trip packs and trip planning done. Don’t waste your time when your on duty. Get as many things done as you can so when you have down time you can relax and get refreshed without having to worry about other things.

Drive at slower speeds. Try not to rush so you can drive a little slower and get better fuel economy. If you plan ahead for it, you’ll be fine and you will have saved some money.

Make daily reviews of your trip plan so you’ll know where you are as far as meeting your goals. Another benefit of keeping constant watch is that you can make adjustments to improve the plan and make better use of your time. And always remember to ask for that early delivery so you can reload sooner.

Use up every last scrap of your drive time. The scraps of time that are left can be the difference maker when you’re adding up your miles come the end of the week.

Consider your health. Remember that eating well, sleeping well and exercising will keep you from losing money do to illness.

In part 2 we will continue to look at other parts of trip planning. part 2 of this series of Trip Plans The Easy Way for Truck Driving School Students. Even though you may still be in trucking school, if you follow these tips you will become a highly profitable truck driver.

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Truck Driving School Students Take Warning

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

text messaging while truck drivingA recent story in the Miami Herald discussed how commercial drivers may be banned from text messaging while driving. We ran an article 4 or 5 months ago about the same issue that discussed the correlation between text messaging and accidents.

A recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that truck drivers sending text messages from the road were 23 times more likely to crash or nearly crash than drivers who were not distracted. This is certainly something truck driving school students should avoid doing while driving. Making a habit of not doing it now will help you resist temptation when you’re out on the road later in life.

This Miami Herald report pointed out that six states require all drivers to use a hands-free device when making phone calls and at least 19 states have now banned all drivers from texting while behind the wheel. This information about state legislature came from the Governors Highway Safety Association.

The Virginia study outlined above seems to be the most quoted study on the issue but other studies have been conducted an arrived at similar or worse results. For example, some experts have said texting while driving is more dangerous than driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Drinking Alcohol while operating a tractor trailer is not permitted. It seems like in the short term the number of states banning text messaging while driving will most likely climb to a point where texting is also not permitted in all states.

When you graduate from truck driving school or even when you’re taking CDL training classes, remember not to text message while you drive.

The original Miami Herald article can be found at http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/1337216.html

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