Really stupid wannabe maybe questions

After this post, it will be obvious just how "green" I am .... both to the Trucking Forum as well as the trucking industry.

My first question is kind of a "lifestyle" thing and has to do with sleep ... or the lack thereof. As a new OTR driver, are you able to get into any kind of routine relative to when you sleep & how many hours you can get in one stretch. I ask this because from seeing other posts it does appear as though you may have very little control of your own schedule??

Now, if you have stopped laughing, a second one ... is it better - more appropriate protocol - to add a question such as this to an existing thread or should I have started a new one???

Thanks for your feedback & constructive criticism.

 

here I go again. Offering information for which I have no direct experiential evidence.

In gross terms, you do not control your schedule. That is, you pick a load up at point A, and time Y, and it should be at point B at time Z. This is determined by your dispatcher.

With those conditions, you pretty much get to decide HOW to get it there. You have limits. You are allowed only 11 hours of driving in any 24 hour period, and allowed only 14 hours of "on duty time" in 24 hours (there are nuances, odds and ends, fillups and adjustments, but that's the basics)

So, you trip plan, if you are smart. Multiply distance by .025 to determine the number of hours driving you can expect the trip to take. Plan your trip around that... do you prefer to drive 9 hours/day? can you make your delivery time using that schedule? Adjust your plan to make the delivery date/time while still remaining legal.

Once you have that, you'll know pretty much when and where you'll need to sleep. rest stops, and eating are entirely up to you.

Update the plan daily.

Of course, if you are running team, you can drive essentially non-stop. You just have to work out who's sleeping when.

Regarding your second question - since your questions were on the same topic as the OP, it's (in my book) perfectly reasonable to put theme here. If your question had been about left handed monkey wrenches, or spotted zebras, then a new thread would have been the more appropriate

 

Lurchgs - thanks for your response, I appreciate it.

ps ... Do you find many spotted Zebras in Colorado? I thought that was pretty much a Texas thing .....

 

Lurch looks like you beat everybody else this time.............HAHAHAHAHA


Outststanding response sir.....................J

 

You stated the following:

"With those conditions, you pretty much get to decide HOW to get it there. You have limits. You are allowed only 11 hours of driving in any 24 hour period, and allowed only 14 hours of "on duty time" in 24 hours (there are nuances, odds and ends, fillups and adjustments, but that's the basics)"

First off get rid of the notion that you are only permitted to drive 11 hours in a 24 hour period. The regs state that after you have driven 11 hours then you are required to take a 10 hour break before driving again. If you juggle your book you can actually log MORE than 11 hours legally within a 24 hour period. I do this on a regular basis. You can either use the split sleeper provision or drive your 11 hours straight beginning at midnight, take a 10 hour break, and then resume driving.

Second error. There is NO restriction placed on "on duty time." In essence you can work "on duty not driving" 24 hours a day 365 days out of the year (if you could stay awake that is). The key to understanding the regs is they refer to DRIVING time in all their restrictions. So long as you do not try to drive beyond your 14 hour work window you are safe and legal to continue other work duties such as unloading that trailer.

Might be splitting hairs here but I wanted to make sure you and others reading this thread will not be confused. Heck, even some veterans do not understand this part very well.

 

Jash - thank you - my years on the dirt oval stood me in good stead. Fast off the line, first to the line!

Jikk - I know. I actually spend a lot of time poring over the DOT book. If the question had come from a CDL holder - even a newbie such as myself - I'd have gone into greater detail. But, since the question was from a wannabe, I figured to "KISS" - and just gave it the absolute basics.

Heck, I could have brought up split-berthing

Juniper - yeah, all over the place. They originated here, but didn't like the winters, so most of them moved south. Then Katrina and Rita came along and blew 'em all back up here. Makes hunting a PITA, cuz they are so easy to confuse with the triple-spotted North Carolina long toothed elk.