Managing your HOS to avoid 34 hour reset?

People keep saying limit your time to 8.75 per day. True for 8 days. But paydays are every 7 days. So it makes more sense and better paychecks to run 10 hours every day. On the 8th day you take 24 hours off and pick up the 10 hours a day off recaps again. In essence a 24 has become a 34. Gets you back out and running 10 hours sooner and 7 times 10 times 60 = 4200 miles is a whole lot better paycheck than 7 times 8.75 times 60 = 3675 miles.

 

Scottied, are you actually breaking your 34 off at 24 hrs and picking up the 10 later on? I run a Qualcomm and my understanding is that the 34 hour reset has to be continuous. If I could do the 24/10 split I certainly would.

You may know this, but you don't have to run 8.75/hrs/day. It's an average. You can run longer, then cut off a few hours later on and get that average. Like Scottied can run 10hrs consistently - and get loads right away....I wonder if they're hiring?

Averages are tricky, they're one of the tools truck companies use to lure the innocent. A driver can average 8.75/day, sure. But that is all conditional on so many things. Freight, loads, power, shippers/receivers, truck dependability, so on.

We can/I did use that average to make a point in this thread. 8.75 hrs/day x 62mph (average all day) x 7 days per settlement period = 3,800, clearly. Well, that's just numbers on a page, it's not on a road pulling in to some shop or fuel stop. It's actually pretty hard to average at the high end of the numbers, and I encourage anyone interested in this part of driving for a living to use averages somewhere between worst - best case, and to stay away from trying to average the high end. It happens, but usually something comes up. Best to all. J

 

You're right the 34 hour break must be continuous. My example of taking off 24 hours is a defacto 34 because the driver would be picking up 10 hours a day for the next 7 days again, 70 hour clock was replenished in other words, just not to a 70 hour solid block of available time at once but on recaps at 10 hours a day coming back. Certainly better than getting back 8.75 hours on recaps for the next 8 days by comparison.

 

True that, Scottied. It's way better to start off running the recap if you have 5 or 10 hrs left on your 70. Sometimes I'll do the 34hr reset if my hours are tight going in to the recap, not worth the mental gymnastics trying to find hours.

 

Carolina Cargo is great for getting a start, do your time and move on to a trucking job where you can make decent money.
CC is going to be miserable, everything will be bad, but you'll get experience to move on.
.
If you think you'll be the person that thrives there, you're wrong and won't last..
CC is akin to being raped in a prison shower every day. Just accept it and plan your next company.
I met a new Crete driver, he got out of actual prison, did a year at CC and moved here.(Crete)
I asked him if it was as bad as they say, the look in his eyes, phew! But he said nothing bad, only that they gave him a chance, when no one else would.
I hope the CC lovers don't bash me

 

Western Express is probably a better option than Carolina Cargo. They will hire ex-felons. There is a really nice recruiter there named Tori Vandermeer.

 

If you want to learn how to maximize your miles and pay read this thread.

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/threads/crete-a-year-in-review.34475/

If you don't have enough time to read the whole thread read evertruckers posts.

 

There's a lot of nonsense on that thread now a days sadface

 

It's the original Crete year in review. It's a locked thread no one can comment on.

I used to keep up with it when I was in the Army. But I read through it a month ago and I skip everyone's comments and just read the OP's posts.