Sleeping at the shipper and reciever

Oh,I sure did! I worked there 6 weeks and told them to kiss it!
Nothing like finding parking in 3 or 4 minutes with them arguing with you to park on an exit ramp! No ##### way is what I told them...I will never park on a ramp.
A couple times I went 30 to 40 minutes over my 11 and found a truck stop.
They backed off for a few days after that. That whole company was a nightmare.....They were based in Connersville Indiana but that is all I will say.....lol!

 

When I was over the road I used to park at the shipper/receiver the night before on a regular basis. If they didn't allow it I would find/make a spot near by. I always wanted to find my shipper/receiver. I was never a fan of waking up at a truck stop dealing with traffic in the morning only to miss my turn and risk being late. Plus I liked to have fresh hours once I was loaded/unloaded. As for HOS I was always ran paper when I was OTR I didn't have to deal with elogs then. I usually was off duty/sleeper the enire time at shipper/receiver. I wouldnt drop down to on-duty til after 10hours. I was always taught that if it was under 7 minutes it didn't count on a paper log due to the 15 minute increments. That's how I justified that part

You can get lucky showing up the night before. You could get loaded/unloaded right away occasionally and just go to bed after and wake up the next morning and be on your way with a full days hours ahead of you. I always played dumb, said my dispatch told me my appt time was for now blah blah blah and being polite and super nice didn't hurt either. It doesn't work every time but it worked enough to try it every time.

While I never counted my extra money, I did very well for myself. You won't be lucky 100% of the time but I would put money on it you'd at least be able to park 80% of the time. If in doubt google the place your going to and call them up. Look at Google maps and street view to see if there is space to park. If you want food, bathroom and a shower stop by a truck stop on your way there and take care of business. Otherwise a cooler full of food, some baby wipes, and an empty Gatorade bottle can be your friend/lifesaver.

 

No doubt, I had this same thing happen to me at Alro Steel South of cleveland couple weeks back, was running late due to weather, cut off time was 2pm, I showed up at 230, was gonna ask if I could stay on property overnight and get unloaded in the am. They were cool about it and said that they would do me a solid and get second shift to unload me right away. I was stoked that they did that for me so I bought them a pizza for their lunch.

 

It becomes advantageous (if you look at it that way) if the stars are aligned and you're willing to cheat on your log books (even elog)...

You arrive at customer at the end of your day, take your 10hour break and then wake up in the morning and get unloaded + new assignment before you start your clock. Or, you get to your customer and get loaded off duty. Finish up your 10, maybe make it a 12 if you need sleep. I don't feel to bad about doing that, the amount of time some of these places take to load you is ridiculous. Steel tubing companies are the absolute worst, i sat from like 7pm-3am once waiting to get loaded, with like 2 trucks ahead of me. That was a really ####ty day. I think I ended up with like 10 little bundles.

As far as the bathroom stuff goes, I don't know about you guys, but I've always been pretty regular. Unless I have food poisoning or some other illness it's not a concern.. Plus, a good deal of places that allow overnight parking have some kind of bathroom/port-a-potty, from my experience anyway.

 

That's how it's done driver. Trip planning and keeping the door shut. A lot of guys whining about money could learn something from you.

 

LOL

The closest I was ever able to get my average speed was, I think, 96km/h for an almost entirely 110km/h drive (governed to 105km/h from Brooks, AB to Winnipeg, MB).

 

A lot of guys whining about money don't do snow, don't do Canada, don't do tarp loads, don't do this, don't do that, don't go here, don't go there, and take pride in the fact that they never have to do 34 hour resets.

If you want to make money, that's how you do it. You close the door and drive.

The other day I pulled into the yard with 17 seconds left on my 14. Get er done.

 

You don't need to spend hours watching videos to figure this out. It's very simple.

Let's say we don't even want to split hairs on logging issues, like I don't have to log on duty to walk in to the customer and ask where their bathroom is, but if I also ask when they can unload me then I have to be on duty? So let's not even look at that for now.

Perhaps your delivery is not an appointment but first come first served. If you get there the night before you might be first to unload in the morning. However, if you leave the truck stop a few minutes away at 0630 to get there for 0700 you might be at the end of a long line and you started your day at 0600 or 0615 (pre trip). Now your 14 hour clock is burning away while you wait for the half dozen trucks that got there the night before.

Even if you're not first, but you know there's a couple trucks ahead of you. You get up and get dressed before they open. Maybe have some breakfast, watch the sunrise, stretch your muscles, and maybe even shoot the breeze with the other drivers. All off duty activities. No guessing from the truck stop.

So now if you're trying to be a perfect little trucker and an absolute stickler for the rules and you go on duty to start the unload paperwork/process and then go off duty again while you wait, that still saves you from starting your day until then. It could easily be 0900 by then and as long as you're going on duty, you might as well get your pre trip out of the way so when you swing your doors shut you can just start driving.

Long answer, I know, but it looked like you needed it. I hope that helps.

 

Yes, but I always had a plan B option an hour or before 11 hr drive in case the full stretch did not look doable.

My point is, I'm a "runner", so I sought out a company who has long freight (a lot of it coast to coast) so as to fit my driving style. I don't drive like this all the time, but was held up nearly a full day waiting on a pallet of lemons and I always want my last day to receiver to be "easy" just as a measure of insurance against the unknown. Plus, when I can get in a rhythm, I will try and run 04:00 to 16:00 to help with parking issues.

My other point is, when on eLogs and mileage pay and you want to make a decent living, you use EVERY available option there is to maximize your time. And sometimes sleeping at the receiver is one of those things. But keeping the door closed is another. And when the weather is good, you make hay. But I understand that running regional freight has lots of hurdles and you can't run 650 miles a day for 4 plus days, but keeping the door shut certainly helps, any/all drivers, regardless of their freight base.

 

but which is the clown