Your last trip information.

well what "some companies" do is, they see how many miles where you are starting from, at say the shipper.

then they calculate your speed by maybe 55 mph, or 60 mph, but you will NEVER average either speed for too many miles, given slowdowns, construction, weather, etc,etc.

so if you have to drive say 1,600 miles, they figure at (say) 55 mph, it'll take about X number of hours to get there, and this should include your 10 hour break. that run should take about 29 hours. or 1 1/4 days. i hope my math is nearly correct.


now, a GPS will give you an "ETA time", at least mine does, from point A to point B.

 

Picked up a load of tires @ dealer in Graniteville ,SC on 8/28 delivered in Arlington, Tx 9/3. We arrived in Arlington 8/29 and had to wait because GM will not allow you to deliver early. Fine by me because I was at home and had great pay for sitting!

Started using the gps as an aide! Never rely on it totally, always plan my trips by map and see if the gps uses the same route.

 

You are given a pick up time for the shipper. You are also given a drop off time. Based upon how many miles will determine if you can make it or not. If you find that you can pick it up on time, but you see that you can only make it part way before your 70 hr clock runs out,, let your DM know how far you can make it so they can get another driver to take it the rest of the way.

Chances are even if you cannot make the full run, you are the closest to the shipper. Always try to pick up and run as far as you can with it.

If you can make the full run you have to figure what your driving day has left along with your 14. You many be able to pick it up, but have to shut down right after that.

You must look at what you have left on your work week (70 hr) clock.

You can figure roughly 600 miles (10-11 hours of driving) a day for a trip.

Trip planning is not a cut and dry calculation. You have a few factors to determine. Sometimes I would pick a load up and then shut down based upon the appt time at the consignee. I would find that I must run during a certain time of the day usually at night to make the appt time if it was like 2:30am.

You will find a lot of DM's do not know how to do trip planning or when you have to run or shut down. All they would see is you shutting down and not understanding why you did not drive for another x hours. Sometimes you have to explain to them that you run your log book and you must run at x hour of the day/night to make the appt time.

you can roughly figure this.

500 miles - pick up/drop same or next day.
1000 miles - pick up/ drop 2 days later
2000 miles - pick up/drop 3-4 days later

If you have the longer runs a truck doing 62 could avg about 620-640 miles legally. Less time at truck stops and leaving when your 10 hour break is up helps.

 

You need a few pieces of information to get started with planning your trip. You need a pick up address and time to figure how to get to the pick up from you current position. You need a delivery address and time to figure the trip on . You will also benefit greatly from a truckstop guide book, get that at any truckstop for a couple of dollars. Valuable thing to have. For your purposes you can just make up some pick up / delivery address to practice trip planning. Majority of companies will give you the route they want you to take ,it's a handy way to speed up the planning stage. Just be sure to double check the route against the information in the atlas to check it is all a legal truck route. For the purpose of learning you should assume you are not given a route and you need to figure that yourself. Some basic rules to follow are :
Figure your average speed at 55 mph try not to use the speed limit as you will not average that all day long, you want to factor in some breathing room in case of delays( which you WILL have).
Figure your day on a 10 hour driving shift , don't assume you will do 55 for 11 hours straight , you will have to stop for fuel and restroom breaks etc. you want to leave yourself an hour on your driving time to account for problems you can't predict.
A general rule is to try and stick to interstate routes , they are generally a faster route. You will look at the atlas and think that there are other roads to take that look shorter , usually they will be a shorter distance but will be a slower route due to terrain, towns, traffic they may also have truck restrictions you may not be aware of. The atlas has alot of truck info but it doesnt have everything in it. Be aware of this . Until you have experience in an area it's good to assume you will stick to interstates as much as possible.
Figure you distance you will cover in the day and use that to plan were you will shutdown for your break. This needs a bit of thought depending we're you will be. If your in a busy area you need to figure out a plan of what to do if your first choice has no parking , have an idea of a back up plan I case you need to look for another parking area/truckstop . If your going to park at or near the shipper/receiver then call ahead and they should be able to tell you if you can park on the premises or of parking nearby. Get in the habit of calling ahead regardless as it is a good way to get info early.
Most companies give fueling locations , if so try and use this to your advantage. When you fuel your logs must match the time and location. With experience you will learn to use this to advantage rather than disadvantage. I am not going to tell you how to fix your log but there are ways to make it work to your advantage and you need to take fueling into account when you do . You can figure that out yourself later on when you start driving.
If you need to figure your own fuel out then you need to start figuring miles per gallon, gross weight ( you may only be able to put in x amount to stay withing weight limits), what companies you buy from ie Flying j , Petro etc and the locations and prices.
Thats the basics of it , distance/time, parking, fuel , Hours of service and making it all fit to your pick up /delivery times. It's not rocket science but it does require a bit of forethought and practice.

 

Planning for the final delivery in the town or city takes some more thought as well.
My basic rules are: Allways call ahead and be sure to get the TRUCK directions, you don't want the directions that the office girl takes in her little car , been there done that got the high blood pressure to prove it !
Once you have the directions you need to formulate a plan. You HAVE to have an idea of the area. I reccomend buying a map of the places you go. For a couple of bucks they are much better than the atlas maps of cities etc. you must have an advance plan of what you will do if you miss a turn or a road is closed etc. what I do is make a couple of contingency plans on paper such as , if I miss this turn I will go to this road turn this way etc. You don't want to be tooling around in a town or city with no idea , you will end up in a situation you don't want to be in. Make your contingency plans.
When you call ahead be sure to ask if they have parking if your going to be early, some places will turn you away if your early as they may not have any room for you to park and wait.
Read the signs as you come into the area, take note of parking signs, no truck signs etc. if you need to park on the street you want to have an idea of what you passed on the way in.
Take it slow and easy , familiarize yourself with your soroundings . Take note of the type of buildings etc. if your in an old part of a city you want to start thinking of buttonhooking turns as they may be tighter on older streets etc.
Stay calm and don't be scared to throw on the 4ways and stop to figure out were you need to go. Don't just blunder on aimlessly as you will end up screwed in some way.

 

great advice kw9

 

Your planning is going to be dictated by the shipper/receiver. Sometimes you will be allotted a lot of extra time and other times will be really tight on your time frame. Even if you have a lot of extra time though you really want to get there asap. This is what helps you acquire the good miles!

You are on the right track though in that trip planning is going to vital to your success and you can immediately start practicing it. Do as much trip planning practicing as you can before attending school or training and this will benefit you greatly! This will greatly reduce your stress when you are out there on your own for the first time. It will also make you a hell of a lot more successful when you first start driving! A good trip plan will make you much more efficient! Practice, practice, practice!!! Practice makes perfect! Your dispatcher will also be impressed!

Good luck man.... All good advice above so follow their instructions.

 

Dont foget to add weight of load and terrain into the calculation. Most of my loads put me above 80k, and in WA, OR and ID, so I figure an average speed of 50mph to allow for hills and potty breaks. Just something to keep in mind.