Managing 70 Hr Clock

What's best, managing the 70 hr clock where you can run off good recaps or go ahead and eat the 34 hours.. I sometimes argue the point with dispatchers. Hate sitting around for 34 hours,,, , Thoughts welcomed....

Objective? If I'm out for a grind, I like to work off recaps.

But, if I'm getting on the messy end of having too many short recaps, I'll try for a near home run. Do the recap, get some home time and still claim as under dispatch on taxes.

I don't believe I'd be claiming I was out when I was home for purposes of taxes when your logs will clearly say where you are. That would get you in trouble if you're audited..

I hate sitting for resets too, but I find if I just burn through my 70 by running my full clock everyday then resetting that I tend to get more miles and I'm not having to worry about having enough hours to complete a run.

In theory if you run just under 9 hours a day you'll never run out of hours and can just run on recaps, but then some days, out of necessity I may run more or rarely less hours than that. I always just try to get a reset in, but sometimes due to load requirements a reset isn't happening.

I hated running off of recaps. I enjoy a fresh clock and driving 3,300-3,600 miles with it then taking a 34. If you take a 34 once a week it will be like getting a day off every week. In my opinion, trucking demands enough from you, I very much enjoyed my day off. I was always on top for miles in my fleet so I think its just as effective.

What's best, managing the 70 hr clock where you can run off good recaps or go ahead and eat the 34 hours.. I sometimes argue the point with dispatchers. Hate sitting around for 34 hours,,, , Thoughts welcomed....

Depends on how your recap hours are falling. If you have a run that allows for you to run recap and make the run, then run recap.

Example, I had a run that took me to LA last summer, when I got there I had 3.5 hours left on my 70, was only picking up 3 or 4 hours each the next couple of days (hated the way things fell, but that's trucking). But as it turned out, I was close to some very dear friends of mine I hadn't seen in years, so I took a 34 in Ontario CA. Turns out that was a very good move on my part because I got a really nice run going to Denver CO.

So it all boils down to how your clock is, recaps coming back and the run you are dispatched on as to how you play it.

Just my .02 worth on this.

Ernie

It all depends on what your loads dictate. I often get placed on multi-day loads that allow me to run hard and deliver early. Doing so typically burns up my 70 every week, giving me a reset. I prefer it that way, getting to knock out 3500ish miles per week with a day off to relax.

If running hard serves no benefit on a load, I'll just divide the travel time over the amount of days it takes to get there and take it a little easier, but that's pretty rare for me.

I've always been hardwired to get as much done as possible, when possible. You never know when something is going to slow you down, so I get those miles when I can.

Personally, I prefer to run my clocks short as much as I can every day and, come the end of that 6th day (usually a Saturday), I'll be low enough on my 70 to warrant a 34h reset. That way, instead of waiting until Tuesday to get recap back, I'll have my full 70 back on Monday. Plus having a day off after a good long week of driving is a great way to prevent burnout.

By actually doing some math, I figured that you can potentially make around the same average per week if you run 8h a day running off of recap or running your clock dry and doing a 34. In the end, it's all a matter of preference and the loads you're given.

It's funny this was asked recently because I just did a 1900 mile run and had to use recap hrs to get it done. I think I started with about 22hrs and what hurt was only getting 2.5 on the second day out. I was good after that but those short hour days are a killer on churning out miles and trip planning. It felt like I spend as much time calculating my potential stops, hours and time zones as I did driving. In the end it was pretty stressful due to the one day of only getting back a couple of hours. I pull a reefer so doing 34''s is pretty normal for me especially when you're waiting for a meat shipper to fill a trailer or get export paperwork done. It is nice as was said having a fresh 70 but I have to say when I can do a couple of long runs back to back and do it recouping hours it feels like I've really done something. Probably just a new guys perspective but it does feel kinda cool to run for 2 or 3 weeks non stop once in a while.

I've seen this thread hanging around a bit and a bit more...and a bit more...so I'll offer my two cents,... my "Dedicated" reality.

In some cases, it all depends on the job. Yes there are some accounts, like running Walmart Dedicated or Target Dedicated, where running out the 70 over a 6 day work week is much preferred over recaps. The reason; specifically for Walmart, most runs require more than 8 hours to complete (could be 5 hours of drive-time, 3 hours of live unloading). Besides it's difficult enough to plan an average of 125 daily loads with 100 drivers, than compounding the complexity with numerous drivers limping along on recaps. The planners want the option of having a full 14 hours of on-duty time to work with for most of their drivers.

So the daily goal is to maximize the 14 hour on-duty clock and still make it back to the DC for the 10 hour break. The best runs for achieving this result are single 4-5 stop routes of 350-400 miles or two shorter mileage routes of 2-3 stops each. By the time the 6th day rolls around, it's optimal to have less than 8 hours available on the 70 hour on-duty clock... allowing the option of taking the 34 that day, or getting a 4-6 hour, fairly local run to finish out the week and come as close to the 70, without blowing it up.

Very different than the conventional OTR paradigm.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with this issue of burning the 70 in 5-6 days and sitting for 34 or running 9 or so hours per day and having good recaps coming back, to keep rolling. I don't like to sit still for 34 (other than doing laundry, reading, haircut, grocery shopping, etc.). Uber seems to be a good alternative if you want to take in a ballgame or a movie while near a city and need a ride somewhere.

One thing that has been real helpful to all involved, is checking with dispatch for local runs in an area where we don't have a terminal with day cab drivers. Sometimes relocating a local empty to a shipper or sitting for a live-load and then dropping it at one of our terminals for someone else to relay is a good way to use up any remaining hours you have on your 70 before taking a 34. Puts $60 in my pocket (minimum trip pay) and usually only takes a few hours.

I live in Atlanta so finding incoming freight from anywhere in the country to get me home for reset is easy. Just plan ahead and let my freight manager know ahead of time that I'm gonna need a reset, and they get me loads that route me home.