Stupid Question - When I Hear About OTR Drivers

My fault - my question was more directed towards how companies manage OTR rookies - if one is willing and able to stay out on the road, does a rookie have a chance to pace themselves versus huge fluctuations in driving hours. if there are fluctuations, your truck is your only place to sit at times. how restrictive are companies when your in a truck for more than 5 days?

Daniel, I'm not sure I'm understanding the question. Do you mean five days without having any work to do? Because I can assure you that is not going to happen. These companies make their money by moving freight and that is the same way a driver makes his money. You will be in constant communication with your dispatcher through the qualcomm and he will know when you are empty and ready for another load. He has failed miserably if you end up sitting a long time with nothing to do.

Some of this depends on the type of freight you are hauling. Refrigerated loads usually have tight delivery times, and JIT loads are "Just In Time" loads that are critical to be delivered at a certain time. Some receivers run a tight framework on their delivery schedules and others let it slide a little. Since I drive a flat-bed my delivery times are usually something like this: Deliver on May the fifth some time between 7 am and 3 pm. Therefore I can mange my time so that it works best for me. I always try to make an effort to get in there early because that way I can get on to another load quicker, and if you do that enough times in the week you will have managed to get an extra load on your paycheck than most other drivers will get. Don't look at the job as them (the company) managing you, but you managing your own time so that you are an asset to them. The way you become an asset is that you get more done than the next guy, and you do it safely and legally.

If you're doing this right you'll have precious little time that you are just sitting around in your truck wondering what to do with yourself. Most of the time that I'm not working I'm sleeping just enough to go hard at it the next day.

My fault - my question was more directed towards how companies manage OTR rookies - if one is willing and able to stay out on the road, does a rookie have a chance to pace themselves versus huge fluctuations in driving hours. if there are fluctuations, your truck is your only place to sit at times. how restrictive are companies when your in a truck for more than 5 days?

You'll never be stuck in your truck for 5 days without work. If your truck breaks down you get a hotel and thats pretty much the only time your truck wont be moving for an extended amount of time. Its really hard to tell what kind of hours youll be working each day. But remember you are the one who tells them when you are ready for the next load. You can always deliver and then take the rest of the day off and do another load the next morning. You don't always have to do a pickup 3 hours after a delivery.

So just keep in mind that you cant control just how busy your load will be but you also can help pace yourself by setting a reasonable PTA (Projected time of Availability).

There is no set schedule. One week you can get 3000 miles with you needing to drive at least 500 each day and the next week you could only do 1500 miles. Theres really no telling how many hours youll need to work at a certain day without looking at the load information.

I feel like I caused the confusion with this "running on recap hours". Its confusing stuff. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Theres a million other things that come first before that.

I'm a rookie...I've been out since July 18th, passed through home a few times, but have not stayed long...this is more by choice than being forced...I'm trying to pay bills that built up when I wasn't working, so I'm approaching three months out now, and will probably stay longer. I do get one day of hometime for each six days out when I choose to take it.

I generally end up taking a reset every 10-14 days, primarily because I run hard and just flat run out of time then end up chasing hours. It just is easier to take the 34h and then get back on the road. I'm usually ready to go after having taken the reset in Just Another Truck Stop.

Sometimes I can stretch the hours, but usually my loads are ASAP or faster, so I'm running 10-11 hours just to get to the delivery on time. I don't run reefer or food very much, so am not subject to the crazy waits to do live unloads. If I drop and hook , the faster I go the more loads I haul and the more money I make.

I did haul sugar from Montana to Chicago and then canned goods from Wisconsin to Mississippi the other day. Had a six hour wait for the load of canned goods and two hours to unload at the other end. I hate that.