Would You Have Stopped Sooner?

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

Started in Greenville AL. Earliest was 9:00 a.m. and that's when I left

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.

I dont understand this. You had an appt to.pick up from your company yard? Or you got to the customer yard at 0801 for a 0800 appt?

Either way, I would have been to that appt at least an hour early if not much sooner.

Then, you must understand that you do not have to drive X amount of time each day to do this. Every driver here will do it completely differently.

You didnt state when you left after loading. But lets say 1000. You could have driven from 1000 to 1500 (5 hours or 300 miles) then parked until 0100 which would give you 7 hours to drive 320 miles and give you hours to get out of the receiver. However, had you gotten to the yard early, you may have been loaded early and may have had more time.

Many drivers hate night driving but you avoid traffic which allows you to get more miles out of the way.

When you choose to shutdown, you must always make sure you will 1) get your hours back soon enough to make the appt 2) Make sure you dont start too early, or you 14 may be done by the time your appt is.

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

Well, I suppose...

Look, some may not agree with me but I see it this way:

One could argue that you should have done this or that, but what really matters is what you actually did. You made it to your destination in the legally alloted time frame. Thats a win in my book.

Trucking and trip planning will never be perfect. You'll always have unexpected obstacles thrown at you requiring you to adjust your plan on the fly. Sometimes we have to settle for a safety cushion, and sometimes we may take it to the edge. With experience you'll come to learn when to push it and when to park it.

I'm not advocating stretching your clock like that, but I'd be lying if I said I never took my clock down to a single minute left. I've been in the single digits countless times. Fortunately I have never technically violated, but I've been very very close. I've even reached the stop sign at the end of an off-ramp and had to go off duty right there, then roll the final quarter mile to the truck stop in off duty status. Likewise I've also parked an hour short of my destination when I felt it wasn't worth the risk of stretching my clock.

That's the fine line we sometimes walk out here. I'm always shooting for an advantage, but I have to play the cards I'm dealt. So does any other driver who wants to be top tier. Know when to hold em and know when to fold em.

The question that I have for the experienced drivers is a 620 mile trip in 24 hours, using one 14 hour clock, "easy," as he says? From my absolute ignorant perspective, its seems a very tight. In fact, the trip plan seemed to require almost everything to go absolute perfectly, and it almost did absolute perfectly. So Neek planned and executed a very difficult trip plan for his first load. To be honest, I'm pretty impressed that he did it.

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.

I dont understand this. You had an appt to.pick up from your company yard? Or you got to the customer yard at 0801 for a 0800 appt?

Either way, I would have been to that appt at least an hour early if not much sooner.

Then, you must understand that you do not have to drive X amount of time each day to do this. Every driver here will do it completely differently.

You didnt state when you left after loading. But lets say 1000. You could have driven from 1000 to 1500 (5 hours or 300 miles) then parked until 0100 which would give you 7 hours to drive 320 miles and give you hours to get out of the receiver. However, had you gotten to the yard early, you may have been loaded early and may have had more time.

Many drivers hate night driving but you avoid traffic which allows you to get more miles out of the way.

When you choose to shutdown, you must always make sure you will 1) get your hours back soon enough to make the appt 2) Make sure you dont start too early, or you 14 may be done by the time your appt is.

I had to wait until they opened at 8:00 to get the BOL. At least that's what I was told. Got out of there at 9:00. Was not my company yard.

Rob asked:

The question that I have for the experienced drivers is a 620 mile trip in 24 hours, using one 14 hour clock, "easy," as he says? From my absolute ignorant perspective, its seems a very tight. In fact, the trip plan seemed to require almost everything to go absolute perfectly, and it almost did absolute perfectly. So Neek planned and executed a very difficult trip plan for his first load. To be honest, I'm pretty impressed that he did it.

Yes...almost perfect. Which almost never happens.

When considering 2 primary factors here; it’s Neek’s first load and he had to drive either through or around Atlanta, 620 miles is a lot to cover in 11 hours and then legally shut down for the 10 hour rest break.

Until you have more experience, I suggest using 50mph as a conservative average speed when trip planning, especially when routed through or near urban centers known for congestion and high density traffic.

Good learning experience though. Impressive indeed, “well done” on a safe and successful first delivery.

The question that I have for the experienced drivers is a 620 mile trip in 24 hours, using one 14 hour clock, "easy," as he says? From my absolute ignorant perspective, its seems a very tight. In fact, the trip plan seemed to require almost everything to go absolute perfectly, and it almost did absolute perfectly. So Neek planned and executed a very difficult trip plan for his first load. To be honest, I'm pretty impressed that he did it.

First, the 14 clock is not drive time. it is the time you have to drive 11 hours. it accounts for non driving customer waits, fueling, and PTI as well as any breaks you take along the way.

Second, in 24hrs, you do not have one clock... you have 11 hours to drive, your 10 hour break plus 3 additional hours from a second drive clock.

11 + 10+3= 24. Yes you need to take a 30 min in there.

I can usually get 750 miles in 24 hrs using parts of 2 different drive clocks.

I may even have used an 8/2 here for a couple reasons

using an 8/2 i eliminate the 30 min break need.

also, i could avoid heavy traffic

example:

drive from 0900 to 1500

I would have gotten between 300 to 360 miles out of the way leaving me with roughly 260 to 320 miles left.

8 in the sleeper would have come back at 2300. This allows me to avoid the afternoon work traffic and drive at night to cover more miles.

At 2300, i then have 4 hours of drive time (Most likely 240 miles). At 0300 I shut down for 2 hours.

At 0500 I get back 7 hours of drive time (8/2 split now complete)

That leaves me 3 hours to get 60 to 120 miles.

So i would get to the customer between 0600 to 0700 for an 0800 appt.

It would also give me time to drive out of the customer because my extended 14.clock would now end at 1300

(add 14 hours to the end of the first break of 8 in sleeper and you get 1300)

In general, on one drive clock i usually plan for 500 to 525 miles.

hope i did t make your head spin

No this is great. My first thought regarding a 600 mile plus load was if I split it between two clocks, I don't have to try to get 600 miles in 11 hours.

Also:

At 0500 I get back 7 hours of drive time (8/2 split now complete)

Is that "recapping?"

No. It's an 8/2 split which can be very confusing.

I wrote an article Brett should be publishing soon that explains it. we have talked in circles about it in many threads, but i think my article simplifies it better than i have ever seen.

Time management in trucking is one of those skills that if someone does it properly, they can go far. If they dont understand it, they could very well get to the customers on time, but actually delay their availability hence limit their pay checks.

Most drivers dont get a handle of it for months, even a year which is why trying to learn before you get on a truck can be confusing. It is also.why we say to give trucking and your company a full year before giving up. Just when things start to click and get easier people are already giving up.

1). What Rainy said. 2). Get someone to explain how IFTA works to your company so they'll drop the idiotic prohibition against fueling in Georgia. The States charge tax by miles driven in them, not by where the fuel is purchased. The only States that do something a bit differently are Oregon, Alaska, and Hawaii.

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.