Having Fun With Your Logs

I’ve driven both dry van and reefer. Schneider for dry van, Helwig for reefer. Dry van was very simple. Use as much of my 11 hr clock as possible, get as close to 70 as possible and take a 34. Recaps we’re not a factor.

Then I switch to a reefer company. All of a sudden I start getting all this recap time back, you know when the Omnitrac tells you “time to be gained: 6hr reminds”, and then that time is added after midnight. Right now, in have “hrs to be gained in two days: 12hr 37 min”. Frankly, I have only a vague idea of how this process works. I run about the same for Helwig as I did for Schneider. But I weekly had to take a 34hr reset with Schneider, but rarely do with Helwig at all. I keep getting these recaps back, so I just keep going.

I do notice the difference in my paycheck. Comparing my 4 months with Helwig with my last 4 months with Schneider, my net pay is a little more than twice what it was. Approximately $14,000 to $7000.

I don't know anything about Schneider, but is it possible that they run on a 60/7 clock instead of a 70/8?

I don't know anything about Schneider, but is it possible that they run on a 60/7 clock instead of a 70/8?

No, they do the 70 hr clock.

I don't know anything about Schneider, but is it possible that they run on a 60/7 clock instead of a 70/8?

No, they do the 70 hr clock.

I would bet it depends on the fleet. Maybe local drivers that are only M-F could be on a differing system?

I know our local daycab drivers are.

PackRat, you are correct. Local drivers go by a separate set of rules. All OTR drivers are on the 70 hr clock. I have a friend who is on a GP dedicated division for Schneider. He is running with a 70 hr clock but never hits 70 hrs because he goes home every weekend and only drives 5 days and his clock resets during his home time.

While I don’t completely understand why I get all these recaps with my current gig, I’m not complaining at all. They let me drive more and make more because of increased miles.

I really appreciate all the responses here. I hope others are finding this conversation to be helpful and "educational."

I want to point out something very important that Turtle said. Remember this. It applies to many things in life, but here in this conversation it is very applicable to trucking...

If you put yourself in position to benefit from an advantage, good things will come.

I want you to notice how well Turtle and Chief Brody manage when they take their 34 hour break. They don't just blow through their 70 randomly and then take a break to reset their clock. Both of them plan it out and do their best to time it so it falls very close to the time they want on the weekend. They've also timed it so they are loaded with a load they can deliver Monday morning. These are patterns of behavior that set you up for success. They can empty out first thing Monday, and their dispatcher knows what to expect from them. Therefore he is ready with a load, or he already has them pre-planned. That is a behavior that they execute carefully and decisively. Why? because it allows them to maximize their drive time. That is the time on your log book where you are getting paid. The drivers who utilize that advantage of turning more miles are the drivers who are earning the most money. I practice that same strategy when doing resets. It is critical.

Let me illustrate this by sharing some information from a recent discussion I had with a fellow driver on my fleet. This driver has three times the years of experience I have, but he struggles trying to turn the kind of miles I am while working the same account. He is good, but he doesn't really seem to understand some things that he should. He prefers to do a reset each week, but he is not able to maximize his use of the available hours.

He will do something like this...

He will run down his clock so that he has maybe four or five hours left on his 70, but he has this happen while empty on Saturday around noon. He could change that with some simple planning and foresight, but he doesn't. He starts his 34 hour break then. So now he has finished his 34 hour reset Sunday night at about 10:00 p.m. The loads that went out Sunday have already been taken by other drivers at that point. Now he can't get a load until Monday. What makes it worse is our loads are not ready until late in the afternoons. So his next load isn't going to be ready until about 1600 (4:00 p.m.) Monday afternoon.

He is leaving about 20 hours on the table that he can't use for driving. He wanted me to explain how the recaps work, but I told him that wasn't his problem. I use the recaps on this account because it allows me to potentially be available everyday. He can't seem to grasp the whole concept of recaps. I try to explain it, but he just gets confused. I tried to show him the error of what he was doing, but he claims he doesn't like driving at night, and that is why he keeps repeating this pattern. I honestly couldn't help him. I explained that I drive a lot at night. I do that whether I am on recaps or doing resets. It is a part of the planning of my trips and days so that I utilize everything I can for my advantage.

