Day Cab or Sleeper?

So, round trip to either Houston or San Antonio, then back to DFW?

Pretty easily that can be done in a day cab. 500 miles and change to Houston and back, 550 and change to San Antonio and back.

BUT (big but), how likely are you to run into delays with the customers and/or delays with traffic or weather? Any kind of slow down on a moderately long day like that can put your driver between a rock and hard place getting back to the home terminal before his hours are up.

Of course, if you're logging paper that can be "dealt" with...but with elogs looming large on the mandatory horizon, sinking the money into the day cabs that might become, shall we say, less than useful if you go electronic could be a bitter pill.

Stick with the sleepers until you've run the legs enough to be confident you're not going to run into HOS problems except in extremely rare cases. Then get the day cabs.

If all of the caveats about day cabs are already accounted for or worked out in practice, ignore me.

 

I drive a new prostar daycab with a maxforce engine and get less mileage than I did with a columbia sleeper w/ mercedes...about 1800 lbs lighter with daycab...I would like to have a sleeper back but due to weight difference I have to run a daycab...I stay in motels every night if you are running high miles where a delay can get you over your 14 I would use a sleeper just in case...

 

I will always run a sleeper. It does not need to be a condo, my old FLD had a 36" bunk and weighed almost as much as the day cabs, but I had somewhere to lay down if I got tired and didn't have to hunch across the wheel like the daycab guys. plus I did wind up running it OTR for 2 years and worked fine. Came in REALLY handy when the local gig went away and I was stuck OTR, i didn't have to buy a new truck!!!

just my .02

 

Get one of those tiny sleeper trucks like Kenworth offers. You get a short wheelbase and manueverability like a daycab but a sleeper if its needed.

 

Yep, and funny part is that the sleeper trucks are just as much as the day cab trucks

 

And remember... You don't have to deal with "FEDERAL" regulations. Only those for the state of Texas.

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/internetforms/Forms/MCS-9.pdf

Intrastate driving HOS are different. Longer driving hours.

(2) Drivers in intrastate commerce will be permitted to drive 12 hours following eight consecutive hours
off duty. Drivers in intrastate commerce may not drive after having been on duty 15 hours, following
eight consecutive hours off duty. Drivers in intrastate commerce violating the 12 or 15 hour limits
provided in this paragraph shall be placed out-of-service for eight consecutive hours. Drivers
of vehicles operating in intrastate commerce shall be permitted to accumulate the equivalent of
eight consecutive hours off duty by taking a combination of at least eight consecutive hours off duty
and sleeper berth time; or by taking two periods of rest in the sleeper berth, providing:
(A) neither rest period in the sleeper berth is shorter than two hours duration;
(B) the driving time in the period immediately before and after each rest period in the sleeper
berth, when added together, does not exceed 12 hours;
(C) the on duty time in the period immediately before and after each rest period in the sleeper
berth, when added together, does not include any driving time after the 15th hour; and
(D) the driver may not return to driving subject to the normal hours of service requirements in
this subsection without taking at least 8 consecutive hours off duty, at least 8 consecutive
hours in the sleeper berth, or a combination of at least 8 consecutive hours off duty and​

sleeper berth time

 

Not to mention you'll be crossing some of the roughest scales in Texas. Those New Waverly scales are nothing to play with.