Pay Rates

I came to the conclusion that unless you got paid 5.00/hr , 24 hours a day plus mileage while you were in the truck, it really wouldnt be worth driving otr. your quality of life has worth. call it bed pay. we are not robots.

 

Some what close.
54.75 driving hours
01.25 PTI hours
40.00 sleeper berth hours
====
96.00 total hours
You would have 15 min left to drive for the shift at the 96 hour mark.

Now imagine if you tossed in split sleeper berth time and hours gained back. Its not has cut and dry has using the 11/14 to run out the 60/7 and then take a day and a half off, rinse repeat. An OTR driver can work 7 days a week easy if he goes hand to mouth on his hours.

Has for using the adverse weather exception that would just pretty much give the DOT an excuse to bust your chops. Why? because the DOT officer can away use the stances that because of weather forecasts. You a professional driver should be aware of adverse conditions to your chosen route well in advance and be able to plan accordingly. And yea for each guy who "Uses it all the time with no problems" there's another who has a horror story because it brought attention to his log book.

So don't accuse a driver of running illegal logs just because the hours seem high to you. A lot of drivers jump though a lot of hoops in order to feed their families and stay at least with in the gray areas of the law without running illegal.

 

Maybe up in the OC but when I was looking the to see what was around back in Oct they wanted 3-5 for belly and end dumps out in the vally. I think we are just saturated with local class A drivers down here with the construction fall off and guys getting sick of the oilfields.

 

Are these CA CDL rules relatively new requirements, say created after 911? I'm sure that in the old days, amphetamines and time demanding truck companies were just two stressors that the driver had to contend with. One of these at least has been reduced by random urine testing.

 

psychocreep,

I would give just about the same answer that Powell gave you. A clean driving record is a good starting point. Always keep your eyes and ears open. Also, I would avoid employment with any of the carriers that advertise on here or in a truckstop magazine and about 90% of those advertising in newspapers. Ask yourself why are the same companies constantly hiring? I think you know what the answer is.

FYI It has been a little over a year since my company hired a driver. November 2006 I believe. Doesn't that seem odd to you? I mean, when you look at all of the same companies constantly advertising for drivers? I personally think it speaks volumes. We currently have 35 drivers and somewhere around 70 warehouse/tank farm workers at my location in Los Angeles CA.

Keep on looking. There are better companies out there if you are interested in a career.

Drive safe

 

You didn't even show the math you did to get 54.75 driving hours, nor did you show how you can legally get 100 in a week.

BTW, you use the word 'has' in place of what should be 'as' all the time. The dog has the ball. The ball is as big as a softball.

Edit: Nevermind, I did it again and come out the same as you. I don't know what I did last night to get 51 (other than I didn't account for PTI.) Still would like to see 100 legal hours done realistically.

 

I think you have forgotten that the hours of service refer to limits on driving. The point is you may in fact work all day and all night every day of the year if you chose and NEVER be in violation so long as you do not drive.
So in actuality a driver could drive (after a 34 hour reset) after having worked day and night as many hours as you could stay awake for several days.
Is this practical? No but a full and complete understanding of the wording of the HOS will help you maximize your earning potential "in the real world."

I hope this helps defuse this "disagreement."

 

He works for KLLM. He was frustrated at first, but now he's in the routine and most weeks the take home is right around $800-900.

 

So whats the best way to avoid this from happening to you? Perhaps going to a reputable school?