How often do you actually drive 11 hours/day?

In 1989 i was running from Chicago to L.A. doing LTL .
I would leave out on satuday morning about 8 am and start my drops in L.A on Monday morning at about 5 am .
Did it every other week for over 3 years .

Heck turning and burning the left coast it was common to do 1000 miles a day .
I used to find teams and run with them so I had someone to talk to the whole trip back and forth .
When I closed the doors in L.A the only stops I made back to Chicago was to fuel twice .

I get a kick out of the way drivers are today ....whining about a 600 mile day and not getting enough sleep LOL .
The new trucks are better than anything we used to have the new speed limits are faster but the new drivers are not even able to handle the job .

Man I miss the days when trucks looked like trucks and drivers looked like humans and we just did our jobs and liked it .
We used to run hard and play hard and loved every minute of it ........but there I go showing what a old senile fool I am thinking that we had it better when truckers used to want to be truckers instead of now when truckers are truckers because there is no other job they can do.

OK done rambling on again have a safe day everyone .

 

Now a large majority of the mega company trucks are governed so if may be hard to even do 600 mi a day.

Some loads, because of time constraints, may end up occasionally having a 8/2 sleeper berth that you have to use in order to p/u, or delivery.

Keeping the hours driving down daily on a rolling recap means you don't have to take a 34 hr reset.

Driving can be great, just not the idiots that are out there sharing the road with you, esp in larger, congested cities.

You can spend many hours at a receiver/shipper waiting to be loaded or unloaded. Finding some place to go to afterward to take your break maybe a challenge if the facility won't let you stay on their property. There are more truckstops now than in 2008 luckily.

Good time and planning management skills. Can't stop at every truckstop on the way and waste time.

Breaks can be taken when you want, best idea is to have some idea as to where you will be in xxx time and keep an eye out for a rest area if you don't need to stop at a truckstop, easier in and out and not so time consuming.

Cook meals in your truck to save money as much as possible.

Have to still deal with dock workers (lumpers who go real slow), office workers, drivers, traffic, getting into that weird dock that you have to back down a street to get into, towns built in the 1800's with streets that match.

Do you have family that will miss you if you aren't home often.

You can only spend 14 hrs a day on your open window, 11 hrs driving, the rest in breaks, inspections, fueling, etc. Then the 10hr or possibly longer if you waiting for a new load.

Reefer can haul dry or refrigerated goods, more versatile sometimes for when the loads are slow. Trailers do have to have more washouts because of items hauled so you will have to keep track of Blue Beacon's or other washout places.

If bad weather most companies now days prefer you not to chain and stay parked.

 

I average 8~10 daily. If you look at the 70 hours we are allowed in 8 days and you take away Pre-Trips, Fuel, post trips, loading, unloading, etc. you will end up with about 64 hours available to run in an 8 day period. If you divide the 8 days into the 64 you will end up with 8 hours per day average. So you may run 10 one day and 6 the next. It depends on loads, locations and available hours.

 

Repetitive.

My last tarp job paid me $1600. This thing looked like some sort of lab. The shipper had a crew padding this thing and shrink wrapping it in plastic. I took measurements, backed a stretch lowboy into a building, and stretched it 3ft, got out a 30x30 tarp (yes, it's heavy) and spread it out onto the deck of the lowboy. They put this lab on the trailer, padding underneath so it won't tear the tarp. I tie all the edges up, fold in the excess, flap it and strap it. The top of the lab was open, so I had to roll my tarp out over the straps and then unfold the tarp. Made sure that the tarp on top overlapped the one on the bottom, and tied it down and stitched it together. Started at 0600 and it's 1415....gotta hurry and get rolling before the metro curfew starts.

Hammer down, get out of the metro area. Find a truckstop where I can eat with a fork. Reward myself with a shower, eat a good meal, grab an adult beverage and sit in my truck and go over the OSOW homework. Check in with the Brotherhood Of Outlaw Truckers (the BOOT) via telephone, and then get online and check in with the Cool Kids at TTR. 1900, I am dead.

i normally return to the world of the living at 0430. All successful drivers I know of are up at 0500. If you are new to trucking and want to be at the top of your game, get up early every day. Even if I can't start driving til 0900, I am up early. I'm checking over the truck, doing paperwork, checking over the truck, eat an extremely light breakfast (can't eat much when I have to put the miles down.). If something's wrong, or you need to do something or whatever, you have time...you're not rushed or stressed out. Truck is good, load is good, weather is good, roads are good, permits are good...Lets Rock.

At 0800, I call the receiver. They're happy to hear from me. Got directions in, they close at 1600, my GPS puts me in there at 1449, no time to slack. I call the travel agent and tell her I will be delivering a day early, so she needs to start beating the bushes and find my next load.

