Trip Planning Fundementals for Newbies

I have read many posts on here about Trip Planning and I have to say that one thing keeps coming up which is why I am starting this NEW thread on a topic which has already been covered.

GPS, Laptop, MapQuest, RandMcnally software ect, ect....

First if you are serious about Trip Planning and I hope that you are, you should head this WARNING: All safe trips start with excellent Trip Planning!

The very next thing you need to do is put down your computer, put down the GPS, put down the qual-comm and pick up a paper map, a pen, a calculator, a notebook, and your cell phone.

You must understand that Trip Planning with a GPS or qual-comm or other software is the same thing as doing math with a calculator. If you don't learn how to do it with out the benefit of electronic assistance, you will never truly be any good at it.

Things you will need and things you will need to know before moving your truck an inch.

Things you need:

Obviously a load (which probably comes over the qual-comm or similar device and it usually is followed by a predetermined route.)

A Map (you need to get yourself a physical copy of a RandMcnally Truck driving road map. Usually $50 in any truck stop.)

A TruckStop guide (again, a paper version. They are at the truck stops for $6.99 which includes mileage of Interstates, exit numbers for stops, and rest areas for the U.S.A and Canada)

A Pen or Pencil (pretty self explanatory)

A NoteBook or Pad of Paper (Something to write on that will not get lost or misplaced while you are in transit. I usually place mine on my dash in front of me for the entire trip)

A Calculator (any one will work. you can even use your laptop for this. Only for the Calculating part as I am assuming you have learned how to do simple math either in your head or on paper.)

A Cell Phone (If you don't have a cell phone and are out there today I truly feel for you.)


Things you need to know:

You need a contact number for the shipper/receiver

You need the mileage you must travel from point A to point B and any stops in between. Take and find the mileage for these stops one at a time.
There are also short cuts but I will NOT teach you them as you are obviously here trying to learn something you feel you need more training on, so NO SHORTCUTS.

You need to know how many hours you have remaining in your log book and if you are not doing a LOG RECAP you better start.

You need to know how long it will take to get from point A to point B and so forth.

You need to know how much full you have and where to full while in transit.

You need to know if you are going to be able to make the run straight thru or if you need to take your 10 hour break while in transit.

NOW, for the process of obtaining all this information so that the end result is an excellent Trip Plan.

Pull out your map and open it to the state's page you are picking up from. Mark that page, then find the pages of the states with all remaining stops. Mark those pages. You are marking those pages for easy reference back and forth between the states you are concerned with. Use a tab or piece of paper or whatever.
Next, turn to the very back of your MAP. There is a section back there that will list the cities and the mileage charts to other cities. In the front of this guide section is a list of ALL cities it contains. Look and see if your pick up and drop off cities are referenced. IF THEY ARE NOT, then flip to the state page and locate a city that you are close to that is referenced and the same goes for the cities you are dropping off to.

Now you are going to use that guide in the back of the MAP to cross reference each city. For example if you are picking up from Philadelphia, Pa and delivering to Columbus, OH you locate Philadelphia on the left side of the page, then locate Columbus, OH on the top of the page and where they intersect it will have the mileage from Philly to Columbus. Write that number down. That is the mileage from your first stop to your second stop. Do this for all remaining stops.

Then take each of those numbers and add 10%. You do this because even though those numbers are the closest to the actual mileage, they are still off and you are trying to be ON-TIME to your pick ups and drop offs.

Once you have gotten all the mileage you need for you trip you are going to figure out how long it will take to reach each destination. You take the mileage and using your calculator divide it by 50. I use 50 because in 12 years of driving I have determined this to be the safest number for all areas of the country. I told you there are shortcuts, well there are also different figures you can use depending on where you are running but again, for your sake as a newbie, you need to stick with 50.

You are basically dividing the miles you have to drive by the speed at which you will drive them to determine the amount of time it will take you to get there.

Now that you have located your "POINTS A and B" gotten the mileage, and the time it will take for you to drive it, you need to check your hours available to drive, the pick up time, the delivery time, and your fuel on hand. Make sure from what your figures are that you have enough time to make the drive legally.

Now you have to determine your route. Take out your pencil and paper and trace out your route, NOT literally tracing it, but if you headed from CT to Williamsburg, VA write down, I95 south to NJ Turnpike to exit 7A I195 west to I 295 south cross Delaware Memorial Bridge, follow I95 south to I495 south around Washington D.C. to I95 south to I295 south around Richmond, VA to I64 south

Now that you know which Interstate or state road you will be using to get into the city or town you are going to pick up or deliver to, grab your cell phone.

For sake of argument I will use my example.
You call the destinations contact number and ask for their shipping/receiving dept. Inform them of who you are, what you are doing and that you will be coming in on I64 headed south and if they could please give you directions into there plant or facility and what exit they suggest. SHIPPING/RECEIVING should know this information. In 12 years I have never NOT been able to get somewhere with this simple information I am giving you. It is tried and tested.

You write the information they are telling you down and you ask questions. "Is there a landmark?" "Is there any tight turns that may give me trouble?" "Can I park there overnight?" "Is there parking around the area?" "Are you open and receiving 24hrs?" Do you understand, if you have questions, which you should on every load unless you have previously delivered there in the past, ask as many questions as you can. The point of a Trip Plan is to be informed about everything and anything that you can to ensure a safe run and to get the job safely done. The only dumb question is one that you do not ask. REMEMBER though. You are the driver, you must take responsibility for anything that happens, and you must NEVER assume that what they say is always 100% correct. example of the last, "Sure you can park here, the parking lot is huge." You show up and yes, the parking lot is huge, however there are light poles and shrubs ever 15 feet as landscaping in the parking lot. You're not parking there without taking out some shrubbery and I don't think they will appreciate that.

