Delivery Times/ Night Driving

Pretty much. I pick up this load dec. 31, delivery jan 5. I drive when I want to but prefer mornings.

 

Agreed, if you have extra time to get it there it's most likely up to you when you want to drive... If you have a load on a tight schedule, you may not have a choice as to when you drive... Take off, drive 11, break 10, and get it delivered... Those loads you may not get to choose when you drive.

 

I recently had a load from CO to PA over Christmas with some extra time in it... Not only could I choose when I drove (night vs day) but was able to stop to visit a friend and family along the route too. Grabbed dinner with them and took my 10 then drove to the next town and did it again... Nice little side benefit of trucking... But one must still hit the deadline for delivery.

 

Ideally you get to the reciever with a fresh clock so you can get another load out when empty. You don't want to run out of hours sitting in the dock if at all possible.

I prefer to run out of the night, not into it. In other words I like to start my day around 3am. It's not always possible, but usually I can get the load onto my schedule. Sometimes after getting loaded I only run 2 or 3 hrs so that I can get a 10 in and go at 3 am, sometimes the delivery appt won't allow that. Every load is different.

For the most part, if you are consistently on time with your pick ups and deliveries, and manage your clock, companies won't care when you run, as long as you are safe doing it.

 

You can drive when you want. The main thing is do not be late with that dog gone freight no matter what!

 

You're in control of your hours of service not your dispatch.you see how many miles you have to your destinaion the time you need to be there and judge from that when you should drive.you won't be give a set time everyday when to drive.the loads dictate your hrs.sometimes you'll drive days and sometimes you may drive all night.I always seen how long it took to get to receiver and added an extra hr so I wouldn't be late.like if you have 100 miles left and you're ready to start your day and load has to be at consignee by 7:00 am then start your day around four am to account for traffic,consfruction.finding the place that sort of thing.

 

only use 8.45 hrs aday and you will never run out of ours plus you wont work so hard

 

I agree, just because you have so many hrs to work with doesnt mean you need to use them on up.it's not exactly easy for new drivers to understand how to trip plan and time management but they learn with every load ,and gets easier.

 

I have heard others say something similar but if I did that, 8-9 hours a day, on a regular basis, I would be dropping loads late more often than on time... Guess I am doing something wrong... lol