Whats A Reasonable Expectation For Weekly Miles And What Am I Capable Of?

When I sit at a shipper for 4 hours waiting to get loaded, I have at least three choices: on-duty picking up, off-duty break, off-duty sleeper, but regardless of what I select, I will still be 4 hrs of my 14 short after that, no?

From my understanding of the HOS rules… Yes, you will still lose those 4 hrs for the 14 hr day clock but…. Going off duty or in sleeper preserves those 4 hrs on your 70. If you have to do that 3 times in a week, you would get another 12 hr day on day 6 allowing you to rack up more miles. Unless you are actually loading the truck or are required to supervise it, why be on duty during that time?

Old School says….

I never spend more than 20 minutes or so in the "on duty" status

Figure those 20 minute increments are pre/post trip inspection, fueling and 5-10 minute paperwork exchanges. Other then that, all on duty is driving

One thing I left out is, if I can park at a receiver, I will. That saves drive time or, at a minimum, reduces the amount of on duty/driving time prior to arrival.

It all comes down to time management and what your company can do to keep you busy. I drive between 3100-3500 miles weekly consistently at 65MPH but I run on a dedicated account on a specific route that deliveries in the Denver area over night, so I have little delay considering I don’t even start my clock until my load is ready.

But just don’t waste more time then required on duty not driving. If you are going to be delayed at a shipper you have a few options. If it’s a short few hours, you could go off duty for 2-3 hours stopping your 14 hour clock, just make sure at the end of your shift to pair it with the sleeper status, if it’s going to be a 7 hour delay you could do the 7/3 split or even 8/2 split. No need to waste time on duty the entire time you’re getting unloaded or anything, not saying you’re doing this.

Well, on my drive shift (nights) I know you're not supposed to fuel on your 30, but I did sometimes, to maximize my miles that shift. Just depends what's going on and how energetic I feel. Driving teams, 1 of us has to fuel a day, we don't both have to. Thats how I got those few 700+ mile drive cycles done.

Only takes max, 15 minutes to fuel, wash the windows n mirrors, grab a coffee/snack. Unlike my co driver who wasted more time, fueling/bathroom break, food,a drink THEN, parking after for his '30'

I don't like wasting time period ! Especially when we usually had 1500-2800 mile loads to run ( a LOT of the time, we got a load late,for whatever reason) Tell us just get it there when we can....Fed Ex, or XPO Target etc Joked with our DM , "What? are we the clean up crew?"

At least, he kept us running, sometimes, 2-3 loads ahead, until night or weekend DM's would screw with our loads and change things. Most we did in a week was, 7,300+ miles and we was beat !

Thanks for all the input. I never run more than 20 minutes on duty either unless I forget, as was the case last week. Im running on recaps now and do a lot of the time. Come to think of it, Ive had a lot of live loads and live unloads lately. Ive never had to ask for a load, I usually will have 3 stacked up. I also probably have about 60 to 70 percent of my loads at 600 miles or less. Money wise, it works out, because I get more for those loads, but I have to be very efficient, which can be difficult for a rookie at times, As OS said, Im still learning and I make mistakes often.

Ill keep plugging away and tell my head to pipe down. I dont drink, so no beer for me (Ill have 11 years sober on the 28th) but I will relax, I need to survive another few days of recaps and then ill take a reset. I also want to balance home time and work, its difficult for me. I have a very strong drive to work and succeed in whatever I do and that can lead to way too much work on an obsessive level.

I dont concentrate on how fast I drive, I dont think thats where time is won and lost in this business. Im guessing as was mentioned, its clock management (i work on that intently) and being efficient at shippers and receivers. Im guessing its loads too. This batch of loads that Im on all have a lot of time on them with few opportunities to pick up and or drop off early as well as I have to take it easy on my clock as Im on recaps with some short days in the mix (couple of 5 and 6 hour days) so I didnt get back a whole lot. I also had a 76 mile run thrown in the mix lol. It is what it is, I dont turn it down or complain, I just get it done as quickly as possible while being safe.

Ill take the advice and start looking at the longer picture and set longer goals. Even with 2 or 3 resets this month, Im still tracking to be at or above 11k in paid miles for the month, which is sustainable and gets me a nice bonus. I guess I need to be patient too, not always one of my strong suits.

“ Even with 2 or 3 resets this month, Im still tracking to be at or above 11k in paid miles for the month, which is sustainable and gets me a nice bonus.”

