I Need Help - Not Getting Enough Miles

Brian using the term safe haven...

Consider this: we see a lot of posts about drivers who get into a safe haven with only minutes remaining on their clock. And as Packrat observed, that can cause intestinal problems. I would add ulcers to that. But if you can milk even ten minutes out of your clock, think how much that will lower your anxiety level at the end of the day.

Safe Haven Defined

Here is the FMCSA guidance. It’s not what you think it is. No worries...this comes up from time to time. About 2/3rds of the way down the page...it will become apparent.

That link showed me the regulations for transportation of explosives, G-Town.

That is what the safe haven rule is for. Transportation of explosives. Nothing more, nothing less.

Got it! I was reading one thing and thinking of “PC” for some reason. Must be the meds...?

Got it! I was reading one thing and thinking of “PC” for some reason. Must be the meds...?

You will hear the term "safe haven" used for just about any reason a driver and think of. But don't try to correct them, lol. I made that mistake once. I got a very nice lecture, about his 400 years of driving and a trillion safe miles, etc. I just smiled, and said OK. Have a great day. Which made him angrier, as I walked away.

Got it! I was reading one thing and thinking of “PC” for some reason. Must be the meds...?

You will hear the term "safe haven" used for just about any reason a driver and think of. But don't try to correct them, lol. I made that mistake once. I got a very nice lecture, about his 400 years of driving and a trillion safe miles, etc. I just smiled, and said OK. Have a great day. Which made him angrier, as I walked away.

One of those guys, huh? Wanna real seem one get POd? Next time ask if you can have his autograph! Works every single time.

Got it! I was reading one thing and thinking of “PC” for some reason. Must be the meds...?

You will hear the term "safe haven" used for just about any reason a driver and think of. But don't try to correct them, lol. I made that mistake once. I got a very nice lecture, about his 400 years of driving and a trillion safe miles, etc. I just smiled, and said OK. Have a great day. Which made him angrier, as I walked away.

One of those guys, huh? Wanna real seem one get POd? Next time ask if you can have his autograph! Works every single time.

PC is for any unforeseen circumstance like an accident, shipper delay, unexpected weather, etc. Not just shipper. Just has to be unexpected.

Not true, Grumpy. PC can only be used for reaching safe nearby parking after customer delays (shipper/rcvr), or for purely personal reasons.

Accidents, weather, or other unforeseen circumstances do not fall under the definition of personal conveyance. Try using PC for those and a LEO will cite you in a second.

In some circumstances you can use the "adverse conditions rule" which will grant you two additional hours of driving, but only if you haven't already exhausted your 14 hours, and only if you can prove it was truly unexpected. A traffic jam in Massachusetts can't really be considered unexpected in a lot of cases, nor can a snow event in May. Either would still need to be logged as on duty driving. There's some gray area there, sure when it comes to unexpected. Stretching your clock to the limit, only to have to use PC to get parked falls under poor trip planning, not unforeseen circumstances.

Not that I don't stretch my clock like that too, in fact I do it almost daily. But make sure you actually know the law when it comes to PC.

PC is for any unforeseen circumstance like an accident, shipper delay, unexpected weather, etc. Not just shipper. Just has to be unexpected.

Not true, Grumpy. PC can only be used for reaching safe nearby parking after customer delays (shipper/rcvr), or for purely personal reasons.

Accidents, weather, or other unforeseen circumstances do not fall under the definition of personal conveyance. Try using PC for those and a LEO will cite you in a second.

In some circumstances you can use the "adverse conditions rule" which will grant you two additional hours of driving, but only if you haven't already exhausted your 14 hours, and only if you can prove it was truly unexpected. A traffic jam in Massachusetts can't really be considered unexpected in a lot of cases, nor can a snow event in May. Either would still need to be logged as on duty driving. There's some gray area there, sure when it comes to unexpected. Stretching your clock to the limit, only to have to use PC to get parked falls under poor trip planning, not unforeseen circumstances.

Not that I don't stretch my clock like that too, in fact I do it almost daily. But make sure you actually know the law when it comes to PC.

Ok. I am probably just mixing up the two. I just remember it being discussed at the safety meeting

The ont time I have had to use it was when I broke down and they did have me use the drive line.

Neek, just a suggestion here, I would do like what Old School says reaching out to your dispatcher weekly. If it were me, I would keep a daily log of how much time you spend idle...or such and when you send him a message, focus your correspondence on the big things. What stands out the most...NUMBERS. If you can quantify it in numbers, that might get more attention.

Best of luck

Neek, just a suggestion here, I would do like what Old School says reaching out to your dispatcher weekly. If it were me, I would keep a daily log of how much time you spend idle...or such and when you send him a message, focus your correspondence on the big things. What stands out the most...NUMBERS. If you can quantify it in numbers, that might get more attention.

Best of luck

Thanks. I actually got quite a nice compliment from the ops manager today saying how awesome I am. It's good to know they are paying attention. So I'm just gonna assume they are getting some bugs worked out. I'll give em a chance for a while.