Having Fun With Your Logs

I have followed this thread and will have more comments later but I wanted to respond to Brett's comment:

To me, yearly production is far more important than weekly or monthly totals. You must produce consistently over a long period of time to reach your potential for earnings.

In order to be productive on an annual basis, you need to be productive on a monthly, weekly, and daily basis. Again, to Turtles point it's the math.

That's one of the things that most people coming to this industry don't understand is that you can't take two days off and then drive 1,800 miles in one day. You have so many hours each day to drive and if you don't maximize each day you're not going to maximize your week, your month, or your year.

And again Turtle's point was not about lifestyle, mental health, or personal preferences. It's about the pure potential of running recaps versus running resets.

And when experienced drivers suggest to new drivers that running recaps is more productive than running resets, it's just plain wrong.

I wasn't disagreeing with anything Turtle said. I was just expanding on the scope a little for the sake of new drivers.

I burned out when I was new because I was always pushing it to the max. That's what this conversation is about, the theoretical maximum driving time available, and it's a great conversation. I just wanted to point out to the new guys that there is more to consider than the theoretical max.

This is a great conversation. I enjoy it.

Yep the 3 months this year at Legends, I put 45,000 miles on my new truck give or take a hundred or so. Since it had only 2,673 miles on it when I got it. And I banked $1,500 every week in cash, for my "retirement start fund" lol Was a great feeling retiring, with almost $25,000 in the bank in a short period of time.....

when experienced drivers suggest to new drivers that running recaps is more productive than running resets, it's just plain wrong.

Chief, Turtle has referred to me implying that a 34 hour break was a rookie mistake. I can't see where that came from. We've discussed this stuff throughout the conversation. I don't see anywhere that I have claimed "running recaps is more productive than resets." It would be helpful if you would quote the statements you disagree with so we can have some meaningful discussion.

I'm merely pointing out that I find I can be very productive using either method. Part of the reason has to do with the way loads are distributed on my dedicated account. Another part of that is 8 years of experience on this account. All those years are with the same driver manager. That makes a huge difference in my experience. I also enjoy the highest seniority level here. That is also important to my level of success.

Here's one of my statements early on in this conversation...

I don't care how you slice up the pie. You can be highly productive on re-caps or burning through your 70 and doing a 34 hour reset. I actually prefer doing a reset and doing something I really enjoy during that time.

I clearly believe both methods can be productive. I wasn’t declaring one or the other superior. Maybe that's what caused the confusion. You guys feel very strongly about the advantages of resets. I just don't feel that's the best way for a new driver to run. Most of them do run that way, and it's certainly their prerogative. I see so many guys burn out early. I think it's unfortunate.

I provided a screenshot to show my dispatched completed miles for the month. I chose the screenshot so everyone could see I wasn't blowing smoke. I just wanted to illustrate that either method can produce good results. I did go back and do a little research today. I knew I'd had two months where I punched into the 14,000 mile range. I wanted to look at my logs and see what I had done. Guess what? Each month was a race with the clock. I burned through my 70 quickly each week, did a reset, and "backed up" my hours just like Turtle suggested as a better method.

I use both methods because I just like being productive. I don't consider one superior to the other. I can be productive using either method. Productivity in trucking is very important, but it depends on a lot of factors that we haven't even discussed here. I just thought this could be an interesting subject, and I sincerely think you and Turtle have made it more than interesting.

I hold you guys with the highest esteem. If there's one aspect of trucking I feel confident I'm knowledgeable about it is flatbedding. You two are the cream of the cream as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for your responses here. They've made the conversation much more credible and informative than I could have ever done on my own.

Old School, see the quote below:

Last week on my dedicated account all the drivers on my DM's board burned up their 70 hours and had to do a 34 hour reset over the weekend. Everyone is frustrated. The holiday on Monday put them all behind one day and they couldn't get their finished loads turned in on Tuesday morning by the payroll cutoff. That has snowballed into this week because they are all sitting around taking 34 hour breaks.

This quote, plus the praise from your DM regarding not taking a reset clearly indicates that because you didn't have to take a reset, you're the better driver. The only difference between you and the other drivers mentioned in the original post was they took and reset and you didn't. Turtle's first comment pointed that out.

And Turtle and I are not the only ones who interpreted the comment as such.

Davy A's response says:

I rarely if ever need to take a reset.

People don't use "had to" or "need" in a positive context. You don't say "I had to make love to my wife last night.

And you also said that:

There is still only 70 hours out of the pie though. Slice it how you will. You get 70 hours in eight days.

Turtle pointed out that running resets gives you potential of 84 hours in an 8-day period.

And after you did more research on your logs, you found that the months where you ran resets, you'd had about 14,000 miles in a month, which substantiates Turtle's point.

And its not just your perspective on recaps being better, I have had to take two logs classes because of a "high mileage audit." Essentially, because I'm running more miles than they think is reasonable, I get a higher level logs audit. There was nothing substantially wrong with my logs. In fact, I just passed a level 3 inspection the other day. And in the logs class, they said the same that you said: "manage you clock so that you don't have to take a reset." I found it comically ironic. I'm in the logs class because I'm running high mileage, because I run resets, yet in the class I had to take because I ran so many miles, they tell me that running recaps is more productive. Huh?

