While the split sleeper may help some drivers, it does not help all. Some may have to actually work harder because of it.
When you haul oversized loads, states should allow the drivers to drive through the night time hours when there is a lot less traffic. This would actually help out the oversized loads greatly.
When you can only drive during the daytime hours, you have a lot more traffic to contend with and more people will cut you off causing you to slam on the brakes and possibly shifting the load. Other drivers also do not like to give the oversized loads any room when they pass, or they cannot because there is too much traffic.
these are some of the problems associated with trucking that the split sleeper will not help.
Rhe pay scale for hauling oversized loads is also a joke. We haul some large boats (14-16 foot wide) and get put on some pretty small roads. When traffic builds, we have no way to get around some of them and have to stop until the oncoming traffic clears or the escort can get them stopped. More traffic means more chance of accidents or damages.
There are times that we have to sit in California for 3-5 days, without pay, waiting on a load. Then have to deadhead all the way back to Florida for very little pay. If we are lucky, the company will pay us $50 per day to sit (not counting Sundays-they never pay for a Sunday unless you are moving). If we have to sit for a holiday weekend, we get $50 for the day of the holiday. That is it. If we are shut down due to permit issues, no pay. If we are shut down due to weather, no pay. If we have to wait for the marina to finish their part of prepping the boat for transport, no pay.
These things need to change. Sitting 3000 miles from home without pay is BS. No pay on Sundays when you are shut down because of the permit or weather is also a big crock. How can companies get away with this?
There needs to be some sort of mandates applied here. The company we work for decides what they want to pay and when. One time you get paid for your down days and the next time you don’t. They refuse to make a handbook or a sheet telling you what you get paid for and how much. It is always a guessing game. The pay has changed so many times without informing the drivers. We used to get paid for live loading and for filling out a used boat form. Now we get one or the other. Not both. But both are mandatory.
Our pay is .55cpm. Less than many box vans. That in itself is ridiculous. And unfair. Even when we deadhead somewhere ( our trailer is 9’6” wide) we only make .30cpm.
Something needs to be done to make this fair across the board. Those who haul specialty freight or any oversized freight should be making more than the regular drivers. If they aren’t, then why haul the big loads? These companies promise big but do not deliver.
We are also forced to run when it is unsafe to do so. The company will shrink loads to avoid getting pilot cars or police escorts. We had to run in a truck that was leaking carbon monoxide and got ill from it before we could stop to get it fixed. Then pushed to pick up a load that they wanted picked up on Friday. But the marina did not finish packing up the boat until noon on Monday. Again, no pay for Sunday while sitting there loaded waiting for them to finish.
If you want or need to get home, it usually does not happen. My father in law was in the hospital and we did not get to go home. He passed away while we were out and never for so much as a sorry from the company. Nothing!