A Month Of Trucking With Daniel B.

Amazing! Love it! No moose pics?

I have to agree... I was looking for the Moose pics too!

Hey Daniel I don't wanna hijack this thread but what route were you on to blackfoot? I'll be rolling through there in the morning then on up 20 to 87 and then 287 up to I-94 west of Billings, MT

Amazing! Love it! No moose pics? So twice so far you've not started your clock being close to your destination. So you're creeping there at what speed and how many miles can you creep? Also, I am aware of (some)of the many many tricky things in trucking thanx to this site. Some say log what you do and do what you log, but I know there are many exceptions and I so appreciate this thread! Thnx D your the bomb!

I can't say for Daniels truck, but mine I can do 3/4 of a mile before it auto shoots me to Driving.

It is helpful if you can park at a shiper and not start your clock. goes the same for finals delivery's. yes you can log what you do/do what you log, but IF you can save your 70, and not get stuck draining your clock before you able to actually drive then your golden...

Notice again how Daniel did the plan A, B again. Had he stopped 17 miles away, he'd start his clock on the way to the shipper and if the shipper was slow to load or slammed with orders and he had to wait 5hrs to get load (it happens), he'd be draining his 14hr clock which if it gets under your drive time, you'll waste your time now mater what you do. 14 only stops when you take a 10....

Amazing! Love it! No moose pics? So twice so far you've not started your clock being close to your destination. So you're creeping there at what speed and how many miles can you creep? Also, I am aware of (some)of the many many tricky things in trucking thanx to this site. Some say log what you do and do what you log, but I know there are many exceptions and I so appreciate this thread! Thnx D your the bomb!

I can't say for Daniels truck, but mine I can do 3/4 of a mile before it auto shoots me to Driving.

It is helpful if you can park at a shiper and not start your clock. goes the same for finals delivery's. yes you can log what you do/do what you log, but IF you can save your 70, and not get stuck draining your clock before you able to actually drive then your golden...

Notice again how Daniel did the plan A, B again. Had he stopped 17 miles away, he'd start his clock on the way to the shipper and if the shipper was slow to load or slammed with orders and he had to wait 5hrs to get load (it happens), he'd be draining his 14hr clock which if it gets under your drive time, you'll waste your time now mater what you do. 14 only stops when you take a 10....

Sorry folks, no moose pictures. My wife was having a bad day so I was on the phone with her. I did find this picture on Google of that park that I drove past, this is exactly what I saw. Same park. Its right before Jackson, WY.

As for the cooking. My electronic frying pan is connected to a heavy-duty exterior extension cord that plugs into my APU. The cord that comes with the frying pan is only like 2' long. And you really shouldn't cook inside the truck with that thing because it smells up the entire truck, so I bought the extension cord so I can cook outside on the ground. I cooked on top of the ice/snow because it sounds a whole lot cooler than cooking on asphalt. Cleaning it is simple, just let it cool down and pour water on the surface and wipe clean with a few paper towels. It was only 28$ and more than paid for itself by now. But be warned, this thing drains your batteries. Either have the truck idling or have your APU on while operating. To those who don't know. An APU (Auxiliary Powered Unit) charges your batteries while the truck is off and is also an a/c so you don't have to idle in the summer. While its not a necessity, it sure is a huge convenience.

Chris, you should know I drive like a banshee. I'm not even in the same timezone anymore :). I got out of there as soon as I got loaded.

And by the way, thanks for the feedback everyone. Its what keeps me going!

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

OOS:

When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

12/5

I woke up at 0730, today is the first day where I actually wake up in the morning feeling like I had enough sleep. There's a transition period after coming back on the road from hometime. I sleep so much better at home with my wife than I do on the road. Damn, I miss her dearly!

I departed at 0750 and arrived at my shipper two minutes later. So how do I go about not starting my clock?

Well, let me first say that every company is different on how their QC works. David just told you guys how his works, but mine works completely differently even though we are using the same machine. Its up to you to find how to use your QC to the fullest.

So how do I do it on mine? The minimum duty status is 5 minutes. So if you are On-Duty for 4 minutes and change it to Sleeper Berth (SB) then a minute later it'll show you did 5 minutes of SB. Get it? So if I drive for 3 minutes and stop and put myself on Off-Duty then that 3 minutes changes into Off-Duty - instead of driving. However, if I log 7 minutes of On-Duty and I change it to SB (or off duty) then it will start that SB at 1 minute instead of 7 because the minimum duty status is 5 minutes.

