HoS service question

Good luck finding a company that will consistently let you run hard enough to reset. Once in a while yes, consistently no. Fighting for miles is the most difficult thing drivers have to come to grips with early in their careers. What you are capable of doing and what you're allowed/supported to do are not close to the same. Being able, willing, and ready to run 140k in a year and only getting 120k or less quickly spins alot of folks right back out of this industry.

 

It will not be 8.5 drive hrs per day. It would be 8.5 average total hours per day with approx 7 hrs drive per day on recap.

 

Between all the things you're required to log on duty for besides driving, you typically lose 1-1.5 hrs per day off your 70 not driving. So be careful not to hire on to a short haul company. The longer the loads the less time wasted on duty at customers. Shoot for companies with at least a 600 mile or longer average dispatch. 1000 mile plus is ideal if you're going to go OTR.

 

Assuming you're working at a company that has long freight and/or you're mostly dealing with drop/hook and/or have few appointment times to contend with, and could theoretically run any way you wanted ... then it comes down to personal preference mostly.

Do you like sitting 2 additional hours each day or would you prefer to run hard and take resets and have time to do something enjoyable? Me personally, every hour spent sitting in a stopped truck at a nasty truck stop, staring out a windshield is an hour I'd rather have saved back for more productive time off.

It's nice to have a fresh 70 if long hauls are readily available and that's the way you prefer to run. Guys with fresh 70 tend to have more options from a load planner's perspective. But like was mentioned, you'll have to be at a reefer outfit probably if you expect to "run hard" to the point of burning up your 70 regularly. Appointment times often dictate what you can and can not do in terms of how you [can] run if you're working somewhere that has a lot of live loads and unloads with appointments.

Also, if you end up somewhere that has a "weekends home" model, the issue will be settled for you, anyway.

 

Restarts have a benefit...

1) Fatigue, after enough time out, you need a break...drivers that brag about running x numbers just on recap never get a day off till they go home...is that safe?

2) Dispatch software may say you need 20 hours for a trip even though you know you can drive it in 17. You may not get the dispatch because you didn't have the 20 coming back over the next two days. And...you may never know that trip existed so that you could plead your case.

3) When its time to go home, I don't want to be held up by waiting for re-cap hours. I always try to get a restart before putting in for home time.

Just my opinion...and approach to restarts.

 

Swift is a starter company. Good luck and don't stay too long. Better opportunities await if you keep your record clean.