It's a Team's Life

How Far Will You Go?

How Far Will You Go?

How far will you deadhead to get to that next load? Recently, my husband and I made a delivery in an area that we knew would be challenging to get out of. Where do we go? We had several options and of course, I wanted to go one way while my husband wanted to go another. I am sure that many teams have the same discussion as we had. We decided to head in the direction of the way my husband wanted to go. We did this because we figured that while we were down we would get new steer tires on the truck. After the steer tires were installed, we continued to go to the area where I wanted to go. We were able to get the lug nuts retorqued along the way so it was a productive thing. 

The next day we got a call for a load that was about 600 miles away. Unfortunately, the customer needed us there the same day and there was no way we would make it there before the customer closed. Had we stayed where my husband wanted to stay, we would have been better positioned to get to the load when the customer needed us to be there. 

I knew there was a customer in the area that I wanted to go that I thought would have freight moving. With the market the way it is right now the freight just is not always where we think it is going to be. I learned a very valuable lesson in that I have to be more open to thinking about more than just one area for picking up freight. 

Getting back to my original question. With the steep competition for freight these days. How far would you deadhead to get to the work? I know some that will deadhead many miles while others I know will not go very far at all. My husband and I always joke that we are trying to join the million mile deadhead club! Having said that, the numbers still have to make sense too.

Another question could be, at what point do you just give in and go home? We have done that a time or two as well. Again, we look at all factors including how much are we spending on running the generator? Do we have to pay for parking? Are we eating out too much? Eating out more out of boredom rather than not having enough food in the truck. Could we be getting much needed projects done at home? There are so many things to think about. 

Wishing everyone many profitable and safe miles!