Bruce brought up a subject in another thread about pattern recognition. It is an important topic that is interwoven into this discussion. If yoiu pay close attention to the comments that Turtle and Chief Brody make, you will see that they have patterns they use in how they consume their drive hours. Bruce pointed out something he learned from a conversation with an experienced driver who had some great understanding about success in trucking. Here is what he said...

One of the reasons new drivers have so many difficulties is due to not having well developed pattern recognition abilities.

We can all benefit from understanding how certain patterns in our logs open us up for greater success. Really, that is what this conversation is all about. We often learn by doing and observing. Learn to recognize the patterns in your logs. Both Turtle and Chief Brody have pointed out a pattern that has helped them be more successful. Pay attention to the things or the actions that help you be more productive. Try to replicate those patterns. Practicing these things will help you do exactly what Turtle said.

If you put yourself in position to benefit from an advantage, good things will come.

Sorry to chime in on this so much. But its one part of my job that I really enjoy doing is working the clock. Its like a math puzzle and I enjoy seeing plans build to something each week.

Im coming into LA, I have 3 to 4 hours left on this run, and then need to pick up the next load and run it up to Tulare and drop for a T call. I have a healthy cushion on my 70, 11 hours left, and decent recaps coming, all 9s and 7s, except for one 5 a couple days from now. I have home time on Friday in Phoenix, so I could burn my clock if I need to, but just in case, I chose not to start my clock when I could have at 2:00 pm because that would have put me in LA traffic at 5:00 pm. So I texted my DM and said, Ill start it later for that reason. He thanked me for the communication and said it makes perfect sense.

If I put together my shift correctly, Ill have about 7 hours of driving, maybe 8 and will shut down at about 2 or 3 am in Tulare, its our terminal , so I know Ill have parking, and my clocks are all good. Because I ran this morning til 3 or 4 am, I already have 4 hours for the day for next weeks recaps and 250 miles on the day, so when I finish Ill have 400 to 500 showing on the day. Its an easy way for me to handle smaller trips and pack them in, plus I like to drive at night, especially in so cal. and I like to get up late and stay up late.

Its a pattern that lets me run at the times of day that Im most productive at if that makes sense.

So to my understanding running recaps or doing a reset is not a bad way of handling the clock? I'm glad this is in discussion because I had a question on the best way to manage the clock for optimal performance. I do run on recaps and only do a reset on my hometime.

Turtle said:

But a driver running resets can exhaust his 70 in five or six days, reset on the 6th and 7th, then have an additional 14 available on the 8th day. Therefore, a driver running resets can have 84 hours available in which to drive in 8 days, a clear advantage.

Never knew about that... I guess my route doesn't allow me to do this but I wasn't even aware of being able to have 84 hours available in a 8 day span.

I have more questions but its time for me to get some sleep. Probably should have waited when I had time to explain the way I run to get some insight.

Another thing to consider when choosing to run recaps versus reset, is that load planners and dispatchers also have to be on board to maximize your time. As I said my week generally starts Monday when I deliver my "weekend" load from the Friday before. How I run during the week doesn't matter, short loads or long loads, until I get to Thursday or Friday. That's when load planners will start looking for either a "day run" to set me up for my "weekend load" dispatched on Friday or if there is a really long load I'll sometimes get my weekend on Thursday.

Okay, here's a screen shot from the company app we use at Knight. I turned in my final load yesterday morning at ten a.m. Today is the final day of the month. My backhaul has about 1,700 miles on it. So I will be turning that in for a good start on next month's performance. All in all, 13 grand is a good strong month. Once again, this was all recaps with the exception of three days home time that gave me one 34 hour reset this past month.

You'll find my total dispatched miles in the lower green rectangle. I ran 13,161 miles in June. Could I have done better by burning through my 70 and resetting every week? Maybe so, but I'm quite satisfied with my results. I'd love to hear from those of you who got better results this month. Elaborate a little and let us know how you are working your clock.