Question:
When I first looked at trying trucking I noticed the comments and OOIDA estimate of waiting time--which is unpaid for a lot of drivers.
Since the new HOS, has it changed for you?
Also, please note if you have a gig like Begle or are a random dispatch driver as many of the newbies would be if they start with a large carrier.
Sorry if my # of questions is started to make me a 'Chaddie' fellow, but I promise to have NO DETAILS LATER!!
Answer:
It can vary from week to week. We get detention pay in most cases if wait time exceeds far past the appointment time. It can be as little as 5 hours for one week and be up to 30 hours the next. IF freight is moving good during the week there might hardly be any wait time at all. Sometimes Ive only averaged 4 hours waiting for 2 full weeks. Wait time pretty much depends on which company you are with and how freight is moving. I don't think it has much to do with whether you haul reefer,flatbed, or van as some drivers might claim. Ive done all three and hadn't seen any difference.Disclaimer:Pick too ugly to post at this time,LOL.

Answer:

I take it that you've never hauled produce in a reefer or delivered to grocery warehouses.

Answer:

Crete, Werner pay better with multiple stop loads such as his. Prolly wouldn't have to lump them either. Just hit the dock and go.
On Crete's website they advertise about 72K/yr. for 25% of their drivers with 5+ years experience. 72K is no big deal these days. Regardless of who you work for though, it still is a $10-12/hr. job.______
|l ,[____],
l---L –OlllllO-
()_) ()_)-(-)_)
I'd rather die on my feet like a man than live on my azz hiding in a truck.........Sir James Brown

Answer:
I have and the waiting time is rediculous. Actually the waiting time with a dry van or flatbed is just as rediculous alot of the time.
I had 6 hours waiting night before last. A tank inlet line was leaking. Didn't see it until after I hooked up and started pumping. Then the area fogged so badly i couldn't see to shut the tank down so I shut the truck down first and called in for reapirs. Was paid for 5 hours detention along with my regular 1 hour unloading pay. I don't have unpaid detention and like it just fine that way.

Answer:
Inclusion fo trucking in the FLSA might do wonders for the idiots who give away their time and the companies who require it of them.
Answer:
Yes, I have hauled produce to grocery warehouses and believe it or not, some of those grocery warehouses had me in and out in less than 2 hours. I guess when a company actually does charge detention it speeds up unloading time,though not always. The company I hauled produce for before would take 6-8 hours to unload. Yes,it is ridiculous, but they wouldn't charge detention or they did and didn't give any of it to the driver. The company Im leased with now does charge detention if it takes more than 2 hours past the appointment time.Ive gone in some grocery warehouses arrivng at the same time Cr england,Jb hunt, Swift, and be out of there way before they do.Disclaimer:Pick too ugly to post at this time,LOL.

Answer:

Where did the produce come from? In my experience, it's not unusual to spend a day, or more, in Rio Rico (Nogales) waiting for a multi-pick shipment to arrive.
On the other hand, I've also been loaded at 'chillers' where I've spent less than 2 hours from the time I've shown up until the time I've left, loaded.

Answer:

Alot of times, it depends on what you're hauling. If it's a straight pull-off of one commodity on pallets, it's usually fairly quick. When you check in and they start printing out those mutli-colored stickers, might as well put at least 4 hours on line 2.

Typical scumbag company undercutting the competition using stupid drivers who give away their time for free.

Why do you people give your time away to these companies for free? That's something I could never understand. Drivers are getting robbed out of thousands of dollars per year in uncompensated waiting, unpaid mileage, and free services provided. But they all act like they've stumbled onto King Solomon's mines.
Time=money. You give away you're time, you're also giving away money.
Can anyone tell me why you agree to do this year after year?
Answer:

"That's truckin'"
"It's what you make of it"
"Attitude, attitude, attitude"
" Helping keep prices low"
" I'm not doing anything, why get paid"
Only with a class of people to be ashamed of.______
|l ,[____],
l---L –OlllllO-
()_) ()_)-(-)_)
I'd rather die on my feet like a man than live on my azz hiding in a truck.........Sir James Brown

Answer:

"trucking pays more than any job I can get at home."
"I've always wanted to drive a truck."
"it's in the blood"
"I can log it as sleeper time and have more hours to drive"
"It's the best job I can get"

Answer:
Never wait, just shut it down and pack it up!

Answer:
Fred,
My mentioning of Begle wasn't to say that he had a good gig. I don't think it's fair to compare a Werner or Crete package for the # of drops since there's no way a Werner or Crete driver would do that many stops but I'll leave the argument about it being a 'good job' to others. I mentioned it b/c he presumably doesn't have lots of waiting time--the point of this thread.
Answer:

I don't know why you mentioned it at all in regards to waiting time. I never heard him boast of that. Only the stops and 72K/yr. You don't consider time to get off multiple stops(10-20) as waiting time vs. a straight load/unload ? 10 stops @1 hour a stop ( light estimate) = 10 hours a week. 20 stops = 20 hours. Poor comparison for your topic I think. What was your real reason ?
Drop/hooks are your best bet for the least pizzed away time. Longer runs. The fewer times you have to bump a dock ( live load/unload ) the better chance you have at not wasting time. Just have to find a company that fits what you want.______
|l ,[____],
l---L –OlllllO-
()_) ()_)-(-)_)
I'd rather die on my feet like a man than live on my azz hiding in a truck.........Sir James Brown

Answer:
Fred,
I presumed that--since he's mentioned getting home on the w/e's--his stops were fairly fast unloads. My 'real' agenda was as listed in the poll--to find out how much UNPAID waiting time people spend in a week. I presumed that he got paid for his stops and that the furniture unloading didn't take very long.
I'd agree that d/h with longer loads would be the 'ideal' as long as the pay's at least ok, but lots of the major companies--as Zigzag has posted with info from the companies' stock reports--focus on short to medium haul length.
If you'll look at my posts that advocated mandatory satellite tracking of trucks along with a GPS location for shippers/receivers and requiring that all time w/in 5-10 miles of the stop be listed as on-duty, you'll see that I really am not out to justify the UNPAID waste of drivers' time. I posted the poll in the hopes that many of the drivers would reply so people can see for themselves what it's like. I swear that I had an option of over 30 hours/week listed but I could be mistaken.
No agenda other than letting people post the realities of their experiences. If I have a bias I'd probably lean closer to the 'Sparta side' since I have considered trying trucking but chosen not to so far b/c of many of the opinions and facts provided.