When on your 10 hour break

Logs,

While I am not a truck driver yet I will say I do not understand why they have 11 hour rule instead of a 10 or 12. Could you explain in a PM or on here how this goes. I would like to be familiar with this rule before I go to truck driving school.

King

Big don, that is why in Brevard County, FL you will find rest areas by Walmarts. No more being in remote areas. Sorry to hijack the thread.

 

If I am on a multi-day trip and I get to choose my schedule I pull into a truck stop no later than 5 PM (so I can be assured a parking spot anywhere except Houston or Vegas) with 11 hours driving behind me. I spend 1 or 2 hours showering, eating, internetting, and then I go to sleep until 30 minutes prior to my desired/needed departure time. I take at least 10 hours total. If the next day is not time sensitive, I will stay in bed until 5:30 AM, get up to do morning HOS Qualcom update, prepare logbook for day's driving, be on road by 6AM. I love driving legal!

If I am on short haul, however, I may need to log all time except 15 minutes at shipper/reciever as part of 10 hour rule because that is the only way to make my next scheduled appointment on time with a logbook that won't get me in trouble at scale. Because this often is also a part of backlogging to the speed limit to make up for traffic jams or construction, etc., I may lose even more of my precious government endorsed sleeping time just to keep my dispatcher happy. In totality, that could mean I only get a few hours of sleep after release from shipper/reciever. I hate driving this way but I have watched all the C-Span hearings on HOS and my take is that the government will never make companies quit scheduling me this way and instead pay me for my time babbysitting big businesses' freight at shippers/recievers.

BRI

 

No I do not. I would like to know though. I do know from reading on people mistakes, one can easily go over 11hrs due to traffic so it is wise to plan ahead on rest stops.

King

 

1. Finish today's log, and start tomorrow's. Complete any other administrative task.

2. Do any "household chores" that have accumulated during the day, such as windows, vacuuming, dusting, and general cab housekeeping.

3. Clean me.

4. Eat.

5. Go crawl in the bunk to watch TV, or, hammer on the PS2 for a while.

6. Snooze maybe 6 - 8 hours.

7. Consume, and, stock up on caffeine for the day.

8. CMV Inspection, make a mark in the book.

9. Head 'em up, move 'em out.

I take the full 10 hour break, but, I swear the last thirty minutes of a ten hour break are the longest minutes of the day.

 

No accidents, knock on wood. Despite everything a CDL driver does, there is always the chance that someone else might do something on the road which, no matter how well we are doing our job, might result in an accident we simply cannot avoid. And when that happens, NO ONE is going to ask how well-rested the non-CDL driver was.

I do everything I can to avoid accidents. I don't know for how long I will be successful in that endeavor.

 

It depends on how tired I am. Ive crashed(in the bunk, not on the road ) after driving, and other times Ive felt wide awake and get online or watch a DVD. Sometimes I just take 10hrs, and others I take more. When I am not pressed for time, the alarm isnt set. I feel just as rested as if I take 10 hrs or more. Ive never had a DOT reportable accident, but have had one small bump in a parking lot. I was about in my 5-6th hour though.

 

I also like the 10 hour break rule. I usually do "unwinding" for the first 1-2 hours, then get 8 hours of sleep. I usually take 30-45 minutes in the morning getting ready for my day, i.e. shower (when I can), coffee, and cereal for breakfast. I like to get 8 hours of sleep so that I don't get tired during the day. I like to be on the road at 5:00am and off the road by 6:00pm. Being a flatbedder, it's easy to run during the day verses at night.

 

If I'm on a tightly scheduled run, i generally go right to sleep and get up about an hour before my ten is up. If I'm on a more relaxed pace, sometimes I'm off for 12 to 13 hours and sleep in and get up, get some grub and hit the shower.

From time to time I'll park, go in and eat and watch the tele and relax outside of the truck and then go to the truck, turn on the sirius and listen for a bit, set the opti-idle and go to sleep.

I haven't ever lied about my 10 hr break start or stop, but I have logged some breaks that never took place to get that extra 15-30 minutes out to get to either a customer or a truck stop.

 

My hubby cheats on his 10 hr break on his logs oops better not tell logsrus she is his log lady