Van Wyk Inc.

Dang, I would love to get back to Brookings SD...Went to College there and just got to Sioux Falls at the John Morrell plant but no closer than that.

Brookings was a great lil town but that was (jeez) 30 years ago.

First run there and back done with no mishaps and waiting to go back out. Have to see what Cory has to run with.

 

RDC must be hungover today. 70 some percent on an 0600 Halfmoon. Then again I haven't been here in a while so maybe this is now normal? I'm trying to figure out how to master this Sysco thing when I do it in regards to being productive while still getting my morning shower and maybe some wholesome meals. I'm probably asking too much eh? I dropped a Springdale/Russellville, AR load here last night and decided to stay at RDC rather than bobtail up to the 323 off duty and back in the morning. I'm not even sure if that's Tim approved? But I didn't and here I sit with my thumb up my---

I have an HOS proposal for you all. I've been thinking for a long time about how to improve HOS to balance productivity and true safety. I think this is a good compromise, but certainly still a compromise. My primary issues with the current rules are: too many to type. Basically, if you don't want to be penalized drive time wise, you need to eat fast food, don't shower, and be in a hurry. A great recipie for safety eh? Along with that I don't like the lack of flexibility in shortening or lengthening your daily cycle, without penalty, to fix the routine your body is used to once a shipper or receiver screws it up for you. This addresses that. But I do understand the reason for the 14 hour clock and have not eradicated it to keep FMCSA and friends happy. If we didn't have the unstoppable clock Central Refrigerated would be paying drivers the same mileage rate doing local deliveries for a couple days straight before the driver ran out of hours! Anyway...

10 hr break/10 hrs drive/on a 12 hr clock
12 hr break/12 hrs drive/on a 14 hr clock
8 hr break/ 8 hrs drive/on a 10 hr clock

Don't shoot yet...

You can EXTEND your clock by up to two hrs a day, by taking separate or consecutive one hour periods off duty or in the sleeper! Now you can stop and get the shower you couldn't get on your break because you were at RDC, or stop at R Place or the diner in Pine Grove and sit down, relax and eat some real food!

This also gives control back to you over when you sleep/try to sleep and when you drive/toothpick your eyelids open, gulp coffee, chain smoke, chew, 5 hr, slap yourself in the face, roll down the windows in January, etc, without sacrificing productivity. You can now run a full "day" as short as 18 hours, 20 realistically, or as long as 28 hours, to get yourself off of that night shift. No I haven't made it as flexible as the old ways, but I've kept the spirit of the 14 by having short breaks already allowed by the 8/2, and long breaks they want to see. They don't want 4 hour naps, and I agree.

Of course, this makes too much sense to ever happen IMO, but let me know what you think, if you guys like it I can try. This is a big board and we can also reach a lot of drivers on Lockridge, Rutherford, etc...

 

I agree that if there was a way for qualifying short breaks to pause the 14 hour clock, much about the hurry-up problems in the current rules would vanish.

I think 10hr break/10hr drive/ 14 hour clock (with the pause option for 2 hour stoppages) would be really good.

I also think that if everybody had to do HOS by the letter (instead of fudging, the way most of the cranky hold-outs want to stay) it would ring some bells at DOT when they could actually see what the impact of actually following the rules is. Maybe that doesn't make sense because I'm writing while tired, but I've always thought that it's not fair to expect the rule makers to know how to make good rules if even just a sizable minority are completely ignoring them. How can you analyze the data and make changes if the data is effed?

Also, Yay for a left coast trip! Due in Seattle on Thursday. We'll see how the passes look through MT.

 

#### you betchtel!!! no wonder i all the loads where gone when i called up yesterday morning, i had to settle for a #### jersey city!! but its all good, but i dont mind doing the Edinburg to St James trip today, as long as Angie can have me back home by Saturday Afternoon or Early Sunday....

 

Haha. Sorry Hawk. Don't worry I've only got time for a Jersey City tomorrow, so you all can have the high dollar stuff.

Larry sorry I missed you. It seems I slept right through your visit? I needed it though. Didn't get to sleep til 1. Snoozed through 45 minutes and got there just in time. I'm loading in Delhi now for Jessup. This place sure is tucked in!

 

Anybody in one of the new trucks with a fixed 5th wheel have the shop move it up a hole? I'm wondering if the steers would still be ok with load and fuel maxed out...

 

Hey Larry, did you stay in Front Royal last night?

 

I think I need to make myself a big ol' "Keep honking. I'm reloading." sign for my truck for the next time I park up here...