Hard and fast or slow and easy

I always kept a marathoner's mindset of medium steady speed winning the race. Don't rush, but keep the left door shut and stay moving, in other words.

Flatbedding (along with tankers and heavy haul) punishes mistakes more harshly than "regular" trucking, which has something to do with it, too. Being methodical and double checking everything pays BIG dividends, and pretty soon you find the approach rubs off on how you drive as well. At least it did with me.

 

yup, the more you stop the longer it takes, my trainer and a good friend drove that into my brain a steady pace will win the race

 

I always thought it funny how the same guys would go around me numerous times throughout the day.
Yepper, keep the doors closed, and crank on.

 

it would be nice to dictate how much you want to run a day--i never have had that luxury--its always been gonads to the wall---especially when you get stuck doing team loads as a single driver
you learn how to do creative writing in a hurry

 

I turn and burn as fast as I can.. so long as its legal in my log book...

 

For me it's a time managment thing. Normally I like to get the load there early but, if there's plenty of time on the load, maybe I can use a couple of short days to get hours back.

So basically it depends on the load and available hours.

My absolute preference? Run all out and get there early. Make sure the book matches the "bills" and take a reset when I have to.


........... Jim

 

So the loads you get dictate how you run? Seems to me you would want a reset as often as possible to ensure you always have a fresh 70 at the beginning of each week. Am I looking at this the wrong way? Idk I have a lot to learn at any rate. I wish to thank all of you for taking the time to respond.

 

Well a 34 means sitting for nearly two days bored with no pay. Remember, unless you absolutely max out your clock, you begin to pick up hours on day "9" and you can keep running.

If you find yourself up against 70 all of the time with only a few hours left to run, by all means take the 34 to restart your book. Otherwise manage your time efficiently and you MAY never need a 34.

A lot depends on the company and what kind of delivery windows they usually schedule.

Questions to ask yourself - Can I get to the shipper/cons. early? Can I take my 10 hour break on or near the property? How long will it take at the shipper/cons?

A lot of this time can be logged as line 1 and get you some really good hours back for line 3.


.................. Jim

 

Learn to use the "Oilfield Exemption",only requires 24 and not 36
Of coarse this only applies when your "cleaning" up the week.
NO,I will not explain how this is done,you have been given suffient clues to get your book cleaned up.Read the regs and adjust accordingly.

Those required to use tattletale systems,sorry for yah,your SOL!

 

This. Except for a few one-day repairs, I kept my hours rolling over for just under a year, once. (That was back when the economy was booming and freight was good, though. It would be harder to do today.)

I tended to do whatever "leveled" the workload, because steady output felt better than rush/stop/rush/stop for me. You'll find that even within the constraints of the log system there's a fair amount of latitude to work the way you prefer.