How Much "You" Time Do You Have At The End Of The Day?

As the title says, How much personal time do you have remaining before you absolutely have to get to sleep before the next 10 hour drive starts?

I already know that you typically will be driving 10 hours a day, But that leaves the question as to what that final 4 hours is used for. What am I missing in trucking that takes 4 hours every day not driving to complete? I don't even think these four hours are paid as I have always been told "You only make money when the wheels are turning. Stay away from Refers. (Too bad on that, I'm going to be working for Stevens Transport.). If this is the case, and I am breaking my back while not being paid, I think I'll probably stick with it long enough to get myself out of debt and then get out of it. I am the kinda person who is motivated by money.

For those who say eating, dropping the deuce, showering. I can do all of those things in 30 minutes if I had to do them right after the other. For those wondering, Yes, I can take a complete and thorough shower in 5 minutes. All my life, I have had around a 20-gallon water heater. You get 8 minutes of hot water tops. If you don't finish in that 8 minutes, You get the cold water.

Regarding Pre-Trip times? I was told if you spend more than 20 minutes doing it, Your dispatcher is going to be yelling at you through qualcomm.

Leisure time varies from day to day, trip to trip. Some trips have more extra time between pickup and delivery than others. Some trips may only require driving 8hr per day, others you will be nearly maxing your 11hr driving clock each day. The extra 3 hrs available during the 14hr day are sometimes used at shipper/receiver, pre/post trip, breaks or emergency maintenance such as blown tire if needed. Most of this time is not paid unless you are receiving detention pay while waiting to be loaded/unloaded. You don't always use your full clock, I rarely do to be honest, most days I only use 9-11 hours of it. If you can park for your entire 10hr break at shipper/receiver it can help cut down on your used hours and help you run a more efficient clock than counterparts that believe they must always be at a truck stop for breaks, it's plain silliness to me, however not all customers allow "overnight " parking.

Well Ray not all your time will be used on any given day. Some days you'll be driving 8 and the next you may drive your 11. As far as using the whole 14, it happens occasionally but it's not typical.

A key for success in this industry for drivers is to maximize your daily clock so you can utilize it through the 8 day 70. If you drive hard and run 11 hr days you'll find yourself out of hours very quickly and sitting for 34hr resets on a regular basis. This will not only prove unprofitable in some cases it will probably cause your dispatcher acid reflux every time he has to repower your load to another driver.

I am constantly adjusting the hours I drive to maximize my time and profitability during the week. I have plenty of time to shower do laundry and catch some TV.

I often split up the day by taking two hours either to nap or shower and eat..so I drive four to five hours then break...then drive the rest. But it is within my 14 clock. Also remember truck and trailer washouts in this time.

BTW....just because YOU can shower quickly doesn't mean the showers are available. Some truck stops have fewer showers and wait times for a shower can be ridiculous. So going to a petro or ta can be better than a small pilot for that.

The way you make.money is to learn to manage your clock to get more loads. I run reefer and am quite happy. I get paid detention if the customer takes more than two hours...and I sleep or watch movies. I use that as my break then roll out. If I want to take longer than a 10hour break it is never a big deal cause I trip plan to always be so early that I have time.

Love this job

I often split up the day by taking two hours either to nap or shower and eat..so I drive four to five hours then break...then drive the rest. But it is within my 14 clock. Also remember truck and trailer washouts in this time.

BTW....just because YOU can shower quickly doesn't mean the showers are available. Some truck stops have fewer showers and wait times for a shower can be ridiculous. So going to a petro or ta can be better than a small pilot for that.

The way you make.money is to learn to manage your clock to get more loads. I run reefer and am quite happy. I get paid detention if the customer takes more than two hours...and I sleep or watch movies. I use that as my break then roll out. If I want to take longer than a 10hour break it is never a big deal cause I trip plan to always be so early that I have time.

Love this job

I had heard that sometimes you do have to wait on a shower. I am fine with this. So it sounds like it really will come down to trip planning for how long I'll be driving day to day then. Generally, How is detention pay calculated?

Well Ray not all your time will be used on any given day. Some days you'll be driving 8 and the next you may drive your 11. As far as using the whole 14, it happens occasionally but it's not typical.

A key for success in this industry for drivers is to maximize your daily clock so you can utilize it through the 8 day 70. If you drive hard and run 11 hr days you'll find yourself out of hours very quickly and sitting for 34hr resets on a regular basis. This will not only prove unprofitable in some cases it will probably cause your dispatcher acid reflux every time he has to repower your load to another driver.

I am constantly adjusting the hours I drive to maximize my time and profitability during the week. I have plenty of time to shower do laundry and catch some TV.

I see.. So I need to make sure I don't hit my 34 hour reset during a load that has a set time to arrive. So it sounds better to stretch your days out so you don't hit that 34 then.

Leisure time varies from day to day, trip to trip. Some trips have more extra time between pickup and delivery than others. Some trips may only require driving 8hr per day, others you will be nearly maxing your 11hr driving clock each day. The extra 3 hrs available during the 14hr day are sometimes used at shipper/receiver, pre/post trip, breaks or emergency maintenance such as blown tire if needed. Most of this time is not paid unless you are receiving detention pay while waiting to be loaded/unloaded. You don't always use your full clock, I rarely do to be honest, most days I only use 9-11 hours of it. If you can park for your entire 10hr break at shipper/receiver it can help cut down on your used hours and help you run a more efficient clock than counterparts that believe they must always be at a truck stop for breaks, it's plain silliness to me, however not all customers allow "overnight " parking.

So if I am waiting to be unloaded at dock, That counts toward my 10 hours? Why am I waiting for them to unload it? Is there just not enough space or something, lack of manpower?

Ray regarding my answer to you as an instructor is take as long as you need to ensure the safety of your equipment. When training a student I scheduled at least a hour hour out of the day for pretrips. I also took 15 minutes for post trips as well.

The most overlooked item on post trips is checking for leaks. As fluids heat up they thin and get hot. The best time to find them is on the post trip.

Most drivers can do an adaquate pre trip in 15 to 20 minutes

Half an hour

So if I am waiting to be unloaded at dock, That counts toward my 10 hours? Why am I waiting for them to unload it? Is there just not enough space or something, lack of manpower?

Your ten hours has to be uninterrupted. Space is a premium at most shippers. So, even though you are stopped, the ten hours does not work if you are forced to leave the shipper/receiver.