Even when carefully selecting my freight jobs, I'm making money at a faster rate with quick jobs. It really sucks At early stages, you maybe right (if you don't like driving around). Once you have 3-4 garages you'll make so much money it doesn't matter. You can do whatever is fun to you.
If you want the drivers to earn your money for you while you sit and do nothing, you have two choices. You can AFK in your truck of you can travel back and forth between multiple garages using the fast travel feature on the menu. The farther the garages are apart, the more time passes for the AI when you travel. +1
u11uje.