I hope this thread has been informative for new drivers who are deciding whether to run resets or recaps.

I like resets. In fact, I'm on a 34-hour reset at home right now. Later on I have to make love to my wife.

Lol. Better than someone else making love to your wife. But in all seriousness. I simply meant that I generally run so that I have the option of taking a reset or not.

One other thing is that as OTR , if I'm taking a reset, that means I'm taking time off while still out on the road, away from home, away from having to work on the house...and make love to my wife. While it may sound like griping, knight has not demonstrated being able to get me home regularly, not even close. That being the case, I want to produce some each day I'm on the road.

I also have met several drivers newer than myself that had no idea how recaps work and were experiencing frustrating because they were getting loads handed to them that they couldn't complete because they burned out their clock too soon.

I view the reset as a tool in my toolbox to be used with discretion and thought of the net result for whatever my goals are.

I highly respect you guys and learn from your experience and conversation.

This quote, plus the praise from your DM regarding not taking a reset clearly indicates that because you didn't have to take a reset, you're the better driver. The only difference between you and the other drivers mentioned in the original post was they took and reset and you didn't. Turtle's first comment pointed that out.

It doesn't indicate anything about me being the better driver. I can't even figure out how I'm coming across so misunderstood. It shows I was the only driver available for a load on that particular day. Everyone else was on a reset.

On this account availability is critical. If I'm resetting every week I'm taking myself out of the loop for 34 hours each week. I said it was a freak set of circumstances that brought this about, but it happened twice this month. Twice I've been called saying I'm the only driver available. I get my pick of the loads that way. I pick what works best for me.

I found it comically ironic. I'm in the logs class because I'm running high mileage, because I run resets, yet in the class I had to take because I ran so many miles, they tell me that running recaps is more productive. Huh?

Totally agree with you on the irony. That's absurd!

I'm going to have to figure out how to communicate better in here. I'm baffled by the way my comments are taken at times.

You experienced drivers/moderators are having quite a lively discussion here. To me, it’s like you guys are sitting in a truck stop booth drinking coffee and exchanging opinions based on your various preferences and experiences.

Old School sparked this discussion and I have learned a boatload from it, so thank you. And OS, I view you as a great communicator and teacher. Your comments here have come across to me as your typical effort to educate those of us who are still learning about resets/recaps. Because of the input of Turtle, Chief Brody, Davy, Brett, etc., I now have a much better understanding of all the factors involved in this issue. This thread is TT at it’s best.

Davy, I don't want you to think I'm picking on you here. That isn't my intention. If your preference is to run recaps, that's perfectly okay with me. I don't have a dog in that fight. However, I want to point out a flaw in your thinking, but only in the interest of educating folks on another myth involving resets: The myth that you're taking more time off for resets.

You said:

One other thing is that as OTR , if I'm taking a reset, that means I'm taking time off while still out on the road...

The truth is that a recap driver actually takes more time off. Here's how:

First, there's the 34 hour break a resetter takes. The overlooked fact is that a recapper also sits for at least 20 of those hours, due to his two required 10-hour breaks. So that brings the resetter's "sitting" hours down to only 14 more than a recapper. But wait, there's more!

A recapper sits more than a resetter each and every day, due to the simple fact that they are limited to an average of 8.75 hours per day, while a recapper will have 14 hours available each day they run.

In simpler terms, we've already established that a recap driver only has 70 hours available in an 8-day week. That means that, even on the best 8-day week, they must sit for a minimum of 122 hours.

A reset driver by comparison has 84 hours available in that 8-day week, meaning they must only sit for a minimum of 108 hours per 8-day week.

So if you want to make the most of your time away from home, resetting is the way. In no way, shape, or form will a recap schedule ever be better mathematically than a reset schedule, unless by chance or preference.

I completely agree with Turtle's math. I used to argue this with another driver on this account. He didn't like taking a 34 on the road. I thought it was silly. On recaps you end up sitting more, but he just didn't enjoy the length of time involved with a full reset.

I always take advantage of a 34 hour break and enjoy that time. If a person just sits in their truck waiting for the clock to tick away they are only adding unnecessary stress to what should be a fun break.

It's only recently I've discovered some advantages to running recaps. It works particularly well on this account, but very few of our drivers manage it that way. I'm not really partial to one or the other. I go back and forth between the two with ease. When running resets I do implement a similar strategy like Turtle and Chief Brody employ.

If I want to run "balls to the wall" and maximize every little bit, then I'm running with resets. I'll plan my days well so I burn through all my hours and spend my 34 loaded with a plan to empty out first thing Monday. That's efficiency.

My point, and forgive me if it wasn't made clear, is that you can be effective using either method. Whatever you're doing you just have to master it. In reality it's probably simpler to run an OTR job like Turtle and Chief Brody are saying. In my world it works well both ways. Part of that is experience and part of it is just the way this account works.