Today I got to thinking about how being flexible can be a real asset in the trucking industry.
I recently started a run that I had picked up in Washington State. It was a beautiful day and fairly smooth sailing getting loaded at my customer in Bellingham. I was all planned out to run this load to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. It was nice because it was a shorter run than usual and had it planned out to the minute.
Well, after picking up my load I started my trip towards Minnesota and discovered that I was maxed out on my legal gross weight. I figured “okay, this load’s going to hurt my bottom line but it's alright. I can make it up getting to the Minnesota and North Dakota freight market.”
I get a call from one of my amazing dispatchers and she said she had a truck driver whose truck was having some serious mechanical issues and she needed him to reroute back to the terminal in Fargo. She asked me if I'd be ok with it, and I was a little hesitant at first but only for a second and told her I would be happy to switch things up.
I arrive in Haugen, Montana, met up with the driver and we switch loads. He took my heavy load back East and I took his light load back West. I was glad to volunteer for the change up because in the end we both managed to come out on top.
I got a decent paying light load, managed to see my fiancée for a quick lunch, and I got to sleep in my bed.
The driver managed to make it back to get his truck fixed and both of our loads got delivered on time. Even better, I got a great load headed back across the country to South Carolina. For being willing to be flexible, it really paid off in the long run for everyone.