I have a question about hours

Though I'm leaning heavy towards Class B when I graduate, OTR isn't out of the picture. So I wanted to ask how the hours work out. What i mean is, when I'm dispatched to go from point A to point B, do they give me a set number of hours to make the trip and if so, if it takes longer (traffic backups, etc) will that cause stress or effect my job? I saw a few Youtube videos and the drivers talked about taking time off to go to a sporting event they just happened to be in town for. But for me, I'm not thinking fun and pleasure but a desire for less stress rather than freaking out cause I won't make my destination on time (over-sleep in the cab due to exhaustion, etc).

 

They need to teach trip planning in school if thats where you are. You have to look at the distance you have to travel, and factor in truck speed, hours of service, allowable routes and all that good stuff.

 

wow, nice truck ... and a tandom at that (I've been reading a lot lately). I like white, it's a clean color. I admit, having to back that rig up is beyond my ability to imagine at present. If I was granted a truck like that (but non-tandom of coarse) I could live in it for a year on the road, then take a three or four week vaction in Hawaii and come back and do it again.

 

Most loads will have delivery appointments assigned when they are dispatched to the driver. A load planner with his planning skills, along with guidance from software will assume the pu will be made at a given time (appointment time) and will then estimate time of arrival given log constraints, average speed, route, fuel time, and additional time for traffic delays. For a solo driver today, very few loads are arranged where the driver is going to have to go go go to make the appointment with only minutes to spare. That being said, things do happen from time to time. usually either a planner dropped the ball, or a planned assignment fell through at the last minute (driver quit "got sick", missed a unload appointment, etc), meaning someone else has to be assigned and is often out of position and has to play catch-up.

Wether you're regional or run longer hauls and 48 state often determines how much "stress" you're going to encounter. To me, the longer your average trip length, the "easier" trucking life is.

 

yeah trip planning is key and especially if you get stuck on an e-log.....which will NOT take into account weather, traffic, accidents, anything that comes up to delay or otherwise impede your progress......

you have to be able to figure and factor in anticipated delays based on where you're going, the time of day, and the weather and look at the trip they give you and determine if you can make it or not based on the miles, time available, and hours you have available.....

some places, you immedaitely will know to factor in extra time.....DC or Atlanta at rush hour, anywhere around philly anytime of day.....going thru (or better yet around) NYC almost any time of day....those places i always run middle of the night if i have the option but sometimes i don't....learn the radio stations in each major metro area that give regular news and traffic updates and tune them as far out as possible to get the current conditions.....like 103.5 in DC or 101.9 in NYC and there's one in atlanta but i don't remember it right off th etop of my head but always get it tuned going in......then figure weather conditions.....it will introduce a whole new level of stress if you end up somewhere having to go thru at the wrong time of day.....think 285 in atlanta on friday afternoon lol....and there is NO good way around, only thru.......depending on your company and their policies, you may have freedom in choosing your route or you may not.....luckily i have 100% freedom in routing with my company and have learned some routes around some places we go but DC and atlanta you're pretty much stuck if you have to get from one side to the other.....

the second biggest thing is lane choice.....learn the proper lane you need to be in going around the metro areas and get in it as soon as possible to come out the other side in the lane you need to be in.....the fewer lane changes you have to make navigating the problem areas the better off you'll be and won't tak elong running around these cities to figure it out....

there are just too many variables to give a one size fits all answer to your question......it will be on you, the driver, to do proper trip planning and determine whether you can make the trip in the hours available or to turn it down.....

do it right and it's usually no issue and smooth sailing.....figure it wrong and you'll get new gray hairs real quick lol

and i totally agree with the post above....generally speaking, the longer the trip is, the easier it is to plan and the less trouble it is.....for me, the shorter trips are usually the ones on the tight time frames that will get you squeezed more than the longer hauls

 

That is unless you work for Swift with it's new Plus-1 scheduling.
More loads than not are now go, go, go with only minutes to spare.

 

my limited experience shows me that refrigerated is usually more tense with appointments especially with meat loads coming out late the nice 2000 mile run that leaves dodge 8 hours late just made the load HOT HOT HOT
recievers dont wanna hear about it because they unload us in the middle of the night then put there own trucks in the doors to load to the stores
but trip planning is essential all day i keep adjusting in my head if i stop here where will i end up for the night etc

 

Dispatch when they assign a load to you, will tell you that it'll take x number of hours. from there, it is UP TO YOU to get it there ON TIME, so stress..STRESS....STRESS...????

you bet your "bippy"...there will be stress.

if you are going to be delayed, CALL your dispatcher. let him/her work out the details with the customer, but expect to get the riot act read to you.

once you are given a load, or you ask for a load, you accepted ALL responsibility to get it there ON TIME.

go to a sporting event..???

only if you HAVE the time and you happen to be in the area. otherwise, your butt had better get moving.

 

Shouldn't be any stress. If the load was planned properly, there would be plenty of time to depart the shipper at the scheduled appointment time, and arrive at the receiver at the scheduled appointment time, with a 1 hour buffer per 500 miles. It should not be my responsibility to fix a delivery that was planned poorly, or where I was detained at the shipper. My responsibility is delivering the load safely. Timing should be all on the planners and the loading dock. Poor planning on your (load planners and shipper) part does NOT constitute an emergency on MY part. I'll keep the left door closed and get on with it, but I'm NOT going to starve or pee in a bottle because of someone else's screwup.

 

I grew up in NJ, near Newark. Drove the imfamous GSP every day toll booth after toll booth, was conditioned like a rat in a maze. Thru Lincoln tunnel, across GW bridge, try out Throgsneck bridge if your into lots of excitement - just be sure to have a shotgun in the cab in case the truck stops running and never leave the truck because on this bridge they have lots of practice completely stripping cars in 10 minutes or less (no exageration). Drove in Manhatten (once was enough, always took the bus after that). Only place that comes to mind that I want to avoid is DC. Took the Amtrack there, and that was an adventure, let alone having to drive thru.

Just trying to avoid the unknowns since at 54, I need to make some $$$ and not jump around trying different things. Would like to buy some acres, put a small 1K sq ft site-built on there and when company comes for the weekend, I'll put them in the guest house, once I put up the poles and stretch out the canvas ... hehe

Whatever you want to share, like radio station frequencies, all hands-on stuff, I want you to know I copy paste all of it for future reference. Thanks for all the great replies ...