Does running hard make any difference?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by NewTrucker7, Jan 9, 2016.

  1. truckthatpassesyouby

    truckthatpassesyouby Road Train Member

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    Hookers and coke.Hoopppaahhh!!
     
    No names left and Moosetek13 Thank this.
  2. Steel Dragon

    Steel Dragon Road Train Member

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    From what I see,most drivers running solo,run 5am to 5pm if possible.I run at night,to avoid traffic,cops and scales.Companies try to maximize empty miles,but do sometimes,grab a short load,to get you to a better freight lane.
    Rarely do I run my full clock,taking the minimum break,and running a full clock again.
    I trip plan to run the hours I like,being able to stop where I like,being able to grab a parking spot at 9 am.
     
  3. NewTrucker7

    NewTrucker7 Light Load Member

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    How does one go about trying to be the "top producer" at a company? Not saying it's easy for a new trucker to do or anything but are there any tips to ingratiate oneself to a company for a new driver?
     
  4. NewTrucker7

    NewTrucker7 Light Load Member

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    Yea I'm not gonna be trying to burn myself out. What are 8/2 splits? That is one thing I have not heard of.
     
  5. NewTrucker7

    NewTrucker7 Light Load Member

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    I'm gonna go with I would rather not be taking 34's so what should a new driver do to avoid that? Now maybe I find out I wanna be taking 34's so I know if I am trying to drive 500 miles as much as possible everyday I will eventually run out of hours and need to take a 34 or is that not correct?
     
  6. NewTrucker7

    NewTrucker7 Light Load Member

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    Now this might be too general of a question but as was mentioned earlier since companies do have software and it appears can keep tabs on how drivers perform as far as how they manage there time and how they run. Do the drivers that maximize drive time and whatnot actually get ahead at mega companies? Is there a real benefit to trying to be the most efficient driver possible or do these companies not really care and you will still just get lumped in with everyone else?
     
  7. NewTrucker7

    NewTrucker7 Light Load Member

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    Looking at it like that I think I would prefer to be Driver B and drive more to get to places early so you can "relax" once you're basically at your delivery instead of relaxing during the trip. Now maybe it turns out I prefer to be Driver A and just deliver everything when it's supposed to but it seems if you want to differentiate yourself at a mega carrier it's better to be Driver B.
     
  8. NewTrucker7

    NewTrucker7 Light Load Member

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    Now again another general question. At these "Starter companies" how good are your dispatchers/load planners and what not? I assume there is a variety of great to embarrassingly atrocious so just curious in general even at the mega carriers will they keep you moving or will you as a new driver inevitably be sitting quite a bit?
     
  9. Bdog

    Bdog Road Train Member

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    You can work a maximum of 70 hrs in 8 days without a 34 reset. That means you can't average more than 8.75 hrs a day if you don't reset.
     
  10. NewTrucker7

    NewTrucker7 Light Load Member

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    I realize trucking schedules are all over the place but for me I think I would try and run from 3-4AM- to whenever. That was suggested to me so you could have a better shot at finding decent parking at night since it appears truck stops later at night become absolute cluster *****.