Logbooks-huh?? how do i do that??

Not sure if you are calling me "Cal" since ther are no posters here tagged "Cal" but here are a couple examples of different ways to do "legal" logs that I mentioned..........AAaaaaaahh if it were only as easy as 8th grade math:::: here they are
EXAMPLE 1----Managing the 70 hour rule - various strategies
I have a few thoughts about different time management strategies. When I was in CDL school I wondered how soon a driver would run up against the 70 hour rule. This got me to doing the math to satisfy my curiosity. I created my own spreadsheet to add up the numbers on several different options over a 28 day 4 week period. Before we get started I would like to point out that the following examples are purely theoretical, and no endorsement is expressed or implied. Also please note that some figures have been rounded to make the example clearer. In these assumptions I have included some on duty not driving time per day to account for loading, unloading, pre/post trip, etc. In the totaly legal world you are expected to log on duty all time spent waiting under load or waiting for dispatch. Some companies may give you a release letter allowing you to log off duty during those times.

Some companies may come under the 60 hours in 7 day rule, but "most" fall under this 70/8 rule.
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To review the rule for drivers for carriers who operate Commercial Motor Vehicles every day of the week.
§395.3 Maximum driving time for property-carrying vehicles.
Subject to the exceptions and exemptions in § 395.1:

(b) No motor carrier shall permit or require a driver of a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle to drive, nor shall any driver drive a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, regardless of the number of motor carriers using the driver's services, for any period after-

(b)(2) Having been on duty 70 hours in any period of 8 consecutive days if the employing motor carrier operates commercial motor vehicles every day of the week.

(c)(2) Any period of 8 consecutive days may end with the beginning of any off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours.

From: FMCSA - Regulations - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

So basically this means that we can reset the 70 hour accumulation clock with a 34 hour break. This allows us to work more than 70 hours in 8 days. To put it another way: If a driver logs thirty-four (34) consecutive hours off duty then this ends one eight ( 8 ) day period and starts a fresh eight ( 8 ) day period with a complete seventy (70) duty hours available again.
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First option: Run hard and take the 34 hour reset. Starting Day 1 and driving 11 hours, on duty not driving 2 hours per day (85% of duty time driving). This leaves 5 hours for the sixth day, so take the 34 hour reset half of day 6 and day 7. This gives 70 hours available again for the 8th day. Over 28 days this yields 236 driving hours and 44 on duty not driving hours. At an average of 50 miles per hour thats 11,800 miles per month. At $0.25 per mile thats $2,950 per month and $38,350 per year. (4 weeks times 13 equals 52)

Second option: Run easy and never run out of hours. Basically thats 8.75 hours on duty per day every day for the 28 day period. At the same 85% of on duty time driving as option one that leaves 7.5 hours of driving and 1.25 hours of on duty not driving per day. Over 28 days this yields 210 driving hours and 35 on duty not driving hours. At an average of 50 miles per hour thats 10,500 miles per month. At $0.25 per mile thats $2,625 per month and $34,125 per year. This may fool some people because the total hours for the past 8 days including today will always equal 70 but we must remember that the rule is not to EXCEED 70 hours in 8 days. To calculate how many hours we have available for tomorrow we add up how many hours on duty in the las 7 days including today and that number will equal 61.25 leaving 8.75 hours for the next day. This option is 88% as efficient in terms of income as option one but sacrafices hometime to do it.

Third option: 7 days on 2 off. Difficult because you have to manage your hours for seven days, and then you get a reset. Ten hours on duty per day, 8.5 driving, 1.5 on duty not driving. Over 28 days this yields 196 driving hours and 34 on duty not driving hours. At an average of 50 miles per hour thats 9,750 miles per month. At $0.25 per mile thats $2,437 per month and $31,687 per year.

In this purely mathmatical example you see that the continuous rolling theory is only 88% as efficient as the run hard and take your reset theory. The difference is that spacing 8.75 duty hours over a 14 hour window is much easier and less stressful than trying to fit 13 duty hours in the 14 hour window. If you hit one shipper with an 8 hour wait time your running hard profitabliity goes right out the window. Of course everyday is different and theory is usually the first casualty when dealing with the real world. To each his own.

I believe that my point most of all disproves the theory that you can make more money/miles by living in the truck 365 days a year vs. spending each weekend at home providing that you live near a freight lane that will get you home.

Fourth option. Given perfect conditons (which will never happen) you could drive 13 hours in a 24 hour period if you had less than one hour of stops. Drive 11,on duty 1, off duty 10, start driving again. This gets complicated and I worked out each day (PITA) on this rolling schedule. I came out with 290 driving hours and 25 on duty not driving hours in a 28 day period. That is 92% of duty time spent driving. This yields 14,500 miles per month and $47,125 per year. I think this is closer to the imaginary numbers that recruiters use. I don't think this is possible, but again this is a theoretical discussion.

I am not trying to change anyones personal style of working, just pointing out the numbers for anyone wondering. Most of all I wanted to point out that staying away from home 3 weeks won't make you much more money than being home every weekend given these theories, unless your company has a lot of "no wait" freight as in the fourth option.

