O/O what is your pay per mile, try to be honest.lol

I'm leased to a carrier pulling reefer. I have the freedom of working DAT boards writing my own paychecks. Some weeks I get 6000 gross other weeks like last week I grossed 12000. On 2700mi. I could be more consistent if brokers would not b's the load. But that's a perfect world we don't live in. 1st QTR took 32 days off for my Tags IRS Vaction time . So my Revenue was Ok or fair.

2nd QTR I grossed 72000.00 its just my 1st yr on Load Boards so take the plunge its rewarding picking and choosing your own destiny.

 

I never been much on DeadHead I usually take a fair rate best I can. So the miles avg out decent. 4mi in and 2nd out is 3 avg . Eating DH is eating revenue potential later in week because you ate up your 70 plus you burned fuel and paying taxes on DH.
I have DH 400miles before at end of the week like a Friday I was in a good area 4mi load pops up can't pull it not enough hrs available. So I quit doing the big DH miles I usually keep it less than 100 now. If I do have a lot of DH ill run col short runs to stretch my hours available out for the high pay weekend load

 

Everyone has a different way. I like cherry picking good loads each week with high revenue. I deadhead 40-50% give or take every week with a van or reefer. After getting empty I usually personal conveyance back home, accruing time on a 10 hour break while doing it, and look for a reload from there. I hardly ever use more than 30 or maybe 50 hours in a busy week on line 3 and 4 so burning up hours of a 70 doesn't bother me. What's ironic is I use a lot less hours on line 3 now due to electronic logs. I still prefer paper logs over electronic though.

 

Are sure It is all right to accrue 10 hour break like that? When you think about it it looks odd to be accruing 10 hour break while driving and upon the end of the "driving break" getting ready for another load.

I was also thinking about PC deadheading from Bufflo, NY to home and that would have been a little over 11 hours but decided not to push it and parked in Gary, IN, for a regular 10 hour, which I must say made me feel a little like a pusssy.

 

Yep I'm sure of it. Off duty driving time counts the same as off duty not driving and sleeper berth towards your 10 hour break. Read the regulation. Also Omnitracs tells me if it is a violation and it never has been. The company I'm leased to looks at every PC and goes over it with a fine tooth comb. I will hear about it if I screwed up. When I'm empty and don't have a follow up load booked I'm free to PC home and I do,it every time. I can even fuel during that PC but that goes on line 4 interrupting the break, which doesn't matter up against a weekend off anyway.

Isn't it funny how when I was on paper logs there was no such thing as PC and I logged that as I did every time I drove. On paper I also had to be concerned that my fuel stop time matched exactly. With PC that doesn't matter. And people will tell you,nothing changed with EOBR. This is just one example of the stupidity of EOBR. I've come across numerous other instances where it changed things and not for the better either.

 

The only way it's not legal is if a person is using it to advance to a reload. I'm,not dedicated and rarely ever have follow up loads booked beyond the load I'm currently hauling. If I do have a follow up load I don't use PC at all. As long as I'm empty and don't have a dispatch for a reload its clear cut I'm relieved of any and all work related issues.

Also if I get inspected in the scales an officer may question me PC'ing 500 miles home or however far I'm doing it and may also wrongly issue a ticket but we can dispute and fight that. In an audit they may question it but when it can be proven I had no load on and no follow up dispatch they don't have a leg to stand on.

We can pull up logs from several years that prove I go home when I get empty every Friday for years and usually midweek also regardless if it's a 10 mile drive home or 1,000. I did this on paper logs before EOBR and logged it without the need for PC. It's how I operate. PC just makes it more convenient for me now. There's no way I'm gaming anything or pushing the bounds here. It's entirely legal within what the PC reg allows for.

 

Personal Conveyance

 

This is always an interesting conversation. I think the legality of it is there as the rule is written, but I think officer discretion is going to ultimately be what it comes down to.

I was inspected in MN on the blitz week. After all was said and done I asked the officer if I was to run out of hours right now if I could just go all the way home under personal conveyance as I had no other loads lined up. He said no, I would only be able to go to the next town with truck accommodations and would need to take a 10hr break there before continuing to go home.

In the link that @OLDSKOOLERnWV provided there was a link to an email for the dot. I sent them a question regarding what @rollin coal is doing. As I have done the same thing as he has numerous times over the years, even on paper. I have never been stopped though to see what an enforcement officer would say about it, and have never been thru an audit for it to be scrutinized there. Should I get a reply on my email I will share it here.

 

He's wrong plain and simple. It's crystal clear look at "appropriate uses of PC" reason # 7 in the link Oldskooler posted. Clearly travelling home is appropriate use of PC. There are no mileage limitations nor any HOS rules on using PC. It only says one must operate safely.

 

For what its worth, during my last audit in 2010 this came up. I had always done the same, if empty and dhing home with no load lined up i used pc. It wasn't as far as rollingcoal does, usually only 200 to 300 miles, but occasionally farther if right before a holiday. The only thing the auditor got on me about was if i had driving hours available i was supposed to use them up before switching to pc for those long drives home. They didn't fine me, was more like a guidance of what they wanted moving forward.

He also cautioned me that in the event of an accident resulting in a civil suit that i was pretty much handing a blank check to the trial lawyer, but honestly if you are in a civil suit you are screwed no matter what, juries hate trucking and always vote against us.