Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

Ya, I know those days too.

It just threw me a curve when he said “we are supposed to run 9 hours a day”... lol ... like really?

But I’ve been running nights for a few days so who knows what I’m hearing... lol

 

They don't pre-plan us, is the thing here. So it doesn't really matter. In my experience, they generally don't start even looking for your next load until you send 'em the END TRIP macro. And at that point, they work with the hours you have, not the hours they wish you had.

And on the rare occasions when they do pre-plan us, they let us know. I have had a few pre-plans, and in those instances it was always made clear that I had a second load already queued up so that I could adjust my driving behavior on the first load accordingly.

If there's a DM out there who is giving his drivers Load A and assuming that those drivers will be in position to pick up Load B afterwards, but he's not actually telling those drivers about Load B, that's a problem with the DM, not with the drivers. Right? If you need me in a position to pick up a 2nd load after I finish my 1st load, tell me. My mind-reading machine ran outta batteries last year.

And if the DM wants me to drive out my full 11 every day regardless, the solution is very simple: Give me loads which don't have a lot of extra time on them. I have driven out my full 11 three out of the past four days, because that's what the loads required.

But don't give me a load with 12 extra hours on it and then complain about how I allocate those hours.

We're truck drivers. In my experience, there is literally nothing we can't complain about.

I drove five straight weeks last summer without a 34-hour reset. Math is math.

 

Righty-O. And in your scenario with your current load, I’d do the same. Especially if I could drop it and keep rolling. Almost always a local driver or a regional driver that can make that delivery. But, is it a d/h or do you have to sit and sit and sit waiting to be loaded? So many variables!!! Endless. Hahaha hahaha!!!

 

But you are still only getting the same 70/8... it’s not like you are getting any more time... with or without a reset... but maybe my math is off.

 

Doesn’t that just prove my point? If I have a full 11/14 then I might get a better load option because I have more time available to be used... if I start my clock because I chose to only drive 9 hours yesterday, then I just jacked up my next day... and tossed a wrench into dispatch... if I drove my full clock the day before, now I can set for a few hours while I maybe get a better load without watching my clock disappear waiting... but hey, if anyone wants to hamper themselves by shutting down early and burning your clock, go for it... I’ll gladly take that 11 hour load that you are no longer eligible to run because you shot yourself in the foot the day before... LOL

 

I’m not talking about assuming... at that point it’s communication... I was on a two stop load recently that had plenty of time in it... I was making great time and was going to be there early... called the receiver and they could take me the night before my scheduled drop.

I called dispatch and told them of my change of plans... dropped one the first load and drove on to the second stop and camped out... I dropped that one early ... and since I had yet to start my clock, was ready for another full day instead of a half day had I sat in the load.

Ended up with another great load because I work the clock to my advantage... or else I would have been setting at the second drop with 1/3 of my day gone and waiting expecting someone else to give me something to use up a half day.

But again, your mileage may vary...

 

And ironically, I arrive... oh, that load won’t be ready until the evening of the 17th... lol

Ruined my perfectly planned day... LOL

 

Have a load delivering in Stuart's Draft this morning,than preplanned on a load picking up at the Wytheville yard going to Sarasota Fl,for the morning .

Looks like I'll need to be swapped along the way.

 

Egads!! A preplan! Albeit one you cannot accomplish, but a preplan none the less. LOL Makes our conversation a moot point, eh?

But, but, but...in orientation our class was told under no circumstances were we to contact the receiver. Yeah right. If I’m gonna be early, then I’m seeing if it can be taken early. But, would I notify dispatch right at that moment on the way to the first stop of a two stop load, no. What if the second stop wouldn’t take you early? Yes, I’d have still gone to the second one. Or gotten as close as possible, depending on location, safety, yada, yada, yada. Yes, the 9 hour day - in an almost perfect scenario - is the way to go. And yes, MD, we all work the clock to our advantage. But, don’t you get tired of working for free sometimes? You know, as I mentioned before, sitting at said receiver being unloaded, then waiting for another load assignment, THEN 1-3 hours later starting your clock? But until the regs change back to the way they were (or some facsimile thereof), it will be the way of things. That’s one of the only things I like about being local. I get paid by the hour whether I sit at one place all day or d/h 5 times.

 

Don't think anybody has said otherwise?

The thing about running 8hrs 45min a day is that if you do that, you will always have 8hrs 45mins of drive time available once you start hitting recap. That's the break-even point.

If you run more than 8hrs 45min a day, you will, eventually, run into a day where you have less than 8hrs 45mins available. Like, if you drive 9 hours a day, you can do that for 7 days, but the 8th day you'll only have 7 hours available.