Should I Do A 34?

Alright tomorrow I will be delivering a load to Riverside, CA. By the time I get there and then head up to Ontario or Mira Loma to park I will have roughly an hr left to work. Gain 4 hr 32 minutes at midnight. After the 4 hr 32 minute I will recap, well, with 7, 11, 9, and so on. Any suggestions?

I would do a 34 in your case, instead of chasing your 70. You will only have 5.5 hours to drive tomorrow, then 7 the next day. That means 12.5 hours driving (at most, not including fuel stops and PTIs, over 48 hours PLUS whatever is left in the day you posted this. If you take a 34, then drive 11 hours, you will only use 45 hours of the 48+ you would have used driving 12.5 hours. If you have more than 10 hours left to rest in the first day when you stopped driving, you will be able to drive 12.5 hours after a 34 AND a full day driving AND a 10 hour rest break, including PTI time.

If the load is super-tight, there might be a reason to 'chase' your 70, but if the load is that tight, your dispatcher really shouldn't give you a load when you are chasing your 70, unless it's a really short run.

Personally, I don't chase my 70. I beat it to death and then sleep on it. On average, I end every day driving with less than 15 minutes left to drive unless I am stuck waiting for loading or unloading, and start driving within five minutes of the end of my 10 (gotta do that quick check after the longer PTI the prior night.) My dispatchers know that I do this, and if they give me a load I can't get to destination with the hours I have left, they will repower me with local drivers after I go as far as possible with the time I have. Some weeks I manage two 34 hour resets without blowing more than two hours of on-duty time.

I do not know how common it is in the industry, but at Stevens Transport, the drivers with the highest utilization scores get the better loads. A solo Stevens driver gets to 100% utilization if they run 10,500 miles per month. I try to keep myself well above 100%. That gets me good, long mile runs, and I normally have a preplan at least a few hours before I arrive at final, so I can start thinking about the next run while I am still on the current run.

Personally, I don't chase my 70. I beat it to death and then sleep on it.

Matthew, I love the way you worded that! Consider that phrase officially stolen by me now.

That is pretty much the way I do things, but this question about doing resets really is a personal choice. I have a friend who just doesn't do 34's while on the road. He can't stand the thought of sitting there idle if he is not with his family. I'll take advantage of an area that I am in just because it helps me rest and clear my mind so that I'm ready to kill it on the next set of 70 hours. Part of what attracted me to trucking was the travelling lifestyle, and by putting in a really hard work week and then enjoying a nice break down on the beach in Florida like I did last week makes it all worth it to me. I don't necessarily think one gets more done one way or the other, but I feel like I'm more free to run how ever I like when I have the freedom of a full set of hours before me each day. Of course our loads some times dictate how we need to run, and in Devan's case here, it all worked out well so that he got to take his 34 and still "git er done." That's a win win in my estimation.

Gonna do a 34 after all. Got a two stop load. First from Jurupa Valley to montrose co and then to denver a day later. First delivers on the 5th at 1200 and the second on the 6th at 0700.

They discourage 34 hr resets too, but from what I have seen it can be our call too. This load can be done with recaps but I don't want to sit around and wait for midnight each day.

That sucks. I'm one of thosepeople that if I had to sit on the load I would rather do it less than 50 miles from 90 than 34 someplace far away hahah