How to Plan a Road Trip?

Don't forget to add in time for rest stops and meals within that 14 hour window.

And also don't forget to calculate the time needed to relax enough to fall asleep, get that sleep, and the time needed to fully wake up and do your pre-trip before you start driving.

You may find that it is neither practical or safe to try and push for a full 11 hours of drive time each day/shift.

Not to mention, you'll burn up your 70 fairly quickly and be stuck with a lot of 34 hour resets.

 

I also used to try to take into consideration, will I be near a major metro area , if so your mph is gonna go down ,less miles. I drive in Chicago ,you have a 3 hour window from about 11 a.m-2p.m. where you may have a chance not getting stuck in traffic. Point is less mph less miles many things to take into consideration. We truck drivers never show up on time anyway so why even worry about it.

 

Where you at? Where you going? Drive from where you at to where you going.

It really is that simple.

Maps will help pick the shortest route, or the easiest route, or the route with the least harassment offices. Experience will help pick the route of least resistance....or the route of greatest convenience.

Fuel when you need it. Stop for the day when the coloring book runs out of hours or when you get someplace that is convenient.

 

Some say if you can trip plan and knock 2% off the mileage right then your good but if you knock off 4% then you will make more money then the others. in this industry. If you pay attention and do your whole trip plan before you start then you will not have to be worried about anything until your next trip.

If you are just starting the easiest thing to do is plan a route and next time you run the route even if its to a different city along that route try and knock off a few miles by picking another route or just one highway can do it.

The Truck Commercial GPS by randy mcnally is a good thing to have but if you cant read a map correctly it wont help you if it fails and it will not tell you the best route to take .

Most of these companies have routes they suggest to you by Qualcom you can follow that but you will not be saved if one of the areas has a low bridge on there route and you hit it as a driver its up to you to plan your trips correctly if you need help with it you can send me a PM and ill try to walk you through it.

 

When I plan a trip, I do so with an idea of where I will stop along the way, if it is a long trip. Some trips can be made in a day. Get a truck stop directory. They are available at most truck stops. You can also do a search on the internet. Find a truck stop near to where you want to stop for the night. There are other places where you could park other than truck stops, but you should have an idea of how far you should be able to drive that day. Things can happen, such as bad weather or accidents, which can delay you, but you can make changes as needed.

Get yourself a good Rand McNally Atlas. I buy a new one every other year. I always get the one that is laminated and has the ringed binder. It is a little more expensive than the others, but lasts much longer. A GPS may be fine, but there is nothing like using a real map and planning your trip.

 

Good advice in this thread

 

Sounds like a funny way to get around.

 

Any one I ever attempted to use.