Managing 70 hr clock - rookie question

Go off duty when checking in and out at customer. Try doing the ELD crawl where feasible. Stay in off duty or sleeper as much as possible.

 

Another idea: try sleeping at the customer whenever possible. I typically wouldn’t do it due to lack of facilities though.

 

If a driver is not planing to do a 34hr reset, the average daily work hours need to come in at 8 hrs 45 Minutes (70 hours divide by 8).

Work hours are the combination of On-duty not driving and Driving hours. A driver needs to focus on logging the minimum amount on those lines. If you log a 15 minute pre-trip that leaves you an average of 8:30 hours of work time each day. If you work more than 8:45 in the day the driver need to plan a shorter day to balance it out.

How many avoid logging hours as work hours is by doing trailer drop and hooks, waiting to load or unload, and anything else they can by doing those functions in off duty or sleeper.

Minimizing stopping for fuel, rest, and bio brakes. Combine them if practical. Every time the truck stops then gets back on the highway adds about 15 minutes to the drive clock compared to driving straight through.

 

Screw dispatch and anyone else that tells you fraudulently log your time.
Log it like you do it, and don't start bad habits. It will only follow you and hurt you in the long run.

On duty is all time doing anything for the truck. You can be more efficient, for example log off duty wile waiting in line to fuel.but on duty to fuel.
On duty to check in and paperwork, but once docked and in the door go to Sleeper (if in sleeper)
On duty to fuel, but are you starting or ending your day? Combine pre/post-trip with fueling.

Those are just examples, but don't let anyone, especially the company dispatch, force you to falsify logs. They are just ticked they have to actually work and get a driver with hours to cover the load.

 

The by the book rule is to log all your on time (obviously). The problem the rule causes to an OTR driver is expending the money clock, your 70.

A common example is putting you clock on duty while walking to the check in window. You are delayed an hour doing so before getting back to your truck to set it to sleeper while you wait. I’ve been at the window 3 hours before more than once. The bottom line is it wastes your money clock in a serious way while you may not be getting paid.

You have a choice to make. Be squicky clean or make money for living in a truck. I think that’s what your dispatcher said in translation.

 

You have to decide if you want to falsify your logs or not. Everyone in the industry is willing to risk your license for their convenience. I would not have verbal discussions with the company about this issue, because over the phone or in person they will ask you to do things they would never put in a text or email. When you get dispatched you need to immediately calculate when you can arrive at a customer and immediately notify dispatch of your ETA if the original appointment can't be made. Don't drive and hope and drive and hope, only to discover at 3 am you will be late. I use a 2 hours for every hundred mile, or 50 mph average speed, calculation to generate a reasonable estimate that can be beat with normal driving. I logged each on-duty event (pre-trip, fueling, check-in/out with customer, etc) and might edit my logs to keep each on-duty event to 15 minutes. Ask the company "what specifically do you want me to do? Do you want me to lie on my logs?". Some trucking companies only stay in business if every driver they have lies on every log page. Those companies will fire you if you don't play ball. Most companies have some drivers that mysteriously find a way to meet every appointment and they edit their log 100 times per week. Other drivers in the company are not falsifying their logs and the company stops giving them trips that can only work if every other driver in the country parks until the appointment is met. Being and adult means making hard choices. As your PSP points add up the companies that will hire you will ask you to do more and more dishonest things. The most you can do is find out from other drivers about a company before you start working for one. You will never change the culture of a company after you start working there.

 

The company you work for should understand the rules when it comes to driver fatigue a simple 34 hour reset after 5 or 6 days will put you back on track and they should not try and make you drive if your due for a reset. Let them know this by reasoning how would they feel if a driver that had not taken a break ran off the road and harmed one of their family as a result, they soon get the picture and will allow you to have your required break.

 

I would bet the dispatcher told you over the phone you are logging to much on duty.
He would never send a text so you would have a record of it.
There is a gps record of when you arrive and depart plus any company message
You can cut back or fudge some of that time but as stated above unless you work 8.45 each day you will run out of time.
If you are under contract just do the best you can and try not to piss off the dispatcher.
After your year find a company that gets you home every week. Its much easier to control your hours.