10 hours not the issue

First off, I do my best to not compromise safety. If I am drowsy or too fatigued to drive, I'm parking it, end of story. That said, I do all I reasonably can to pick up and deliver my loads on time. I personally don't like to drive when it's dark. But I will if that is what is needed. However, to do an all night drive, I need enough time beforehand to get enough sleep and rest to do it. Sometimes, rarely, I'll have a tight load that needs me to limit my 10 hour breaks to 10 hours and my 30 minute breaks to 30 minutes. So, that's what I do. But, most of the time I end up taking about 12 or 13 hours for my '10' and anywhere between 45 minutes and 2 hours for my 30. My company has always been good to me about not running me too hard for too long and being gracious if I need to stop for sleep, even if it makes the load late. Usually I have ample time to run a load the way I want to run it. But, not so much slack time that I have to sit for a day or two waiting to deliver. Most of my loads are live loads and unloads with specific appointment times and not the drop windows that are common with dry vans.
My only ongoing issue related to this is I want/need to take a day off about once a week or so. My basic thing is, if I am earning recap hours, I'm ready for a day off. Sometimes have more difficulty getting that to work out than I wish. But, it is slowly getting better as I'm learning how to be a bit more assertive about it and they are learning I'm consistent about it.

 

DEPOSIT 50 CENTS FOR THE NEXT 3 MINUTES.....

 

I'm pushing 60 and been driving since the late 80s and my dam near mint truck is payed for ...taken care of myself and still getting 2 year cards .
I've never put up with punks riding a desk risking my ### ! That think I should live lower than them.
Load it late and you'll get it late I don't care

 

Don't be late for a Crane unload, or you might not get any of those loads.

 

I don’t get appointments I get windows with an “earliest delivery” and “don’t be 1 minute after this”
Sometimes it’s an hour difference
At most it’s a day or two difference.

I get sent 6days worth of work at a time.
No one calls me, and they know better then to stack them like a mega would.

some days I drive 10 hours some days I drive 5 or 6.
Some days I take a 10 some I take a 15.

 

My 10 is sometimes based on location. 10 is up at 0300 Jackson, TN westbound all day. Ah heck I gots to go

 

I got to run paper logs for a bit and l-o-v-e-d it.
It took about three “practice” logbooks to get one that would pass muster but boy was it fun.
Start when I want nap when I want drive when I want.
If people would stand up for themselves or have some sense about them we could still run paper.
But billy big rigger riding dirty doesn’t know his limit and 10 days into the bag and he blacks out killing joe shmo and his family.
Or new guy just got him cdl won’t say no to working 18hr days and ends up running over little sallie

 

Neither is correct. The problem is not Paper or Eld. It is the HOS.

 

I run the same either way, not much difference.
Back in the day there were a lot of us that used the paper like a slide ruler, not any more. All my BOL's are date and time stamped on the loads I haul these days, no wiggle room with a stamp. I also encourage my son to run deadnutz legal..... It is really saver in the long run. The problem is when you run HOT you convience yourself your safe, generally your not, Kind of like when your so tired that your nodding off (micro naps) everytime you jolt yourself back awake you tell your self, I'm ok now instead of stopping. I am guilty like most other drivers of traveling thru too many state and not even know how many miles were covered.

So the only thing we can do is try to teach the new drivers what we learned the hard way.. Most of us know because we've been there , done that.

 

Waste of money. Old days, long distance ops. Check call.
You called collect person to person for the bosses son dispatching.Will you accept the charges? Who is the call from operator you gave your name... He would mull it seems like. Operator, I'm not sure, Where is this call from? Op would usually give city.Then the understood...
Op, he is not here right now, but will probably be here in an hour (Sit and time to call back).
Op. he is out of town, and will not be here until. (Time it would take you to get back empty)
Could really get comical, or urinate you to the utmost some times. He would give the " Oh, he is out on the golf course now, and be back ?? Or, Well, he just left with his girl friend, so I know he won't be back here for at least ..# hours.
Strange thing ... several of us were "dating" the LD operators and would recognize their voices during the call. 26 trucks all over and these calls coming in? Worked well 1955 to 57.