A question for team drivers on HOS.

I've not driven team but I do know it is generally considered best practice to create 2 12 hour shifts and agree on who runs which one and stick with it to try and get your circadian rhythm "somewhat" set. A lot of the 24 hour slip seat operations run 2:00 to 2:00 as that seemed to be a good overall compromise but can be shifted periodically to better balance winter/summer daylight hours.

 

Hubby and I tend to do more of a 0600-1800, 1800-0600 split because I have difficulty driving in the dark. However, we get very few loads that require us to run around the clock, so we typically drive about 8hrs each and stop for a short break, allowing us each a few hours sleep without the truck moving.

 

Kind of hard to do when you can only drive 11 hours.. If you run in 10 hr shifts as one DOT break is met they switch and thus the truck can roll 24 hours a day...

 

So they in theory are supposed to oscillate between night driving to day driving and back and forth in various 24 hour shifts throughout the month/year? Think that's safe? And what truck can realistically have the wheels rolling 24 hours a day. How do you fuel, eat, shower, load, unload? Granted, 10 hours may well be the typical driving shift, then add in 2 hours for the other necessities and/or perhaps weather and traffic delays, and you're at a nice consistent 12 hour shift that both can live with long term.

Granted some may want to do it like you suggest and I can see the reasoning behind it but I guess a lot would depend on just how much freight is available, the length of haul and the frequency of home time and if they do in fact run "non-stop" consistently. Some coast-to-coast "air-freight" loads may require this, I realize.

 

I was thinking of the more criticial type of loads... like fruit from the west coast to the east or Flowers going in all directions.. This type of freight would be more criticial to the wheels rolling.

 

We run 10-11 hrs add a break and a fuel @ the end of your shift & your at 12 hrs... Nice to try to maintain that 2am-2pm thing but pick up times /. Slow unloads / breakdowns will mess up your avail hrs real quick (not to mention doing a 34 rolling reset)

you can run 9.5/10hr then quick change if you need to burn more miles in a day but a couple of those on a 3k run and you"ll be getting tired quick

 

You have to be off for 34 hrs strait to get all your hours back (reset)

 

Back in the day you used to able to run 5 on and 5 off. This was the ultimate perfect schedule! Nowadays you can't do that. Right now I am running team and we normally run about 10-11 hours each. I drive night and my co-driver drives days. I love driving at night because it is so much more peaceful and there's very little traffic. Makes for a nice relaxing drive. Less scales and DOT out also. It will take some getting used to if you are going to drive nights. Usually right before the sun rises is the hardest part. There are many little tips and tricks you can do to help yourself out. Above all I would really recommend you stay away from the energy drinks. Coffee and moderate soda drinking should be the most you will need. Your body gets dependent on those energy drinks and such and also you get a tolerance to them after awhile. Once they wear off you can severely crash and this makes you even more tired. Try to stay awake the natural way.

I love listening to talk shows to stay awake. Stuff like Howard Stern, Coast to Coast, Dave Ramsey etc... Also on the weekends on channel 116 plays all the good murder mysteries and crime solving stories. If you have a good interesting show to listen to it really keeps you awake and alert and really makes time go by fast. During commercials I'll flip over to music and get some good heart pumping tunes in me!

Another thing I do is a series of exercises while I'm driving. This keeps the blood circulating and helps to keep you from feeling tired. Just simple stuff like "air boxing" is very effective in keeping you going. Dancing in your seat is another. When I pull over to take a leak I usually run around or do a few fast sprints. Maybe some push-ups here and there.

Another big factor is the temperature in the cab. You don't want to keep it too comfortable. Its better to keep it a little cool then warm. Warm air makes you tired. Keeping the window open or just cracked a few inches gives you some nice fresh oxygen and keeps the air circulating.

Anyway, like I said there are many little tricks you can do to help stay awake but the most important one is if you are tired, PULLOVER!!!! No load is worth you pushing yourself. Even if you just take a 30 minute snooze this can help give you a re-charge and be enough to keep you rolling. Just don't push it! When you are tired you also make poor decisions so keep that in mind. When you are really tired you can actually fall asleep with your eyes open! So do the right thing and pull it over if you have gotten to tired.