Man, I Am Terrible At This :(

We don't send email macros, or at least I never have. We get the dispatch with the delivery time already on it. It's up to us to make it there.on time.

You dont have a way to send a freeform message? All they need is an accurate ETA. It's not complaining if you can't do it or you think that you might not make it. Just give them accurate information and let them decide what to do with it. The reason I'm saying all this is that, if you can't make the load but you run it anyway and don't communicate until the last minute that there's a problem, YOU could be blamed for the late delivery. It sounds like you have a really nice dm who doesn't let that happen, but it still covers your butt to let dispatch know upfront if you don't think you can make it.

If you communicate early on, you also help dispatch/planning avoid problems. Now they have more time to reschedule delivery, plan a repower, or find a team to run the load.

We don't send email macros, or at least I never have. We get the dispatch with the delivery time already on it. It's up to us to make it there.on time.

It's the holiday season. A LOT that Christmas stuff, bought either online or in stores, goes over the road in trucks. Expect some tight loads this time of year. At least that's what I was advised by a DM today.

I was running well ahead of my current load, then they had me start a 10 hour break for a repower tonight (FedEx load), then took away the repower when I was asleep. I can still be on time for my delivery because I was running ahead of it, but my preplan they gave me was impossible for me to get to in the scheduled time.

So I called and said. Can't make it by scheduled time to shipper , load #(whatever). They told me that a little lateness is expected over the holidays. Ten minutes later, my Qualcomm beeped with the preplan rescheduled to a time I can meet.

We don't send email macros, or at least I never have. We get the dispatch with the delivery time already on it. It's up to us to make it there.on time.

You dont have a way to send a freeform message? All they need is an accurate ETA. It's not complaining if you can't do it or you think that you might not make it. Just give them accurate information and let them decide what to do with it. The reason I'm saying all this is that, if you can't make the load but you run it anyway and don't communicate until the last minute that there's a problem, YOU could be blamed for the late delivery. It sounds like you have a really nice dm who doesn't let that happen, but it still covers your butt to let dispatch know upfront if you don't think you can make it.

If you communicate early on, you also help dispatch/planning avoid problems. Now they have more time to reschedule delivery, plan a repower, or find a team to run the load.

Yes, we have a way to send free forms and other macros. What I meant was, we get our dispatch and it has the appt time on it. If we are going to be late, I just call my dm.

Now, there is a twist to this story. I arrived 4 hours early.....

Dm rescheduled the load to be delivered at 10am. My downtime didn't end until about 1pm on the 30th. I still had 680 miles to my destination. That's more than a full days driving, factor in Pre trip time and 30 minute rest break, I was still going to be about an hour late. Add to that, I was going to have to shut down about 50 miles shy of my destination, so that would have been another hour.

Well, going into lubbock, there is a truck stop about 22 miles out, and another about 120 miles out. This is on us60/84.

Had I stopped at the truck stop 120 miles out, I'd have been 2 hours out. Knowing that I was not going to make the 10am appt either, I just decided to run it all the way. Stopping at the truck stop about 22 miles out meant I had to run over my 11 hour clock by 18 minutes, then I switched to pc for the remaining 22 miles.

Now, I don't know if you call that "getting it done" or just stupidity, but I didn't want to have to call my dm in the morning and tell him I was late for my rescheduled appt also. I did call night dispatch and told them what I was thinking and they told me that as long as I don't make a habit of going over my hours, they won't say anything.

Now, I don't advocate running illegal, but in this case, I felt that I really needed to, to make sure this load arrived on time.

Sometimes you have to get creative to get the job done. Brett would be proud.

Yes, we have a way to send free forms and other macros. What I meant was, we get our dispatch and it has the appt time on it. If we are going to be late, I just call my dm.

Oh ok I see.

Now, I don't advocate running illegal, but in this case, I felt that I really needed to, to make sure this load arrived on time.

Kudos for being creative man. I've definitely had my share of "creative ideas" to get loads delivered on time when I didn't have the hours.

Everyone has different ideas about this, but I personally just don't think it's worth it to cheat for a load. I used to, but my opinion changed as I gained more experience. I'm no gnarly old weathered trucker, but I've experienced enough I just don't think it's worth it. I got tired of looking over my shoulder hoping I didn't get pulled into a weigh station to get my logs inspected. I also found I drive much more safely when I'm not in a hurry.

I had my backing accident when I was tired and in a hurry. My logs were actually legal in that case, but I was exhausted because I'd been up half the night at the shipper who didn't have my load ready when they were supposed to. I could have sent a macro saying I might be late because of the shipper, but instead I just ran with it knowing it was going to be super tight. I wanted to be the guy who got things done, but I really just backed myself into a corner (no pun intended) and didn't give myself an out when I really was too tired to be driving. That wasn't really a log issue, but same idea--if there's a problem, just communicate an accurate ETA and let your boss do his/her job.

Another thing to consider. What if you had gotten in an accident on your way to the receiver while you were logged PC and 18 minutes over on your logs already? We both know an hour probably doesn't make that much difference in reality, but legally? Would you have been labeled at fault? Being over on your logs certainly wouldn't have helped your case. And no one wants a log citation--not these days with CSA. It only takes one time.

I think you probably could have avoided the whole situation by just giving your dm an accurate ETA up front. If you'd told him 1500 (over the Qualcomm), he wouldn't have rescheduled it for 1000, and if he did that's not on you.

I run legal and I don't have a problem getting as many miles as I want. If OTR doesn't have the miles, I can switch to any dedicated fleet I want to (all within my company). But if I get a few citations or an accident or two, other fleets might not be willing to take me. I'd rather my dm get PO'd at me than get a citation, but that's never happened anyway.

Sorry for the long reply. You did say you don't advocate running illegal. Just sharing my two cents.

If you were on the QC the nite didpatcher would not have said that. Cause its on record. And you're messing with your license.

Nancy he clearly stated that he "called" dispatch and told them why he did what he did.

Right, anyone can say anything over the phone.

I'm sorry. I'm just trying to make it clear to the new people coming up that going over your clock limits and getting instructions over the phone is bad. I don't even have my cdl yet. Shouldn't even be commenting. But when my husband got called into Safety, they wanted names. Being new they give some leeway, but you have to have good reasons for it too. Documented. I don't know what I would have done out there. And it sounds like it will happen. So that's why I read these threads with such interest.

Nancy, you are right in insisting things get documented on the QC messages system. It's way better than the I said/ dispatcher said system.