Maxing Out Daily Hours Of Service

Just a random newbie question, how often do you guys max out on daily driving hours???

I understand that there are rules just wondering if you ht them often or not. I do understand you got to move to make money just trying to learn,

Just a random newbie question, how often do you guys max out on daily driving hours???

I understand that there are rules just wondering if you ht them often or not. I do understand you got to move to make money just trying to learn,

Only if I have to because I need to make my appointment time but other then that I try to manage my time more wisely because I'm on E-Logs. If I was on Paper Logs it would be a whole different scenario but of course I would do everything with safety as #1!

Just a random newbie question, how often do you guys max out on daily driving hours???

I understand that there are rules just wondering if you ht them often or not. I do understand you got to move to make money just trying to learn,

Only if I have to because I need to make my appointment time but other then that I try to manage my time more wisely because I'm on E-Logs. If I was on Paper Logs it would be a whole different scenario but of course I would do everything with safety as #1!

can you go into more detail??? Sorry for being a super noob i am just trying to find a BS filter so to speak for the youtube vids and what not i see.

For instance i just watched one where the driver claimed you have to hit 600+ miles a day everyday just to keep workin, yet i see blogs listed here of guys making 40k+ doing a 325 average daily.

Just trying to find the proper bull**** filter to use :D

Just a random newbie question, how often do you guys max out on daily driving hours???

I understand that there are rules just wondering if you ht them often or not. I do understand you got to move to make money just trying to learn,

Only if I have to because I need to make my appointment time but other then that I try to manage my time more wisely because I'm on E-Logs. If I was on Paper Logs it would be a whole different scenario but of course I would do everything with safety as #1!

can you go into more detail??? Sorry for being a super noob i am just trying to find a BS filter so to speak for the youtube vids and what not i see.

For instance i just watched one where the driver claimed you have to hit 600+ miles a day everyday just to keep workin, yet i see blogs listed here of guys making 40k+ doing a 325 average daily.

Just trying to find the proper bull**** filter to use :D

I'm not to sure about doing 325 Miles a day and getting 40k, you would have to literally drive 325 Miles, 7 days a Week and 52 Weeks a year to make that but that ain't gonna happen. Drivers take home time, Vacation and don't forget time sitting around and layovers.

600+ Miles is a good day of driving these days, its not like the old days when everyone was on Paper Logs. If you drive 600 miles every day, you will most likely have to reset on the road and if I have to reset, I am resetting at home. I typically try to drive 3200 - 3500 Miles a week and no more or less. I know how much my paycheck will be if I can hit those miles and for me, I'm okay with that. It pays all my bills and I still have plenty of money left over. I'm also able to stay out 3-4 Weeks at a time and do a rolling a recap.

Thanks for that info. i think i understand what the guy means now.

Hey Eckoh - here's some numbers you can use to get a general idea of what to expect. Your first year you can expect in the range of $32k-$36k, second year about $40k or so, and you'll top off somewhere around $50k-$55k around years 3 to 5. Those are pretty dependable averages for OTR trucking. Now there are specialized types of hauling and union jobs and the like which might pay quite a bit more. There are always exceptions. But those are pretty average OTR numbers.

As far as miles, you can expect to turn about 2300-2600 miles per week the first few months of your solo career. By the end of your first year out there you shouldn't have too much trouble turning anywhere from 2600-3200 depending on how hard you'd like to run and the type of fleet you're in. Again, pretty average numbers.

You can read an article we have where a driver gives a breakdown of his first year salary on the road.

The money is not really my concern, as much as being safe. Some of the stuff I have seen and read makes it sound like you have to drive tired while in blizzards.

I am hoping to start school next month just trying to learn what I can. The training program on here is great.

You have the final say in whether that trucks move or not....period. Nobody can make you do anything.

Now understand that there are millions of truck drivers and as you'd expect there are some real knuckleheads out there. The blame game is a common thing in other trucking forums and on YouTube. Seems someone else is always to blame when things don't go well for those people and it's usually the trucking companies they point to. You can safely ignore 98% of it.

If you want a really honest look at the industry, read the free online version of my book Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Trucking. I have a ton of insights into how things are done in the industry, what life is really like on the road, and a number of stories from over the years. It's also a rather short, easy read. Definitely worth the time.

I have read a good bit of it. The part about cheating the logs kinda worries me. I do not want to cheat my logs, I just cannot see a few extra buck being worth the safety risk or the risk to the cdl

I have read a good bit of it. The part about cheating the logs kinda worries me. I do not want to cheat my logs, I just cannot see a few extra buck being worth the safety risk or the risk to the cdl

All you have to do is get on with a company that has electronic logs...which is almost all of the major companies nowadays anyhow. But keep in mind you can still run like 3,500 miles per week legally with electronic logs. That's a lot of long days.

Even back in the day when I ran paper logs I didn't cheat to get more miles per week. I cheated so that I could run when I wanted to and shut down when I wanted to on my own schedule. I still used to shoot for about 3,200 miles per week because any more than that and you're almost certainly going to burn out before too long. You have to keep a sustainable pace.

This industry is really for go-getters. You have to be really self-motivated and pretty disciplined to really excel at trucking. But most importantly you have to make smart decisions. You'll have control over that rig. Nobody can make you do anything against your better judgment.