Lunch breaks

My view is if they happen they happen. But if im in a rythum and dont need a 30 for whatever reason. then i just work through it. Lunches arent that important and if im that #### hungry, ill grab a protine bar or something while im fuelimg.

 

When I first started driving, 1992, lunch was forced upon me because I was pulling double duty and a school bus driver and mechanic. The owners insisted we stop, clock out and eat. Then, by the time I started driving tractor trailers in local P&D work (those little 5 car carriers I've posted before), 1997, the habit of stopping for lunch was ingrained in my sole.

It took me about the first 6 months of real driving to stop wanting to sit still for lunch every day and to learn to go with the flow and sit for lunch on the days my workload made sense and to grab something and go on the days it didn't. Now, as a P&D driver, I was in and out of the trucj and doing physical activity all day long, so stopping for lunch just to get away from the truck had no appeal to me.

My brother, who started doing asphalt paving with our dad, then moved into the P&D world, never stopped for lunch and still to this day doesn't stop longer than it takes to visit the restroom and grab another cup of coffee. On his last line haul run, he would pull out of Wilkes-Barre and not stop until he pulled into Toledo, except maybe once in Austintown for a coffee.

He has always wanted to just get the day over with and feels like lunch breaks just add to the day. He also rarely eats lunch, so for him it was always wasted time when he was forced to be sitting still for 30 minutes.

When I started OTR, about 10 years into my driving career, I would stop and get out, go eat and then hit the road again, but that was just before the rigid 14 hour clock became reality and drivers began being punished for being flexible in how and when they worked.

Today, I still drive about 2,000 miles a month, which is nothing but for someone in a management role it is unusual. Depending on my trip I will sit down for lunch or maybe grab something and run. I never eat or drink in the customer's new trucks I deliver to them, so when in a new truck I always have to pause for a few minutes midday, but in my company car (we tow it with us then drive home most of the time) I will eat on the run.

When I'm at my desk the rest of the month I find myself stopping for a real lunch to breakup the monotonous feel of being on the computer 8-10 hours a day. I find office work more exhausting than driving, therefore I need more frequent breaks but that's just me.

 

It really depends on what the run is and how I'm feeling.

I object to the cost of buying food at what options are not to mention the quality, so when I was OTR my fridge was always stocked and I would eat on the required 30. But the main consideration was my HOS relative to the load and truckstops. I'm not going to stop for a sit down lunch if it means overnighting in a crummy TS or if it shortens my miles for the week.

Now I usually pack my lunch and slowly eat as I'm driving back in the morning. Why extend my day just to eat roller dogs or soggy egg sandwiches?

 

i am linehaul, we are not hourly.

my lunch is a meal replacement protein shake and whatever fruit/veggies i bring that day. cheap and easy to enjoy while driving. i despise sitting somewhere long enough to eat a lunch. most days i don't need a 30 min break but in the event i do, i use as much of it as possible to get any other required work done.

 

I used to eat lunch while loading or unloading. Then they came up with tge 30 min thing which was a waste of time

 

When I started trucking doing P&D they would take 30 minutes out of your total hours worked per day whether you took a break or not. We also got paid for 2-15 minute breaks. I would try to get empty and take a late lunch of an hour total and not take any other breaks.
At UPS they would force you to take 30 a day so you may as well. They came in handy working nights for a 30 nap somewhere along the way.
Very seldom am I forced to take the 30 now because I am usually either loading or unloading for that time period.
When I ran the road with several other company drivers leaving at the same time back in the day I enjoyed stoping and eating at some greasy spoon truck stop for breakfast with the other drivers. I am hard pressed to think of very many truckstops with a good restaurant still in operation.

 

I always take lunches on the clock unless I'm trying to save 6 hours in the week for an extra 6th work day. Burn every minute and hour of that clock on duty all week every week unless I want to work for extra money, that's my motto.

 

the mandatory 30 minutes just started when I had to retire, before that it was a roller dog and a cup of coffee on the run, if that.

only real meal was dinner after shut down.