Would You Have Stopped Sooner?

Started my clock around 7:30 a.m. for 8:00 a.m. pickup Apt. Did my pretrip and rolled in the yard at 8:01. Secured the load and pre tripped the new trailer. Load going to Wilmington NC by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. 620 miles. Easy right? Got out of there around 9. I had planned to take my 30 and fuel at the pilot on I20 east of atl. While trying to fuel my card was declined because we are not supposed to fuel in GA due to high taxes. Was told this in orientation but didn't retain it for some reason. Needless to say that caused a delay but they let me get 50 gal to get out of GA. So by this time I'm trying to figure out if I can make it to my intended stop outside Wilmington with enough time to take a 10 and still make my appt. Well, I made it with literally 30 seconds on my clock and 10.5 hrs till my apt. I'm 20 minutes from the customer. As a matter of fact as soon as I pulled the brakes and took my seat belt off it chimed at me.everything worked out but I feel like there was a better way to do this so I'm not stressed for the last 4 hours constantly checking my clock. Any suggestions? This was my very first load solo and I'm stressed the heck out now lol.

I’m still learning clock management but I think 30 seconds is cutting it too close. But I’ll be real interested in what the experienced drivers tell you on this situation

That's too close for me, but it's a good teaching lesson for you. A lot of what you will learn OTR is only going to happen one way: by experience. Clock management is a big one, right up there with safety and backing. You're doing fine.

I may be the newest rookie on here, but a system I devised has been to pre-trip ahead of my departure and see where Pilot/Flying J's are for fuel + I've added rest stops along my route from Shipper to Consignee via my ipad mini 4 running Trucker Path app.

I see whereabouts I need to make my 1st and subsequent load checks, fuel stop, 30min break (try my best to combine all of these w/ at least 1 truck wash (per week per co policy).

I then make a multi-stop (if need be) route into my Rand McNally GPS, throw her in Drive, and go.

All this to say, IT SHOULD keep me close to my clock, but with having on-ramps (as a last resort), and rest/truck stops viewable on trucker path (I can see if they are full or not), I know that if I can't make the next stop, wherever that may be, that I have some options before that point.

Neek , if I understand you correctly you made a trip plan with a certain destination to stop at the end of the day. You were determined to get there so you ran that close to a HOS violation to make it. Trip plans are great but they are not etched in stone, unlike the DOT clock. Myself, I’ve come up short of my planned destination a number of times because of unexpected delays and had to pack it in while I still had time to find a parking spot before I got into trouble So yes, I think you should have stopped earlier, that much is obvious. I know it’s tempting to drive as far as possible but if we don’t give ourselves a HOS cushion, sooner or later it’ll come back and bite you where you sit down. Yeah, right in that tender area. 🤠

Neek , if I understand you correctly you made a trip plan with a certain destination to stop at the end of the day. You were determined to get there so you ran that close to a HOS violation to make it. Trip plans are great but they are not etched in stone, unlike the DOT clock. Myself, I’ve come up short of my planned destination a number of times because of unexpected delays and had to pack it in while I still had time to find a parking spot before I got into trouble So yes, I think you should have stopped earlier, that much is obvious. I know it’s tempting to drive as far as possible but if we don’t give ourselves a HOS cushion, sooner or later it’ll come back and bite you where you sit down. Yeah, right in that tender area. 🤠

Yes that's right. I was sort of determined to reached my planned destination. But I'm in a world spot because I couldn't really find parking on my phone within an hour or so of here.

I'm a little confused. You're going 620 miles on your trip. Did they give you enough time for a 10 hour break? If not then you just go with it, nothing you can do.

If there is time for a 10 hour break i would have tried to go through atl at around 1 or 2am. You lose so much time there. I would stop at a t/s before atl, and figured my clock out, split my break if i had to.

Cutting it that close is too stressful for me, but hey, I'm old. Lol.

My trainer really tried to impress upon me that trucking is a lot like the proverbial race between the turtle and the hare. I believed him because he has so much credibility and experience. Now that I’ve been on my own, even in my brief experience I can see the wisdom in what he taught me

Turtle, it might be the perfect time for you to weigh in on this! 🤠

Neek. Where did you start your day with this load? Also what was the earliest you could have left?

I almost never decide where I'm going to be stopping at unless it's going to be later in the evening. Since I like to night drive a lot, parking is almost never a problem since by the time I shut down most truckers are just getting up and I get really close spots to the door!

Now if driving during the day and my appointment allows it, sometimes I'll shutdown a bit early to avoid having trouble finding parking and during this time I'll decide usually within the last 2-4 hours of driving.