how long are youut???

everyday and that's how you should think . Why take chances? You're most likely lookin' at 2-4 weeks out at a time but it can vary. Who is this other driver who told you that? what's his story? it all depends on different factors like what you haul, how much you get paid and how, among other things. A lot of drivers cheat on their logs and it's no secret. But I wouldn't recommend it because if you get caught, you'll be swimming up doo-doo creek. You can't drive after being on duty 70 hours in an 8 day period. You can drive up to your 70 hour limit before you must stop driving until you gain more hours.

 

I think youd need to define running to the max. Running yourself to the max legally or illegally?

Logbooks are checked at random if you get pulled into a scale house or Port of entry. Most of the time when you get pulled in, they want to see your permit book. In the past 3 months or so of my current job, Ive been pulled into a scale house for permits once...never been asked for my logbook.

Also, it depends on the company you work for, some have you out for 2-4 weeks. At the same time, others keep you out as long as you want.
Also, some people live in weird sectiosn of the country where its hard to find a load to get home with.

 

That really all depends on who you drive for. Unfortunately, the DOT has taken the SafeStat scores offline--this used to be a good way to judge a company. The higher the SafeStat score, the more likely you would be pulled in for inspection. And generally, the higher the score, the crappier the carrier. Being somewhat of a conspiracy theorist, I wonder if the Swift's and JB's of the industry didn't have something to do with that.

How long you stay out, depends on the carrier, as well as your personal preference. When I drove OTR for PST Vans, it was nothing for me to stay out 3 months at a time. I just didn't feel like coming off the road. If I was stuck somewhere for a while, I'd rent a car and go sight-seeing.

At NTB, I was home every third day, but they ran me harder and I was a lot more stressed. I did not enjoy short-haul even one little bit.

The log books also depend on who you drive for--the reputation of your employer has a LOT to do with this. While I was with PST, my log books were always scrutinized with a microscope. At NTB, I can't ever recall being asked for my log book.

You don't have to run illegal to make a decent living. However, if you set the precedent early on with your dispatcher that you're a runner (read: illegal), that's what they'll always expect from you.

Your dispatcher and your saftey man are two different people though. The dispatcher only cares about getting the load there on time--he doesn't care how you do it. If you say you can get it there by 4am, that's what he/she expects will happen.

The safety man only cares about the reputation of the company and keeping the DOT off the company's back. If you turn in a log that's not legal, you're gonna hear from the safety dept. If you're weaving all over the road because you haven't slept in 3 days, you're GONNA hear from the safety dept. These days, everyone has a cell phone and most (myself included) won't hesitate to drop a dime on someone who can't maintain a lane.

In my opinion, the risk-to-reward ratio for running illegal isn't worth it today. There's just too many ways to get caught.

Back in the day, I used to run three different log books:

One, recorded on mini-cassette, was what really happened.

Two, was for the DOT to see. There were whole complete trips that would disappear, as if they never happened.

Three, was what I turned in to the safety dept. Always legal in appearance, but never matched up with Trip-packs, bills or fuel receipts that I turned in. Obviously payroll and safety never chatted with each other.

Funny thing about it was, I always got plenty of sleep when I drove OTR. Sure, on rare occasions, I'd have a red-eye trip from hell. For the most part however, I'd just run til I got tired, then sleep--logging it legal after the fact. I never much paid attention to how long I had actually been driving.

Fast forward ten years--satellites, GPS, computers... all of this makes it just that much more difficult to fudge things.

It all boils down to this... RUN LEGAL. If you want to choose a good company to drive for, look in the employment section of your local newspaper. See the ones in there that run an ad every day of the year? DON'T drive for them!

Good luck in your endeavors.

 

first run legal even a few hours here and there catch up with ya and like the other person said if you run a "red eye" load they will be expecting it all the time.(my mistake) I normally stay out 2-3months and take bout 2 weeks off at a time but I'm gonna look into scaling it down to a month at a time its all about u and your personal preferences.

 

My dh is supposed to be out 15/16 days, home 2...we've been fortunate that he's been able to do that 2 times since Nov 1.

He's pretty much a stickler for running 'legal'...although we now realize that some companies out there prefer their drivers to run their butts off...and if that means doing it 'illegally', all the better because then everyone makes more money, they just don't want to hear about it and would probably deny any knowledge of it if it came down to it.

My dh makes a decent living driving 'within the legal limits'. He doesn't want to get sent up the river if he gets in an accident with bad books. Just remember that...its YOUR head on the chopping block if you get caught illegal...NOT the employers.