pre trip planning?

With the company i drive for, It is the drivers responcibility to plan the trip. They give us how many miles it is ( air miles of course ) and we have to go from there. I use routing software such as TruckMiles and i have notice that in planning my trips the miles have only been off by maybe 5 or 10 miles from what they have. In some cases it is shorter than what they have.

 

We use Google and Google maps/"get directions" and, so far, it hasn't steered us wrong once to any roads that say "no trucks".

We've gone from New Brunswick to Louisiana to Ontario back to New Brunswick in the past week. Planned it all, changed it, rerouted it, changed stops all with Google maps and haven't had a problem.

 

Our company plans your route for you and sends the routing with the dispatch including where we are to get fuel. Its always a good idea to double check the directions though. Significant route deviations require authorization.

 

Then you've never driven in the Tampa Fl area. Every other street has a sign that says No Trucks, but you learn which ones you can still get away with driving on.

 

Nope, haven't been to Tampa, Florida. So if you use Google maps "get directions" for the Tampa area, it'll tell you to go on streets where trucks aren't allowed? I'll have to remember that.

We've mostly been in the eastern seaboard and have touched on Florida but not been down into it very far.

 

Trip Planning Principles: When you get your load assignment do the following:

-Check # of miles on trip + deadhead miles (from QC) or Dispatcher. Divide the total miles by 50 (conservative miles per hour average you can drive in a day). Example: 1200 miles divided by 50mph = 24 hrs of driving required to complete this trip.

-Divide 24 hrs of driving by 10 (conservative hours of driving in a 14 hr day), now you have 2 days of driving 10 hours plus another 4 hours on the third day. Add 1 hour of on-duty time every day for pre/post trips/fueling and now you need 27 hours to complete this trip. So you need 27 hours total working hours. Don't forget to to add or subtract the time zone changes.

-Now you have to compare this to your available hours based on your 70 hour recap. Take the hours available from your log re-cap and adding it to the hours from the days that will roll off (remember you pick up the hours from 8 days ago every day at midnite), as you make the trip gives you the total on-duty hours avail for this trip. If you have multiple stops make sure you have the right number of hours avail on any given day to meet the delivery time for that day. Now ask yourself, do I have enough time to complete this trip, legally, safely and on time? Do I have the on-duty and driving hours avail to complete this trip legally? If the answer is no contact your dispatcher or send a msg via QC and tell him how far you can and when you could get the it to the drop point. Don't turn it down, try to run with it as far as you can go legally and safely. If you turn it down you might just "sit" there for a day or two.

So remember, total number of miles divided by 50 mph will give you the total number of driving hours required to deliver the load. Divide the total number of driving hours by 10 and the result will be the number of days required to deliver the load. Add 1 hour for meals, fueling, and pre/post trip inspections per day and then add or subtract time zone changes. After you do this, check your recap hours avail and see if you will be picking up sufficient hours every day to complete this trip legally and safely by the scheduled appointment time. Now go to your road atlas, you know that in 10 hours you will be driving approx 500 miles. Now figure out from point A to point B (500) miles, look for a truck stop where you will spending the night. Easy way of doing this: Go to page 3 of the Road Atlas, with a ruler, start at point A, wiggle around turns on the interstate, every inch equals approx 150 miles, this will give you an approx rest stop at point B. I have a GPS on my truck but I never rely on it. This is old school trip planning and I have never been in trouble doing it this way. Good luck to you!

 

50 mph?? To conservative, try 55 mph or 57 mph if your truck does 62. Just don't open the door alot and you will make good time.

 

I use a TomTom for routes, works great and you can set it to take routes that are only highway, have no tolls and to avoid U-turns.