Reset Or Recap?

What’s your preference and why? Going into my second week solo, I’m trying to figure it out. Theoretically it sounded like if you can average around 8.5-9 hours a day you can go on forever. With the way My loads are being scheduled, my hours are all over the board. I have days I’ll be getting back 4-5 hours and days I’ll be getting back 10-12.

I personally do a reset every week, I love to run long days about 500-600 miles a day, park for a reset to catch up on sleep, do laundry, restock food supplies, clean my truck, etc.

From spring thru fall, I do recaps on the road so I can see the sites or visit friends and family if I'm near by.

Winter, I run recap hours and do my reset at home. My mini Rat Terrier doesn't like winter on the road....tho at home he likes to go outside and bask in the cold weather.

Laura

Opinions will be on both sides of the aisle here. The truth is both options will need to be employed from time to time. As you are finding out, on duty hours can vary greatly from day to day. Your load and appointment time will usually dictate whether you recap or reset.

Personally, I've always followed the practice of getting as much done as possible when I can. That means I'll run hard every day, taking advantage of any opportunity to keep rolling, never knowing when the unexpected delay will slow me down. This meant that I usually reset every week or so. I preferred it that way. As Jamie mentioned, it's nice to have a break to relax, wash clothes, take a walk, etc. The reset method always worked very well for me, allowing me to deliver early countless times. Even on loads that couldn't be delivered early, I'd still push myself hard to get there ASAP. If I can get there early enough to squeeze in a 34, I'm a happy man. That allows me to start off with a fresh 70, and there's nothing like a fresh 70 that says "Give me that long load, I'll have the hours to get it there."

Others prefer to run shorter days and recap hours back, basically running 7 days a week. The problem I always saw with that is it limits your daily miles. Then when the unexpected delay occurs, you've now limited your weekly miles, due to not maxing out each day.

Strictly mathematically speaking, the reset method is more efficient and productive in increasing your miles when all things are equal and perfect. In reality, it's a crapshoot. The best laid plans can go to waste with one appointment change or delay. Just do the best you can every day, find your rhythm, and see what works for you.

I run my whole clock just about every day. Roehl usually routes me near a terminal on Saturday for a reset. When I parked in Gary last night after delivering in Chicago I had about 20 minutes left on my 70. It is nice to have Sunday to do laundry and relax before busting my butt for another 6 days.

I don't have a preference either way. I'll run on recaps when it makes sense to do it. It's rare for me to run on recaps but it's happened a few times. If I have a few days where I got held up for something like a break down or a holiday of something like that then I might run on recaps to keep up my revenue. I wanted to run on recaps this week but pretty much had to reset or the recaps would of slowed me down and cost me revenue. So what I'm going to do is leave at about 1am tonight after a reset and get to dc. Get empty by 6:30am and then do a drop and hook and run to Pittsburgh. Get empty and then take a ten starting at around 2pm.. Now ill be on a night owel schedule pretty much all week. If I could of run on recaps this week I would of just to stay off this schedule but I wasn't going to recap enough to get back to Pittsburgh Monday. For me It's a juggling act that revolves around revenue and home time. Wild bill your going to make one hell of a truck driver. What you did to get that load off Saturday was awesome. If every driver ran that hard and used their head as much nobody would be complaining about making money in trucking.

Some interesting thoughts so far. Thanks for the insight. I need to wrap my head Around the options. It’s interesting that many mentioned wanting to run hard and that’s what I want to do. The problem for me is that I can’t stand the thought of taking a day and a half off when I feel like I should be working. If I’m not home I want to be moving. I can see the advantages of a day to clean the truck, do laundry, stock the fridge etc. taking the time off just feels like two steps back for a step forward ( to my inexperienced mind)

Thanks for the kind words Rubber Duck. Getting off that load a day early got me an extra two loads today for a total of 360 miles. I’m at my last consignee now for a 6:00 am appointment tomorrow. That leaves me all day tomorrow to get more miles in. Beats the heck out of babysitting a load for a day.

From spring thru fall, I do recaps on the road so I can see the sites or visit friends and family if I'm near by.

Didn't proofread and there's no edit :-(

From spring thru fall, I do resets on the road.....

Laura

WildBill feels guilty about sitting:

The problem for me is that I can’t stand the thought of taking a day and a half off when I feel like I should be working.

Believe it or not, you actually sit more on recaps when you add up the hours. Some time ago, I wrote something that explains in detail the differences between the two methods. I'll dig that up in a little while when I have more time.

Believe it or not, you actually sit more on recaps when you add up the hours. Some time ago, I wrote something that explains in detail the differences between the two methods. I'll dig that up in a little while when I have more time.

I would be very interested in reading more on this. From my textbook understanding of HOS , the most time driving per week would be achieved by doing only split sleeper berth and taking 34 hour resets. (This eliminates the 30 minute break requirement as the break is subsumed by the 2 hour break in the split sleeper provision.) Of course, each real-life driving situation will dictate how a driver should manage his hours, but in a laboratory setting under perfect conditions, this would be the way.