Right there! That’s it. Keep it up!👍

When I sit at a shipper for 4 hours waiting to get loaded, I have at least three choices: on-duty picking up, off-duty break, off-duty sleeper, but regardless of what I select, I will still be 4 hrs of my 14 short after that, no?

Everyone has picked up on the idea of clock management as a tool to help them produce more miles. That is good! We don't want to burn up productive time unnecessarily. Andrey brings up a good question. Understanding the rules and how to use them is also part of our clock management practices. Consider the split sleeper berth rule.

Let’s say you have been driving for 4 hours and you stop for a drop. You could be getting unloaded for 2 or 3 hours without it burning up your 14-hour clock. The rules say neither break counts against your 14-hour clock! You can do split-sleeper-berth breaks back to back if needed. You are not limited to how many you may do in a row. Just remember that you will never fully reset your 11 and 14 hour limits until you take a continuous 10 hours off duty.

Let’s dig into this a little deeper. A driver started his day at 1 a.m.. He logged 15 minutes on duty for a pre-trip inspection , and got on the road at 1:15 a.m. After driving 4 hours he arrives at his first stop. He gets in the dock and begins to wait. After a brief time of being "on duty," he decides to put himself on "sleeper berth" and rest while he is not doing anything. What happens to his 14-hour clock? The rules say that a 2 to 3-hour break doesn’t count against it. When he started this day at 1:00 a.m. his 14-hour clock was going to run out at 3:00 p.m. That 2.5-hours he spent at the customer now extended his 14-hour window to 5:30 p.m. He feels refreshed and ready with more time in his day to accomplish what he needs to. He doesn’t have to feel rushed under the pressure of the clock. He gets to control the clock as opposed to the clock controlling him.

Here’s another intriguing thing about this unique rule. You can only do half of the split sleeper if that is what is convenient for you. Some ELDs have a button that you push to indicate you are pairing a break to accomplish a split. You must identify the breaks that you want to pair together. Let’s take our driver who just took the 2.5-hour nap. He has extended his 14-hour clock to 5:30 p.m. Let’s assume the circumstances of his day made it so he finished his day at 5:30 p.m. and he found a place to park for the night at a truck stop. He could log 7.5 hours in the sleeper and fulfill his second half of his split sleeper break by pairing that break with his previous one. His 2.5 hours earlier combined with 7.5 now would equal his needed 10 hours. That would be a legal example of using the split sleeper berth rule. If the driver wanted to go ahead and take his full ten hour break now he could. As long as he has enough time on "sleeper berth" to pair with his previous break totaling 10 hours, he could now switch to "off duty" for the remainder of his current 10 hour break and he is still legal with the extension he gave himself earlier.

Here's a quick break down of this very much misunderstood rule. I am trying to simplify it for us. It can be quite confusing which is why some companies don't even allow their drivers to use it.

• You may divide your 10-hour break into two separate breaks. One break has to be at least 2 hours logged as off duty or sleeper berth. It can also be logged as any combination of the two.
• The other break must be a minimum of 7 hours. The longer of the two breaks must be logged as sleeper berth.
• When you combine the two breaks they must total 10 hours.
• Neither break period counts against your 14-hour clock.

Davy, your plan is solid. Work toward getting your bonus money. That puts you at a very productive level. Those 11,000 mile months are awesome, and will add substantial amounts of income to your balance sheet by the end of the year. You are on the right track.

Now I am confused. How comes that off duty breaks do not count towards 14 hours? Right now I am at a receiver, I was on duty for 15 minutes, then switched to off duty break, and looking at my ELD I can see that 14 hours become smaller and smaller every minute...

Andrey, as I understand it, we get 14 hours of duty time per shift, or day or whatever the term is. That makes sense because 14 hours of duty time plus the 10 hour sleepy time equals 24 hours; one day. You can be on duty, DRIVING or on duty NOT DRIVING. Therefore, when you are not "on duty", you should be "off duty" and that off duty time won't count against your 14. (OS, correct me if I'm wrong, I'm trying to relearn all the HOS stuff)

Now I am confused. How comes that off duty breaks do not count towards 14 hours? Right now I am at a receiver, I was on duty for 15 minutes, then switched to off duty break, and looking at my ELD I can see that 14 hours become smaller and smaller every minute...

Part of the rule I quoted clearly gives you the limits that will extend your 14 hour clock. You say you can see your 14 hour clock become smaller and smaller every minute. That is right. You haven't been on break for the minimum amount of two hours yet. Here's the rule again...

One break has to be at least 2 hours logged as off duty or sleeper berth. It can also be logged as any combination of the two.