I also have the Off-Duty Driving, which is a huge no no if you're under a load. But, how our Off-Duty Driving works is the first 5 minutes is actually Off-Duty, not Off-Duty Driving. So I could put myself on Off-Duty Driving and drive for 5 minutes and it will say that I was on Off-Duty. After that 5 minute mark it says I'm Off-Duty Driving. So If I put myself on Off-Duty Driving and 8 minutes later how will my logbook look? First 5 minutes will show as Off-Duty, the next 3 minutes will show Off-Duty Driving.

Now please, I feel like I just opened a can of worms. If this confuses you then let it go. You have so much more important things that should be on your mind instead of how to drive 2 miles without starting your clock. Seriously though, if this confuses the heck out of you then forget about it. This is advanced manipulating of the QC (totally legal though, just bending the rules). You need to first understand the basics of Hours of Service before you can grasp this.

I arrive at my shipper and its a confusing one! You first get on a scale and weigh yourself then talk to the clerk on the phone. After that you pull around the building and go into an unmarked building to get your scale ticket. I wasn't aware of a scale ticket so I drove past that and into the dock area. I went inside and the foreman asked me for my ticket. Like a lost puppy, I apologized and told them I didn't know I had to get the ticket.

Not a problem to him, he simply called the lady and she told him my empty weight. He tells me he will call me in 30 minutes to back into a door door. Almost two hours later, I finally get that call - welcome to pulling a reefer. I had to help them load my trailer. The driver had to pick up pallets and lay them on the floor for the forklift drive to set the product onto. As I stood there bored, I noticed a driver that wasn't too bright do the same thing as me. He went into the office without a scale ticket. Except they sent him on his way to go get it. Haha, ladies and gentlemen, this is a fine example of attitude is #1. Apologize, be polite, and do what they say, these shippers have total control over you. Brighten their day and befriend everyone who has an impact on your job performance. My goal everyday is to get to my customers and get the heck out as soon as I possibly can, to do that especially in the reefer division sometimes takes some good ass kissing.

Its 1130 and I'm finally load. I scale out at 79,680 pounds with 5/8 fuel. This small truck of my just doesn't have the power to pull this kind of weight. You know what the funny thing is? I know I can legally pull about 49,000lb of freight, 48,500 in my case because I have an old trailer that isn't as light as the new ones are. Having said that, my Bill of Lading tells me that my total product weight is exactly 42,000. What a load of crap. At 42,000 pounds of freight, I should gross out at approximately 73,000. Folks, don't ever 100% trust that the weight on your Bill of Lading is legit. Always doubt, you know your truck better than anyone else.

I had a choice to make today, I could park at Johnsons Corner Truck Stop again, just north of Denver. Or I could push my hours to the limit and drive past Denver to avoid all that morning traffic. I decided to drive past Denver and parked at a Love's. Love's are notorious for limited parking spaces and I was getting there at 2330. I decided to put off fueling until tomorrow, I could use that time to find a parking spot! If there is one! I got the second to last spot! Woo!

Anyways, I drive away at 1200 and end my day at 2345. I drive 7 hours nonstop and take a 30 minute break then drive the rest of my clock. I do a total of 642 miles in just under 11 hours of driving today. I started my day at 0730 and ended my day at 2345. A 16 hour day. Try that on for size.

Here's a couple pictures of today's drive.

Oh, Daniel B. you ARE a city boy, aren't you? Those aren't moose, those are elk! Still amazing to see though!!

All this talk about a QC makes me glad I'm on paper logs.. however I feel like with a QC I wouldn't fear the DOT as much. I try 100% to make my logs as legal and honest as possible. But when a simple spelling mistake can lead to a ticket. Puts a little fear in you. Hahahah

Man, I won't log off duty for loading/unloading. If I were to get pulled into a scale and have my logs audited, and they see I have off duty logged the same time my bills are stamped, that's a ticket. I always show at least 20 minutes of on duty time. I have extremely bad luck and would get caught. Not to mention 75% of my loads with Prime are Wal-Mart and only 1 that I've been to have as place to park close enough to not have to start my clock before I get there. Also my FM rarely ever messages me, other than to send dispatches. In a 3 week trip I may only talk to him once a week, unless I have a problem at a 01 or 90. 95% of my Communication with dispatch is via macro. Funny how different things are within the same company.

Oh, Daniel B. you ARE a city boy, aren't you? Those aren't moose, those are elk! Still amazing to see though!!

Not just a city boy, a West Sacramento City Boy (maybe it should be ALL CAPS!!)

Jopa