What do you do when not driving?

Read some political or economy news , eat , shower , sleep

 

...also full size shower , jacuzzi and king bed

 

Get ready to be disappointed the very first week and loose those pink glasses !

 

I team with my husband and drive linehaul, terminal to terminal 90% of the time. My work days are 12 hrs days. When I go on duty at 4 pm I will usually go off duty @ 4 am. (10.75 driving, 15 min fueling, & 30 min pre/post trip, 30 min break)

I sleep for 7 - 8 hrs a day. Work out when I wake up & my husband is taking his break. Then between eating, showering, cleaning the truck, walking & playing w/ my dog there isn't much down time. I read my kindle. During our 34 we watch a movie and eat out.

As for cooking. My truck came with an inverter and fridge. I also have a 2nd fridge I use as a freezer. (When I go home every 8-12 wks I cook our meals and seal them with a food saver)

I also have a hard boiled egg maker, rice cooker, electric frying pan, air fryer, hot logic hot plate, George Foreman grill, microwave, and coffee maker

You have to make sure all your appliances Watts are less than your inverter wattage or they won't work.

 

Don’t count on having so much time left over everyday. 11 hours driving 3 hrs to spare on the 14. That spare time goes bye in a hurry if you get short runs, getting loaded and unloaded in the same day.

 

no stripper pole ?

 

Taking a shower at truck stop will take 1 to 1.5 hours. Because you have pack up you clothes. Walk to truck stop and check in or use the app to check in. Hopefully you won't have wait for shower to be cleaned.

You have wait to get fuel, some truck stops like Love's can have trucks 2 deep waiting to get fuel. Plus drivers go inside and get fast food. Fueling can take 30 minutes.

loading and unloading trailer can take 1-6 hours each. You have a delivery appointment and show up and then find out it was a different time. Now you are Work In delivery and could sit hours.

Traffic accidents or rush hour will all slow you down but you still have to make on time delivery. So maybe you planned on 10 hours day but you have drive 11 to make up for the traffic.

I had a drop and hook load couple days ago. Should have only took 30-45 minutes. It took 2 hours, dispatch had wrong pickup number. Then 6 truck wait to check in and then 7 trucks waiting to check out. This customer has the security guard to all the paperwork. So it was very slow and it took 2 hours

 

If you’re a tea lover like me all the truck stops give you free hot water out of the coffee machine.. great for oatmeal too. You must spend your free time wisely cause a lot of stuff takes up extra time over the road. Tripplanning will be your best friend. Making sure dispatch has the correct number. That trailer that you need somebody dropped it with a flat tire cause they didn’t want to get stuck with it. Somebody didn’t write up a BRake chamber that’s clearly been dragged on the floor. Or you’re there on time but it’s taking extra time to unload you.. it’s a lot of hurrying up to wait.. you got 1 driver clogging up the fuel lanes because he’s 4 mins away from completing his 30. The next guy waited so long that he’s also 5 mins from a 30 so he’s doing the same..

 

this is the worst

 

It was never this bad before the mega fleets watered down the industry with poorly trained under qualified drivers in an attempt to fill seats.