Question:
I have been hearing a lot lately from drivers who are wanting to find a company with a large average length of haul or saying they wouldnt go to work for a company that has an average length of haul under 1000 miles.
These drivers are short changing themselves in many ways and often find themselves "miserable" at those "big run" companies.
Why? Glad you asked. Heres the deal. You have to understand 1 or 2 things and then stand back and look at the big picture.
For starters a company's avg length of haul may not mean anything or much of anything. If the company runs a lot of teams the teams are going to get those big runs and the solo drivers will get the majority of the shorter hauls. Also even if there are no team drivers you are dealing with averages here meaning that there are going to be trips that are more and trips that are less and one trip significantly above the average can skwer the average. (Make it look bigger than it really should). Another thing is that even if the avg length of haul is accurate you may run that 1800 mile trip and then sit for 3 days waiting for a reload, and wind up with only 1800 miles per week.
Now then for the rest of the story.
Some companies pay extra for loads under a given set of miles. This may be either an extra few cents per mile or a set rate.
Some companies pay extra for completing a certain amount of trips per week or more.
Some companies (most in fact) pay extra for loads with muliple stops.
SOme companies pay detention pay (pay for sitting at a customer beyond a certain set of hours)
Also look at how many of those short hauls are drop and hook vs live unloads. ( I know that my company's short hauls are about 90% drop and hook while the longer hauls, over 600 miles, are about 80% live loads and unloads.)
You need to look at everything your company (or the one you are looking to hire in with) offers in way of pay (including load and unload pay) and not just the base mileage pay and then make sure you get that pay when it is due you. By doing this you may find yourself making a lot more money every week running 1800 miles in short hauls than you would running 2500 miles in two or three long hauls.
Only two things I know of are infinite. The universe and human stupidity, and I am not real sure about the universe.
Answer:
Very true uturn2001,
In fact, some of my more interesting, "fun" days are the ones where I deliver a load, run a quick shag, then reload for another long trip. At my company, this might involve hooking five different trailers (if preloads) that day and doing a lot more navigating, backing-up, and jumping in and out of the truck.
I too 'visualized" just long trips as being what I wanted most. And I like them. But I also like the balance of the occasional short run, and the way it breaks-up the monotony of just running day after day.
And if all goes reasonably well at the customers, I actually make MORE money running a shag between my longer runs.
I prefer runs between 700 and 1,100 miles. Anything more (than 2 days) gets boring, frankly.
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Answer:
"I prefer runs between 700 and 1,100 miles. Anything more (than 2 days) gets boring, frankly." Gotto agree with that. Really long runs get old. If it takes 3- 4 days to complete a run it does get old. I like a bit shorter runs myself. It seems as if you accomplish more in less time.
I do make more per run on longer hauls because I work on percentage. But if I can get one off and another back on quickly the money adds up to more by the end of the week. Real short runs of 100 to 200 miles I really don't like and I avoid them like a plague. They seem to just be waisting time for little pay. Multi drops are good because they pay much better. The only downfall is how long it takes to drop each one and how far apart they are. That's why I like farmers markets. You can get 7-9 drops off in one morning and not have to run to another city to finish. It's time versus money for me. The quicker I can get unloaded and the more a run pays is what I look for. Probably what most look for.
1200 to 1400 miles that takes 2 days to complete seems to pay the best.
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