EXAMPLE 2-Many drivers do get confused about the meaning of the hours of service. Let me chime in with the following concept; Hours of service are to limit your "DRIVING" not your work. For example you may "work 24 hours a day 7 days a week and NEVER be in violation so long as you do not attempt to DRIVE.
Now with the above established the rules should begin to make more sense. The 14 hour rule is a prohibition upon "driving" beyond a 14 hour work time frame. You may in fact continue working as in unloading a trailer as long as necessary to finish the job. Just be aware you will not legally be able to drive any further UNTIL you have a consecutive 10 hour break.
There are 3 ways to achieve this;
1. 10 hours consecutive off duty.
2. 10 hours consecutive sleeper berth.
3. Any combination of sleeper berth and off duty added consecutively to add up to 10 hours.

The only other rule governing your hours of service would be the 70/8 day rule so in the above example while it is legal to continue working beyond the 14 hour rule you should have been logging that additional time as "on duty not driving" which will detract from your over all hours available to work for the remainder of the week.

The 34 hour reset is the best solution to getting a fresh 70 hour work window and it is in fact better to be home to enjoy this time. Many companies understand this and have transitioned to a more regional type running to accomodate the drivers desire to be home and do the reset rather than be on the road and constantly be bumping the 70 hour rule. ----FYI about the # Of hours you take for a restart:
If you plan travel in Canada you will want to always take 36 hour breaks.
If you are a USA driver only you only need 34 hour breaks.

Now to answer your question: If you work 10 hours a day between lines 3 & 4 combined
10-Nov 10
11-Nov 10
12-Nov 10
13-Nov 10
14-Nov 10
15-Nov 10
16-Nov 10
70
EXAMPLE 3
On November 17th (which is my 8th day) my recap shows I worked 70 hours for the last 7 days. Since my recap for today says I have worked all the hours available I must wait until 12:00 (midnight) and I can drive again what's on line 1 of my recap (in this case 10 hours) or I can do a 34/36 hour break and reset to 70 hours available. You don't have to take 34/36 hour breaks unless you need to.

However: In this scenerio you will be sitting for 1 day doing Midnight to Midnight doing nothing and if you stay 10 more hours off duty/sleeper the next day you would reset so what's 10 more hours to assure you are not over your 70 hour?

It's going to be hard to plan getting your restart at home only (mho).

Does this help make sense of his/your plan?

If you average 10 hours a day


EXAMPLE 4--You have 3 extra hours during your 14 hour period so most days you get time to stop and take a break. If you are really set on taking a 2 hour break then you can split break and all you are doing basically is spliting your 10 hour break into 8 & 2. After the 8 or 2 break you only have the remaining of the 11 hours you drove prior to the 8 or 2 hr break. I explain it in teh most recent threads. Split is for those who like to take a few hours during the day to break in my opinion you are a safer and less stressed driver if you split break. Also you are only sitting for 8 hours # any given time (minus waiting for loads/home time etc)

Study it and use it before you say it's not for you

EXAMPLE 5-Yes you can drive more than 11 hours in a 24 hour period. The regs are written to restrict DRIVING not working. Work may be loading or unloading trailers, docking trailers, counting freight, fueling trucks, working the dock, or any other non driving job. You may, in essence, work 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year provided you do NOT DRIVE until you have had a 34 hour reset or fall below the 70 hour in 8 day rule. The key is to get rid of the notion that you may only drive 11 hour per "day." The regs state you may drive up to 11 hours within a 14 hour time frame. Once you satisfy your 10 hour break you may continue driving.

Here are 2 examples to illustrate this concept;

First example; John Smith begins a cross country trip at 1200 midnight. He drives 11 hours straight only making quick stops for bathroom breaks and eats sandwiches (pre-made before his trip) out of his cooler while driving. These stops do not need a change of duty status as they take less than 15 minutes and a flag will be sufficient. At 11 am, John stops driving and performs a "post trip inspection" for 15 minutes which he logs on duty not driving and begins his 10 hour break at 11:15 am. His break is up at 9:15 pm at which time he continues driving for his next 11 hour shift. 2.75 hours of the next 11 hour driving shift will fall on that days log book while the remaining 8.25 hours will be logged on the next day. This shows 13.75 hours of driving and 15 minutes on duty not driving on that day.

Second example utilizes the split sleeper berth rule. John Smith begins his cross country trip again at midnight. He drives for 6 hours and gets tired. He shuts down for the next 8 hours in the sleeper berth for rest (this 8 hours will not count against your 14 hour work window and will "extend" that 14 hour time frame 8 hours). At 2 pm his break is up and John continues driving for the next 5 hours. It is now 7 pm. At that time John performs his post trip inspection for 15 minutes and then begins his next 2 hour break (this time may be off duty or sleeper berth, provided it is 2 consecutive hours with no on duty time logged within those 2 hours). At 9:15 pm John continues driving for another 6 hour shift. 2.75 driving hours will fall within that days log and the remaining 3.25 will be logged on the next days log. This also equates to 13.75 hours of driving within a day with 15 minutes of on duty not driving time. This strategy may be used every day up to the 70 hours in 8 day rule at which time you may take a 34 hour reset or wait until you get hours back under the 70/8 day rule.

Soooooo----Kabar ----after reading these do you understand what I meant OR do you still say logbooks are as EASY as 8th grade math--adding,subtracting, na na na na stuff??
I still stand by my original theory log books are complicated ---- or maybe I should say logbook startegies are complicated because, unless I am wrong all the above quoted "srategies" are legal??? but yet confusing-- Well to me anyway. whats the best way to do entries??? But I am still in Trucking elementary school - I think I am in grade 6 LOL take care hope you had a good Holiday .....SBD out..

 

Geeeesh I went back and reread all my examples and now I am REALLY confused LOL