NOW, lets see what we have so far. We have a LOAD, Directions, and travel time. OH and you have a lot more knowledge about this trip then you did when you first saw it pop up on the qual-comm.

Now we look at the hours of service you have. Example 750 mile run. The way you have figured this out, by dividing the mileage by 50, it is going to take you 15 hours of drive time. (I don't want to hear you moan!! You are learning, it will take you 15 hours of drive time according to your figures. And these ARE the figures you need to be using, I will explain later)

So you have 6 hours left till your out of hours. Well again, simple math. 15 - 6 = 9 (write that down) You locate which road you will be on in approx 6 hours. Well you do the reverse math. 6 x 50 = 300 so you will be approx 300 miles away from where you currently are. This is important because this is where you will need to take your break. You now break out your brand new TruckStop guide....

You look by state and road and you locate any rest areas or truck stops that will be within legal distance to where you should be in 6 hours. Write them down, example, ex 7 (Bordentown, NJ), ex 1 (Penns Grove, NJ) You are basically getting some options for yourself as things can always change but you are trying to prepare for everything you can not prepare for.

Now it was 12pm you figure you will get to rest area or (truckstop) by 6pm for your break and you are going to (if possible) stop at a full service area so that you can eliminate many concerns with your trip planning. If you can fuel, eat, and shower all in the same place you are going to sleep then that eliminates the need for added stops, added stress, and added work. So do your best, but if you can't then you plan for that as well, but that is why you are using 50 as your dividing number. It will allow extra time for everything that is unforeseen. It's better to stop after driving in this example 254 miles then to be looking for a place to stop at 299 miles. Get that point?

Anyway, back to the Trip Plan cause you haven't even left yet. Your log book in hand and you know at 6pm you will be taking 10 hour break so you will be leaving at approx 4:15 am to continue your trip. You still have 9 more hours of driving to do before you have covered the mileage you figured out. So at approx 1pm is when you should finally arrive at your destination with approx 2 hours of driving available and with almost 7 hours left on your 16 hour tour.

Are you seeing how this is working? I hope that you are. Let's see what we know now. We have the LOAD, directions, travel time, where your going to stop, and what time you will arrive and how many hours you will have left to run and grab your next load, but wait; was your load a drop and hook (allow 1hr), was it live load/unload (better Trip Plan for 4 hours). You always want to allow yourself more time then not when Trip Planning. I know that you are out there trying to run as many miles as humanly possible but there are things you may not know about the trucking company you are running for. Example there are some that have lists. You are placed on this list after you except the load and tell them when you will be there and empty. You keep your position on that list for your next load, until you update your ETA, then you have just lost your spot and may be moved either up in the list (good for you) or down (not so good) but may be necessary to avoid a service failure. If your ETA states you will be empty at 10am and you put your empty call in at 10:01am you have just went from the top of the list and straight to the bottom. You may be sitting for days if this happens. That is why excellent Trip Planning is crucial in your success in the Trucking Industry. IMPORTANT: It is always better to be sitting for hours then to be sitting for days.

Now that you have the Load, Directions, Travel time, Arrival time, You know how many hours you will have legally remaining once you deliver, now it's time to actually start you truck and head out.
You will be checking your status while in transit to make sure that you are still on schedule. You may find that early in the trip you fall behind because of traffic and congestion, or later you find you are ahead of schedule and are going to arrive early. Just remember to leave your qual-comm alone until you are empty unless you find a severe issue then inform the company of the problem with the delivery. Which ever it is you will find that the way I have shown you will get you to the delivery on time almost every time and the only reason I say almost is because there are mechanical breakdowns that may happen, severe accidents that may shut down entire roads, but with MAPS and SMARTS you will be able to route yourself in a way to avoid lots of things that are unforeseen. If you learn how to do things the old fashioned way then you will understand how to do things when you find yourself in a dilemma with technology.
Also remember to always allow for at least 15 mins for pre-trip, post trip, and 15 mins for fuel, and remember to show all these things on your logs. Run legal and knowing how to Trip Plan will get you the most out of your time on the road.

I know this sounds like a lot, but once mastered and used properly you may actually get rid of your GPS. I have one in my personal car and only use it to show me where POI are while I'm in a town or looking for something specific. It will never replace my Trip Planning as I know I am more intelligent then any computer. And besides, I as well as you too will be able, can do a Complete Trip Plan just the way I described it to you in less then 10 minutes and that is with complications. Takes about 5 mins to do a complete one on a simple Point A to Point B trip with sleeper time.

"Know how to do something before actually doing it."

 

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, LOL!
I noticed that after I posted it. Don't know how I got "full" out of "fuel" but now I don't know how to "EDIT" a post...so think its going to stay that way

 

"My company sends route info over the qualcomm so we do not plan our own routes"

Gravdigr
This is EXACTLY what I am trying to address with this article...I understand that most companies now send you the directions, but they are teaching or instilling the idea to new drivers that they are helping and "here are the directions to where you need to deliver, fuel, and wipe your nose." Last one I threw in there lol!

They are NOT helping, they like the government are instilling reliance on them. As a truck driver you need to be as self reliant as possible.

This is one of the BIG differences between a steering wheel holder and a true professional truck driver.

NOT beating you up on this, I'm just stating that it is the Truck Driving Companies, the Trucking Mills, and the lack of training that is hurting everyone out here and this, although a small part, is probably one of the most IMPORTANT or THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you ever need to know how to do "CORRECTLY". They are instilling the wrong idea into the new drivers that they then place out here in harms way. JMHO