Definitely take the highways. Hubby goes off route most of the time where he's at, and they've never said anything either. The only type of load he follows the routing on is High Risk loads, as they watch those like a hawk watches its dinner. That routing is done by a computer. The computer will put you on routes with all sorts of small towns, curves, hills, and other unpleasant things that end up costing you more time than the extra miles on the highway.

The only other loads for sure that you need to follow routing on are HazMat.

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I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was going to blame you.

Dynamite comes in small packages, Nitro comes in smaller ones, take your pick!

Wayne's DM did the same thing. When he told him he didn't have the miles he got a attitude and told him he won't give him miles.

It is my oppinion that if someone wants to be a dm they need to have 1 year or more truck experince first.

That way they will understand what is like to live in the truck and not make money because a dm will not help get the driver good loads

I think if that was a requirement then truck driving would go alot smoother between driver and dm.

I know at May Trucking the planners preplan the loads but you can also have the dm contact them and get good loads set up for the truck.

You said it there!

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I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was going to blame you.

Dynamite comes in small packages, Nitro comes in smaller ones, take your pick!

Mine will to but it dosen't last more then an hr. I will let him come back down to earth and then he understands where I'm com'n from. I like him but there are time he needs to understand times are changing and the only 2 choices are to go p/l or quit. He sent me a preset today and I complained as I need to go to SLC and see p/r about missing money so he took it away and replaced it with a 2500 mile run p/u 700 miles all in this pay period so I got more miles and SLC all in 1 load. He makes money off me and even says it in his messages. Today the truck would not start he sent me a message to get it fixes as we were going to loose money on this load if the truck sat. I got it fixed and the preset stayed so I'm good for the week. I don't have any answers for the D/M thing Wayne is going tru except write everything down in a note book and go to SLC and talk to Cole the one thing about your D/M is you got to take of him and he will do the same for you. It's a game but it's the only way to play it.
If you want p/m me with a ph# and I will call him and talk to him Wayne that is maybe I can help or atleast give him someone to talk to.

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Like my boss used to say keep that old cab over runnin she's still got a mile or two left in her.

and remember freedoms like a dollar sometimes you gotta fight to keep it

At Central some of the D/M's were drivers at one time but that dosen't matter as they need to please there boss so all is forgotten and they become the pusher.


As far as loads my D/M will also go to the planner and preset loads for me as long as I'm running he's happy. Again it's all about what you do for the D/M that gets you what you want.

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Like my boss used to say keep that old cab over runnin she's still got a mile or two left in her.

and remember freedoms like a dollar sometimes you gotta fight to keep it

On my old dedicated route I had a section 45 miles long that they always routed me on a road I did not want to take. It had about 30 traffic lights, and many 35 mph sections.
The alternative was to take the NY thruway. This would cost them for a toll, and be out of route a few miles, but would save me at least 30 to 45 min of drive time, and save them fuel.
I took my way for 7 months or so, they never said a word.

My origional dispatcher use to get upset with new drivers not using there maps and routing themselves. They would waste time, fuel, ect. on the back roads. If you look at your routing, it says on there that the driver is responsible to make sure they take the best route. The qualcom routes will send you on roads you cannot legally be on at times. It is totally your job to make sure you do not do this, the ticket will be on you. Not on the company.
As long as you do not go way out of route, and you hit your fuel stops, you will be fine. And you will lower your stress, lower driving times, waste less fuel.

Correction here. 1) the 2 hours does not need to be in the sleeper berth. it can be any combination of line one and line 2. Only the 8 hour portion must be in the sleeper berth 2) you can take the 2 hour break first if you wish. It would work something like this:

07:00 - 09:30 drive (line 3) - 14 hour clock stops at 21:00
09:30 - 10:00 arrive, arrange lumpers, etc (line 4)
10:00 - 12:00 unload (or load) (line 1)
12:00 - 15:00 drive (line 3 again) (6.5 hours of line 3 available)
15:00 - 15:30 arrive (Line 4)
15:30 - 18:00 Load/unload (line 1)
18:00 - 23:00 drive
23:00 - 07:00 sleeper berth (line 2) (8 hours)

No, you didn't get your full 11 hours on line 3 - only 10. However, with the split berth option you could get 2 hours more than if you did not take the split option.

Note, you can only "extend" the 14 hour clock by the amount of time taken during your first break, whether it be the 8 hour line 2 or the 2 (or more) hours on lines 1 and/or 2. As described above, that means you can only extend the 14 by the two hours between 10:00 and 12:00. The stretch between 15:30 and 18:00 has no bearing.

I'd say it's personal preference. Myself, I was fine either way. I'd run a couple-three days split, then one of my 8-hour segments would be 10, and I'd be back on a regular 11/14.

If he doesn't understand HOS, I'd suggest you let his boss know (politely). If a dispatcher needs to know anything, he needs to understand HOS. Maybe you could wander into the office some time and work with him a bit.

Absolutely. Also, figure in 2-3 hours or so for things like construction, accidents, and minor breakdown.

In general, the way I did it was calculate the time from point A to point B using 50MPH (truck governed at 60). (rule of thumb: calculate at max speed minus 10mph)
Look for stopping points along the route - preferably around the 550 mile mark. This allows some slop - if there is no parking right there, you have ample time to head down the road a bit and find some other place to spend your down time - without having to backtrack. On average, this equated out to driving about 10 hours a day.
Add in 25 minutes a day for fuel and pre-trip (I was required to log 15 minutes minimum for each - but fueling was usually every other day)

For drop/hook, I always add an hour. I figure 15 minutes to get from highway to yard, 30 minutes to D&H, and 15 minutes back to the highway.

Live loads/unloads - If I am unfamiliar with the site, I go rule-of-thumb three hours. If I've been there before - experience dictates.

That should give you your realistic minimum no problems arrival times

Add 3 hours for WTF situations.

That's the time you tell Dispatch you can get there.

Yeah, it's all rule of thumb. You an always fudge it either way you feel comfortable with.

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Keep the big doors at the back!

For a quick decision while driving I will just look at the miles. I work all runs as 10 hours. So a 2000 mile run will need 4 10 hour blocks and 3 10 hour breaks minimum. If I know I have plenty of hours it makes the decision fast. If I am working on hours I am getting back it is harder.
I can and have run 14 hours a day for several days. 11 driving, 10 break, start next 11.
It is a pain to run this way, and will suck up hours fast. But it can be done.
Normally it will not happen allot though. Planners eather put too much time on the load or not enough. You will get so many freakin miles doing it this way, with a reset a week, that it is unbelievable. But all things must be perfect for it to work. Or you will just run low on hours and not get a chance for a reset.

14 hours driving a day for 5 days is your 70. 34 hour reset, and you can get another day and a half of driving in.
Running regional now I am working 65 to 70 hours a week, off weekends. So I get my resets in every week. I never worked this hard OTR though, and never needed a reset every week just to roll.

With Central I just ran 550 a day. Never had a problem getting things done. Some days I was lazy and did not even run that. Normally had 3000-3100 a week.

All of you guys need to understand that for every new guy asking you questions there are hundreds of us soaking up your advice and responses even though we might not post. Never think you're being "long-winded"............... I need all the advice I can get!! I wanted to get into the trucking business but didn't know a thing about it and, admittedy, had misconceptions about the industry. I can't hold a candle to any of the knowledge you guys have but I sure know a lot more now than I did a few weeks ago just by reading your posts. THANKS!!