Well. It's been a long time since I made an entry into this blog. This will be a short one because it's late and I have to finish getting my stuff together.

When I came home for the holidays I turned my tractor in for B service. The shop was off too though. They did a great job getting the service done but there was some other item that was a warranty issue and they had to take it to Kenworth for that.

So, it took an extra day. I was supposed to get back out today. Tomorrow I will be back in my deprivation chamber and probably headed for the frozen tundra.

A Job or a Business

I started out after Thanksgiving on 12/1 and by the 6th I had 2718 miles. Then it stopped. In the last 4 days I’ve only had 464 miles. It is the seasonal slowdown combined with the winter storm that is really putting the hurt on me.

Here is a brief comparison to my ‘job’ and the business that Jim over at LeasePurchaseJournal has. First, I am paid OK for a company driver with just 15 months experience. I like the way Millis pays because, while the per-mile pay is competitive with others, they give some pretty good incentive pay in the form of bonuses. From 2000 miles to 2400 miles they pay an additional $.03 for all miles. From 2500 to 2999 miles it’s $.04 and over 3000 miles it’s $.05 for all miles. They also pay out a quarterly safety bonus of $.02 and a yearly of $.03. All of the bonus pay depends on me being on time and doing everything else that I am required to do properly and promptly. So for me to optimize my pay I have to get as many miles as possible every week and perform well in all areas but mostly, drive as much and as fast as I can. Don’t worry, I can’t go very fast, only 65 mph tops.
So I try to get 3000 miles per week if I can. Jim can drive quite a bit less being concerned with efficiency first. I fuel at terminals but will fuel at any TA, Pilot for or Road Ranger that I choose, Jim has to consider the price and plan fuels stops based on that. I have a nice truck but it still smells like smoke from the driver or drivers that put the first 400,000 plus miles on it. Jim got to set his truck up the way he wanted and it just smells like him. I can’t turn any load down and my home time and vacation are less than I would want. While neither of us can afford to sit much, Jim seems to be able to take more time than I can. I have to review my payroll recaps but Jim has to do detailed accounting, tracking and projecting costs and expenses. If I decide to give it up tomorrow I can but I expect Jim would find that hard to do.
This is just an off the cuff comparison but it is a few things that have noticed from reading his blog from my seat.
I guess the main two differences are; Jim nets quite a bit more than I do while being committed to quite a bit more financial risk. That is the difference between having a job or a business.

I'm a Pig

It seems during the vacation week and the Thanksgiving feast I reversed some of the weight loss I was so proud of. I haven’t mentioned it but I had lost 35 pounds from around mid August to mid November. I put about 6 back on and it’s been hard to get back on track. I have some techniques that I use to lose out here and it’s not that hard but with the season change it’s not as easy. First, I committed to not buying any food at truck stops. I only eat what I bring out with me and when I need groceries I go to a grocery store. I do reward myself about every two weeks with a steak, potato and salad at a real steak house. Second, I try to only eat 1000 calories per day. That’s not much but at my age and sitting on my but all day it’s enough. The key is to eat several times a day, up to 1000 calories and don’t skip most of the day and then pig on the whole thing. Also I drink a lot of water even though that does cause extra stops. Third, I try to walk about 20 to 30 minutes a day. This is where I have the biggest problem because frankly, with this job, you may not have an extra 20 minutes a lot of days. Forth, and this is big for me, I don’t keep any food in reach while I am driving. There is something about this job that, if I could, I would eat continuously while I drive. I could easily eat a case of Starburst’s every day. My goal is to lose another 30 and soon to turn the walking into running. Well, more like shuffling.