Finally at melton

Ok, some allowance for driver discretion then, that's a good policy. Maybe you can share how you determine reasonable on duty time to help James free up some time on his 70.

 

I usually don't run on Sunday. If I can't fit in a 34 then I just take that day off anyway so that's 10 for all the other days. If it's a little too much for me to deliver on time after leaving at midnight then I may run for a couple of hours, but in most circumstances that's it. A LOT of my weekend loads have enough time for me to take a 34 loaded and that's usually what I end up doing. If not, just not driving that day is enough to make it to the next weekend on comfortable recaps and then chances are that load will allow for me to take a reset. Most of our customers do not accept weekend deliveries anyway, so 9 times out of 10 you can't deliver early anyway. If you can get way ahead on the front end, take Sunday off and leave right after midnight on Monday so you can still make your 0700 or 0800 or whatever delivery on time, that's usually how I do it. If you can find a way to fit the 34 in, do it, but if it makes more sense not to and just stay on recaps for the next week that is also a very viable option. My trainer was fairly religious about pretty much all 8s, and in my opinion it doesn't really make that big of a difference, it just comes down to how long you would like to run every day. I also like having a predictable day off so I have time for non truck things. Try a few schedules and you'll find something that works for you.

 

What you do when new at Melton (or anywhere, really) is find someone who has been there a while who doesn't mind taking your phone calls about anything and everything. Those people are out there. It's not cheating to log 15 minutes loading and 15 minutes unloading. In fact, it's the industry standard. Only another driver can quietly tell you this. The company can't say it out loud. Anything more than 15 minutes is just hurting yourself and limiting your clock.

 

Are you running paper logs, or are you on some sort of electronic thing?

 

It's good to hear positive feedback from a dispatcher.