Yeah, it's repetitive, but I enjoy the hell out of it.

 

I am alot like the OP.I am a layed off industrial electrician. Given the opportunity , I liked to work by myself. Didnt happen often. Work was repetitive(like trucking) but every job was different. I have spent countless hours on this site soaking up as much info as possible and think I could make it. Going to get my cdl at a local college and give it a whirl.

born2teez: if you want to compare notes. let me know.

 

Forget about it.You can make more money mopping floors 40 hours a week plus OT and have a LIFE EVERYDAY than being a trucker...

Big Brother has most of these guys and gals working for 4.50 an hour.That is if you look at the ''big picture''..In which most will not look at...

 

That's crazy. Didn't you get sleepy? Now that we are on the topic of marathons I wonder if there are any drivers out there who ran coast to coast with no sleep?

 

When I first started OTR, I was pulling a reefer. I would drop my trailer off in Calhoun,Ga Monday morning. I would leave there Monday afternoon. I would deliver in Denver,Co Tuesday morning. Wednesday morning, I would load in Alamosa,Co and deliver in Tampa Florida Thursday morning then deliver in Detroit Friday morning, and b back at the house Friday night. Every week the same run. $1400 a week after taxes. And I was a rookie. Nobody I knew did this 'stay out for weeks on end' crap. We were all home every weekend.

When I started flatbedding, I would swing by the yard and grab a load and take it home Friday night. I would leave out Sunday afternoon and have it in St. Paul, minn Monday morning. Yes, we all worked really hard, but we made money and we all went home every week. Now, they've dumbed down the rules so that the people who can't drive or want to work hard can qualify for a job, but they keep you out and away from the house for months at a time, and they don't pay you.

Which is better...to pay drivers, company drivers 2 grand a week gross, give them a truck that can run, and let them be home every weekend, or put them in a Beancounter truck, pay them $600 a week and keep them away from the house 6 to 8 weeks at a time?

"Oh but it's safer today."

For whom? There are more fatalities on the roads nowadays than there were 25 years ago. And you didn't see any 500 lb drivers. Back in the day, the biggest driver you would see would be 300 lbs, and he was 6'9! Had a driver come through orientation that was 5'8,495 lbs! We didn't go to WalMart and stock the fridge in a truck. Mama made you dinner before you headed out, we all at at the diners and drank beer.

back then, a trucker was this tough looking, weather beaten, flannel shirt and boot wearing, gun toting fella would would go anywhere as long as the money was right. Now, a driver is some fat, smelly, flip flop wearing, front butt having, Geek Squad reject who cries with great lamentations any time he can get an audience. My, how things have changed for the better!

 

I can relate to a lot of what you said. However, I think your statement that there are more fatalities today than there were 25 years ago may be a tad off the mark. I think the number of fatalities related to truck crashes has dropped. I tried to find some kind of supporting documents to support your position online, but couldn't find any. This publication notes there has been a reduction in fatalities related to trucking in the last 25 years.

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/809-690.PDF

While in some ways I yearn for the "good old days" when we could run and gun with impunity and I think the new HOS rules are patently ridiculous when it comes to the actual science of sleep and fatigue, it does seem like there is an improvement in safety. I for one would welcome HOS rules that would allow truckers to avoid rush hour congestion, giving us greater flexibility to split rest breaks in order to move when there are fewer passenger vehicles on the road. We would be able to use our drive time more efficiently (ie. more miles per hour) while reducing potential "conflict" with small vehicles.

 

To the OP.. I am sorry that you are unhappy with your current job, no matter what you do in life, it is hard to go to work at a place where you are unhappy... It also can make a person make irrational choices and create more strict in their life.. My concern would be that it appears to me you are thinking of getting into trucking more for an ape from your current situation and thinking of jumping into trucking and have conjured up the idea of solitude rolling along the highways and taking
in the beatiful scenery with your favorite person.. you...
However, before you get anywhere close to your dream escape... You will have to roll along with a trainer... Who may just make you miss the co workers you ran away from...
I can tell you this.. while yes, there are good trainers out there.. there are also some less desirable ones.. and, a trainer can be good, it you two just don't click... And, you will be in the truck with this person pretty Lu h 24/7
Think of the current co worker you struggle the most with now, could you spend 6 weeks in a hotel roll with them...
And that is without any of the other stressors.. learning to drive, backup, do logs.. and such..
Then, as stated, even if you make it past the training and get your own truck, you will have difficult people to deal with..
Please do some research, and don't make your decision to hastily, there have been many who have been chewed up and spit out in this industry.. especially those who rushed in for all the wrong reasons..
If you want to be a trucker, be prepared to be challenged physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually qnd financially... If you meet the challenges then you can roll along solo and earn a living..