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

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.

Reset vs recaps are merely tools for handling your clock. Most of it comes down to freight. I prefer to set myself up for a good recap cycle. Using 8-9 hrs every day. However, freight determines what is needed. This week has been full out. I have used 10+ hours a day. I have ran my 14hr out 4 times. Unfortunately no reset for me. I have just over 7 hours left for today and tomorrow. I will get a recap Monday/Tuesday at midnight for Tuesday. I have 3 1/2 to 4 hours of time I will have to use today and another 1 to 1.5 Monday morning for my current load. I am going to see if I can get routed back to the Yard, after my delivery, with my few remaining hours I have left. Truck has scheduled maintenance do anyways. Might as well get something accomplished. I won't have the time to do anything productive anyways. I was hoping to set myself up for a reset, but I ran out of time yesterday. Pesky 14 hr clock. It gets chewed up quickly when doing short hauls. I did get 4 loads done yesterday.

Ray wrote:

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.

That depends...

Ray I drive for Swift as a Dedicated Walmart driver delivering perishable and non-perishable groceries to their stores throughout the NorthEast.

Many times a single reefer load will have up to six individual store stops within the dispatched route. Reefer loads are always live-unload, requiring on average 40-45 minutes per stop. This is clocked as on-duty not driving and can account for a major chunk of time each day. Although I am paid a flat fee per stop, for a same day 5 stop dispatch of 350 miles, most of the 14 hour clock is exhausted. In fact I prefer to work a minimum of 12 hours per day, otherwise I am leaving money on the table. Not unusual to have a short, second dispatched run if available time on the 14 permits. If I have 4+ hours left, I request a second run, maximizing earning potential.

Point being, depending on the type of job, clock management will vary. In my case at the end of a six day work week I want very little time remaining on the 70 hour clock...before taking the 34 hour reset.

Ray, as you can see, there are many answers to your question. It really varies from trip to trip and from driver to driver. I typically like to run my clock so I don't have to take a 34 he reset. This normally means 8-8.5 hrs of driving, 15-20 min for pretrip and about 10 mins for fueling if needed. If I am loading or unloading that changes. Today, for instance I drove the last 90 miles to deliver; then spent 5 hrs for unload. I have a load tomorrow morning about 180 miles away. I drove 150 of that, got the trailer washed out and parked. All by 1700. My appt tomorrow is 0800 so I will leave at 0545 to get there about an hour early. That's 12 hours off. Now, if I get loaded fast tomorrow, I hope to get in 5-7 hrs of driving. Again to be done by around 1700. I will start the next day at around 0600 since I won't be near any major cities and run til 1600-1700.

Every day is different, one of the nice things about this job.

As far as detention, after a certain # of hours waiting at a customer you get paid an hourly rate. That's after you appt time. I was an hour early this morning and waited 4 hrs after my appt time so I'll get 2 hrs detention.

All this should be clear as mud now...

I'm sitting in Laramie right now with 45 min. Left on my 70. I picked up in Delhi, LA late Monday afternoon. (5hrs on duty time) add it was late, I shut it down at the shipper. Had to runominate 10's / 11's to get to Washington for my delivery. Weekend dispatch then gives me a load from Utah to Buffalo, instead of something sorry and sweet. (Not complaining)

Some times you can run recaps, other times you can't.

I'm sitting in Laramie right now with 45 min. Left on my 70. I picked up in Delhi, LA late Monday afternoon. (5hrs on duty time) add it was late, I shut it down at the shipper. Had to runominate 10's / 11's to get to Washington for my delivery. Weekend dispatch then gives me a load from Utah to Buffalo, instead of something sorry and sweet. (Not complaining)

Some times you can run recaps, other times you can't.

Damn it !!! One of these days I'm gonna remember to proof read before hitting the submit button.

*as it was late *run 10's - 11's *short and sweet