Question In Regards To The 8/70 Clock

After doing some research on the web I discovered you get back all on duty time (driving, not driving) for back time. For example you drive 4 hours to customer and spend 2 hours loading/unloading in on duty during day 1 on day 9 you get 6 hours back. When I mentioned this to my old trainer he said not to use on duty but instead stay in off duty. His words, when you use on duty you will notice towards the end of the week you have less hours to drive. Online I was not able to find any information to confirm this. Obviously if I had more driving to do on day 1 I can place myself in off duty for 30 min and use that as my 30 min break. When sitting at a customer site is it better to use off duty instead of on and is there any truth to what i was told? Going on the assumption I still have time on my 70 come day 9. Thanks.

We refer to the hours you get back as recaps. I save my clock for driving. At the end of week when you start recaps you will get it back if spent on duty at customer or driving. If you are pulling refer and you have 6 to 8 hour load and unload times, you may want to master the 8/2 split. Here is a link to my thread, Recaps explained in pictures. I hope that helps.

When sitting at a customer site is it better to use off duty instead of on and is there any truth to what i was told? Going on the assumption I still have time on my 70 come day 9. Thanks.

Yes, if you set yourself off duty it will stop your 70 hour clock, which you normally want to do whenever possible. You probably do want to show some on duty time for pre trip, fueling, and doing what you have to do after you arrive and before you leave a shipper/receiver, so don't go overboard.

...Of course sleeper berth also works that way, so by "off duty" i meant either off duty or sleeper berth.

Thanks for all the replies. Big Scott will check out the link. Thanks.

We refer to the hours you get back as recaps. I save my clock for driving. At the end of week when you start recaps you will get it back if spent on duty at customer or driving. If you are pulling refer and you have 6 to 8 hour load and unload times, you may want to master the 8/2 split. Here is a link to my thread, Recaps explained in pictures. I hope that helps.

We've got a great section on understanding the log book rules in our High Road CDL Training Program. You should apply yourself to the study of that section. I attribute much of my success to that very section of that excellent training material.

You definitely want to save all the on duty hours you can, otherwise you'll never make it to day 9 to recap those hours. It won't take you long to figure out that on duty hours are precious. Save them for driving wherever possible, that's where you make your money.

Thanks for all the replies. Big Scott will check out the link. Thanks.

We refer to the hours you get back as recaps. I save my clock for driving. At the end of week when you start recaps you will get it back if spent on duty at customer or driving. If you are pulling refer and you have 6 to 8 hour load and unload times, you may want to master the 8/2 split. Here is a link to my thread, Recaps explained in pictures. I hope that helps.

The link should be required reading for all newbie drivers........especially if you are going to be pulling reefers.

My ex-teammate, Chris, has made me send copies of my pay settlements for the last 6 weeks to him, simply because he would not believe that, except for the first week, when I only ran 3700+, I have run in excess of 4000 miles each week since we parted company! He claims it is not possible.....Being an expert with 8 months driving experience, he would know...of course!! LOL

I love reefer work because it fits hand in glove with 8/2 splits... I can't remember off the top of my head when I last shut down for a full 10 hours. I use 8/2's constantly to keep moving and I also nap as much as possible when on the door at receivers and shippers.

It's not always easy and the erratic sleep schedule is not for everyone, but if you really like to keep moving....master it; it pays dividends if done right.

As a side note; For the month of July, running solo, I ran only 1100 miles less than Chris and his new teammate ran total! As a consequence, my pay was about 60% higher than either of them achieved.

As bad as it may sound, sometimes it feels so damn good to be able to say, "I told ya so!"

😜🤣😜