HOS Rules for team drivers

Most team drivers that I've talked to use a 12/12 shift schedule for everyday driving. They frequently switched drivers around 2-3 AM/PM. 6 AM/PM was also common. That gives some time to fuel, shower, eat, and what not.

If you have a hot load, 10/10 shifts are typical. You can run 8/8/2/2 (split sleeper) to get rid of the 30 minute breaks, but it's rare to have to run that hard.

 

Just as said.
Night day, 3-3, or 6-6, whatever.
One can take nights one week then swap or if one prefers nights, stay on it.
Use your 30 min to grab a shower or food, or hook/drop at terminals.
You rarely run into a position that one of you is out of hours unless you're running like Beelzebub and his best enemy.

Hope he's a good friend! Team can be tough! Good luck!

 

I've teamed most of my career and always held to a pretty strict 12/12 schedule, with minor adjustments as needed for optimal changeover locations. I think running 10/10/10 is asking for trouble with biorhythms and will get a team in trouble with being too tired.

If you are running regular coast to coast runs then teaming on a 12/12 schedule stays fairly balanced. If you are OTR 48 states and dispatches are hit and miss then sometimes one driver or the other will be chewing up more of their 70 than the other, and if that gets really imbalanced then taking a 34 becomes necessary.

Team driving used to be a LOT easier before the new 34 hour reset rules, which IMHO are plain ridiculous. Right now I'm the night runner on a 12/12 with changeovers at 6pm and 6 am, and at times I have to take well over 48 hours to get a reset. The 168 hour rule is also a joke. We used to be able to take "running resets" (when due to scheduling I might not drive at all during my 12 hour shift), but now if I'm not eligible for a reset it's simply wasted time.

One thing about being the night runner, if you have an off shift or an early delivery and then go to a pick up location and need to wait until morning for a live load, any time you have off time you need to stay awake. I regularly will be sitting in a customer's empty and deserted yard, in the front seat with my laptop while my teammate sleeps. Sometimes I'll be at a truck stop doing laundry or taking a shower. Whatever it takes, stay on your schedule.

 

My wife and I teamed for 8 years and drove every type of schedule. The 12/12 was the best but due to hos changes we went to limiting ourselves to 8.5 hrs a day driving each which eliminated the need for resets. We still got 1000 miles a day and worked out best for irregular route carriers.

 

Please explain in more detail what your day looked like limiting yourself to 8.5 hours of driving. My husband and I are in school and everything we are learning is about solo driving. (Basics) we have already thought about this limit due to the 70/8 rule but not sure how that would work in regards to the other rules, and dispatch.

 

You cannot explain a typical day, if that truck is not MOVING you are not doing it right. Teaming makes that truck go 24/7

Im not familiar the new rules today because they would interrupt both team drivers when it's time to GO.

You both get 70 hours to burn (Drive) you take half a 24 hour period and the other person gets the rest. I hope one of you is a morning person and the other a night owl.

You are not going to be a effective team for the first couple of weeks. A couple pointers, who ever is in that drivers seat, that person is captian. What he or she says goes. Don't like it? Go into the sleeper and cool off. That truck must keep rolling regardless of your little problems and conflicts.

If someone is in the berth sleeping, that person is to be left alone unless there is a fire or something about to kill both of you. That excludes most problems in which you might bother the other person about. It's on you. Now if the scale man says wake him up and get him up here with the logs, go get him. (Never mind the rules saying that person cannot be disturbed in the berth...)

You think for two people, not just yourself.

I can go on, but that truck gets fueled every day and keeps moving always. If it is sitting still then someone needs to fix the problem and get it moving right now.

Finally conflicts. If you two get angry enough to want to fight. Do not do it in a moving truck. Call dispatcher and let them know you two are no longer a team and that truck needs to be repowered with other drivers assigned by dispatcher. Then pack up you two are going home as soon that truck is taken over at a designated ternimal etc by dispatcher. And it's a given that if you cannot get along with common problems without fighting, then you two are not a good team fit. If there is a problem, refer to rule number one, who is in the drivers seat now? Working? That one has to be the decision maker.

 

First...
Please ignore everything this other guy just said since it is rediculous.... And doesn't apply to a husband and wife team....
You ability to plan your day will be affected by your lack of experience and the company you work for as well as appointment times.

To be honest, for the first couple of years you will be pushed due to your lack of experience..
It really will take that long for you to become familiar with the job and learn how to plan you days and weeks.

Good luck

 

Ran split shifts like others said. I have been told to run 8's so we never run out of hours. False. Only thing that eliminates is the 30 min break like another mentioned.
A nifty tool is a Log App on Android to really see the legality if things without question.
Don't know if you decided to go team,but man is hard to sleep in that bunk moving when your co-driver drives the #### thing like a car. Even still,each bump is a wakening .For me at least.