How often do you stop?

Usually do a reefer check twice a day and once at night. Most drivers just look in the mirror and if the green light is on they are good to go. The new trailers now are linked directly to the qualcomm and show the temps.

 

And I wonder what driver would work for a company, who pays so little, that they cannot stop to relieve themselves. Preferably in a restroom on not on the street.

 

Some will raze me for my lack of posts and experience, but at my age (35) and the fact that I have little ones, I do what is comfortable and safe. It is now about safety and longevity for me. Years of pushing myself to the limit have gotten me no further ahead.

Do what is comfortable...I stop when I want and for how long I want and still make a nice living to support the ones that love and depend on me.

One load isn't gonna make me rich.

There are no wealthy truck drivers...but there are ones who make a good living without going all out everyday.

$0.02

 

While true about the qualcomm Chompi,but the company I worked for wants me to literaly get out of the truck and check the Reefer every 3 hours. Nothing wrong with getting out of the truck every 3-4 hours for the reasons stated. I usually start getting stiff after 3 hours of sitting. Plus my kidneys start sending me nasty notes after 3 hours. I also check the truck and trailer as well. The reason being is something could be fine at the start of the day when you do a pretrip,but something could break or a light could go out during the 3 hours. With the CSA in effect its better to check your T/T every so often during the day.

 

I stop when I need to which differs day to day. Sometimes, once, sometimes three to four times. Almost always stop on ramps, truck stops waste a lot of time. Never takes longer than a couple minutes, even checking all of the tires and the reefer.

 

Stop every two hours. On ramp, rest area, whatever. Kick tires, pee and run around truck twice. That takes a whole FIVE minutes. Five minutes four or five times a tour and you get to live a longer healthier life. < carve it in stone!

 

You get a routine down and your body gets use to it. I usually plan on two stops every 3-3.5 hrs and it works out good.


Time management is important on how your day goes. Plan your stops at certain times and you won't find yourself doing the peepee dance and doing unscheduled emergency stops on the side of the highway.

 

DirtyBob it isn't a good idea to stop on ramps nowadays to "cool a tire". Its quite possilbe to get written for something that would classify as a sex offender. I usually stop at a rest area because it takes about as much time as the ramp thing. Yeah I know when you gotta go you gotta go and I have used ramps for that purpose. I also use an emergency bottle for that.

 

Ya, especially in Nebraska! Kind of a "no no"!