Change To FMCSA Allows Personal Conveyance To Find Parking? Anyone Have More Info?

Grumpy effective Trip Planning will all but eliminate the need to fall back on this. It should be the exception, not the rule.

Grumpy effective Trip Planning will all but eliminate the need to fall back on this. It should be the exception, not the rule.

Understood. I'm not arguing, but trying to learn.

The rule is specifically for being held at a shipper for loading/unloading, and not being able to sleep on premises, from what I understand. So the rule itself is designed for that exceptional situation. So assuming your trip planning was perfect, but the shipper kept you there for hours longer than expected, but not enough to use the sleeper berth to get driving time back.

If your company won't let you use this exception, what are your alternatives?

Grumpy continues:

If your company won't let you use this exception, what are your alternatives?

Again the answer is: Plan Accordingly.

Meaning try to take your10 hour break parked as close to the shipper-receiver as possible so that you arrive with almost a full drive clock, with hours needed to for departure and a subsequent 10 hr break.

I wasn’t arguing with you, trying to point out that most of the top performing drivers on this forum won’t change anything they are doing based on this new ruling.

Keep a book of every shipper-receiver with notes on their procedures, tendencies and if they will allow you to break on their premises.

I suggest searching on the words “clock management” and I am confident you’ll find numerous examples how the clock-masters in this forum (like Old School, Rainy and Turtle) rarely need a parachute like this.

Grumpy continues:

If your company won't let you use this exception, what are your alternatives?

Again the answer is: Plan Accordingly.

Meaning try to take your10 hour break parked as close to the shipper-receiver as possible so that you arrive with almost a full drive clock, with hours needed to for departure and a subsequent 10 hr break.

I wasn’t arguing with you, trying to point out that most of the top performing drivers on this forum won’t change anything they are doing based on this new ruling.

Keep a book of every shipper-receiver with notes on their procedures, tendencies and if they will allow you to break on their premises.

I suggest searching on the words “clock management” and I am confident you’ll find numerous examples how the clock-masters in this forum (like Old School, Rainy and Turtle) rarely need a parachute like this.

I know you weren't arguing, I just wanted to be clear I was not either. I hope to learn as much as possible before I ever start school. And since I have a group of experts here, what better place to bounce ideas?

I have read a lot of posts on time management here, and you are correct, it is key. But for the new guy starting out, we are undoubtably going to run into this. I believe it was Daniel B who mentioned driving at a crawl to find somewhere to sleep because he was held up at a shipper. I'm not sure if this was before this rule, or his company wouldn't let him use it, I was just wondering what alternative, if any, existed.

I know you are trying to be like a sponge, absorbing everything possible before school.

However advanced trip-planning is something that you will learn over time, on the job and not something required before you begin school. Not trying to tell you what to do, but my sincere advice is to take this one step at a time and focus on preparing for school using these familiar tools:

High Road CDL Training Program

• Pre-Trip Inspection Study Guide
• Daniel's Pre-Trip Inspection
• Pre-Trip Inspection Checklist
• Pre-Trip Inspection Practice Questions

I know you are trying to be like a sponge, absorbing everything possible before school.

However advanced trip-planning is something that you will learn over time, on the job and not something required before you begin school. Not trying to tell you what to do, but my sincere advice is to take this one step at a time and focus on preparing for school using these familiar tools:

High Road CDL Training Program

• Pre-Trip Inspection Study Guide
• Daniel's Pre-Trip Inspection
• Pre-Trip Inspection Checklist
• Pre-Trip Inspection Practice Questions

I have read all those, and will likely read them again by the time I start school. I am an avid reader, I read constantly. I have been reading every day on the site for at least 4 hours. I have gone through the High Road training except the Job Duties sections, and I have started those. I suddenly got busy with work, or I would have finished those. I will probably go through that again before I get my permit and go to school.

I have had a few careers in my life, and study everything I can about them, which is why I have been successful in all of them. There is no such thing as too much knowledge. I am smart enough to know that I know nothing about trucking yet, which is why I am sucking up all the knowledge I can, while I can.

This is one of those details you can't really establish just yet. When you get hired this can be covered during orientation and training. Every company is going to handle this differently, and then on top of that you may have drivers within the company that handle it differently.

One of the funny things about trucking is that well established drivers with great reputations will have much more flexibility in what the company allows, whereas new rookies will get called in to safety if they violate a policy. For now, and for your first year just concentrate on safety, efficiency, and good communication. If a situation like this arises you will find help and support from your driver manager who will be expecting you to contact him with concerns of this nature.

This is not the kind of thing you need to have figured out and settled in your mind yet.

This is one of those details you can't really establish just yet. When you get hired this can be covered during orientation and training. Every company is going to handle this differently, and then on top of that you may have drivers within the company that handle it differently.

One of the funny things about trucking is that well established drivers with great reputations will have much more flexibility in what the company allows, whereas new rookies will get called in to safety if they violate a policy. For now, and for your first year just concentrate on safety, efficiency, and good communication. If a situation like this arises you will find help and support from your driver manager who will be expecting you to contact him with concerns of this nature.

This is not the kind of thing you need to have figured out and settled in your mind yet.

Good answer, and I agree, not a decision I would make on my own. Just wondering if it was worth suggesting, and what alternatives there were.

Thanks.

I might be forced to use PC, today. Halfway through my 34, at my home terminal , I was asked to rescue a load and run my recaps. I pulled into the receiver with 1h7m minutes left on my 70. My company allows up to 2hrs PC per day, if needed. I have used it a few different times. Once, I was given approval to PC home 134 miles, for my hometime.

Proper planning is great, and will eliminate the need for PC 98% of the time, but sometimes, Mr Murphy decides to intervene.

This also does not mean that you can just drive to your favorite TA, or Flying Pilot. You drive to the CLOSEST SAFE & LEGAL spot. Advancing the load, in some ways could be a gray area, since the closest spot may be in that direction.

I might be forced to use PC, today. Halfway through my 34, at my home terminal , I was asked to rescue a load and run my recaps. I pulled into the receiver with 1h7m minutes left on my 70. My company allows up to 2hrs PC per day, if needed. I have used it a few different times. Once, I was given approval to PC home 134 miles, for my hometime.

Proper planning is great, and will eliminate the need for PC 98% of the time, but sometimes, Mr Murphy decides to intervene.

This also does not mean that you can just drive to your favorite TA, or Flying Pilot. You drive to the CLOSEST SAFE & LEGAL spot. Advancing the load, in some ways could be a gray area, since the closest spot may be in that direction.

As long as you stop in the closest safe location, they appear to be giving you a pass, if I read this correctly. Since they allow you to use it laden, I would assume moving in the direction of your destination would be OK as well.

"FMCSA Response The movement from a shipper or receiver to the nearest safe resting area may be identified as personal conveyance, regardless of whether the driver exhausted his or her HOS , as long as the CMV is being moved solely to enable the driver to obtain the required rest at a safe location. The Agency recognizes that the driver may not be aware of the direction of the next dispatch and that in some instances the nearest safe resting location may be in the direction of that dispatch. If the driver proceeds to the nearest reasonable and safe location and takes the required rest, this would qualify as personal conveyance. FMCSA recommends that the driver annotate on the log if he/she cannot park at the nearest location and must proceed to another location. "