Recaps, 34 hr reset and the 70 hour limit?

If you go in the sleeper for 8 hours you freeze your 14 hour clock. At the end of 8 sleeper you have any unused drive time remaining plus whatever 14 was unused.

 

67 mph governed truck on e logs..

And no, you cannot show me how running recaps will make you more.. IT NEVER will..

If you’re not taking home over $1300 a week, your recaps aren’t making you great money..

 

Why in the world would you allow freight availability to dictate you’re speed to arrive. Hurry up and if you have to sit for a day you’ll reset your hours..

 

Because sometimes after spending 2 or 3 weeks beating my head against things like Snow and tight deadlines I just wanted to ease up a bit. Sometime I would stop at lunchtime on the weekends check in a hotel and watch football or NASCAR. My last 3 years I was not that interested in maxing out my income. I'm aware an early delivery and layover could mean a reset. Like I said sometimes I did not want to reset. I fully agree with your post #73. Now, none of the above caused a service failure, well not an actual one. Those Hershey loads between their warehouses in Illinois and Utah had appointment times, but we always did a drop and hook. If there was an exception it would be noted on the dispatch. Now with all this said it really did not happen that much. Most of the time my company ran me ragged!

 

IT DEPENDS ON THE FREIGHT/LANES AND PAY STRUCTURE.

Under YOUR work configuration, I will happily concede that resets are benificial.

Under MY pay schedule if you offered me a 3000 mile week with an average loh of over 500 miles, or a 2200 week with an average loh under 150 miles I want the 2200 mile week - I will make more. I don't need 86 hours on 8 days to gross $1500 a week. I can do that averaging 8.5 hours a day, running 0600-2000.

Say my 10 is up at 0430 tomorrow, I deliver 350 miles away at 1400. Then I pick up a 700 mile load with a 0800 Monday appointment . Should I run on the 10 and max out my drive time? Will it have me available with more hours on Monday?

There is no one answer, it depends on the driver, on the freight, on the pay scale as to what is the most efficient way to run. We can have the same discusion about fuel economy and o/o - slow down, run fewer miles but net more per mile or hammer down and increase revenue? Sometimes one, sometimes the other. There are no absolutes in this business.

 

I have stated clearly now several times. Don't lock yourself into a system just because you can. There is one serious danger to that 8 hour + recap thing. It starts on that 8th day. You only get 8+ hours at midnight to work with all day. Spend 30 minutes or more in a backup or have some other issue like a DOT inspection (folks you must be on duty for those) you can bust your hours doing that. You might get by with averaging 60 MPH west of the Mississippi, but in general (YOU AINT DOING IT on the east coast). Depending on company rules you might have to give up 15 minutes a day for pre trips and at least every other day buying fuel. Limiting yourself to what is in essence 8 hours of drive time (MIGHT) put a dent in your paycheck. It can also put you in a bad situation if your ever dispatched on a load and you can't make the appointment because you don't have the available hours to make the trip. I can't stress this enough, running recap puts you in a situation after that 8th day of ONLY getting that 8+ hours at midnight. Once those hours are over YOU MUST SHUT DOWN! The freight should dictate how you run.

I have seen running recap hours and running doing resets spreadsheets. Honestly, there is not that much difference either.

As an OTR trucker, your hours is your lifeblood. Use them well and stay as flexible as possible.

 

Just chiming in with my limited experience.

I do whatever it is that gets me the most money with the least amount of stress.

I’ve run a month straight or more in recaps. Taking a 34 would’ve knocked my pay down. I’ve taken a 34 then maxed out my hours in 6 days and had to do another 34.

I know if I get sent to Hermiston with a Saturday delivery that I’m going to sit Sunday. Boom 34 and I get my laundry done, and get rested up. Other lanes I run require different things. I’m just thankful I can do my :30 DOT break in the fuel islands so I can eat and shower.

 

I take restarts generally and here's how I think of 34 hours: you take a 10 anyway, and then you're looking at a day, which isn't long at all. And I can always use a good solid day of rest and relaxation after a good night's sleep when I've run my 70 hour clock out.

 

Making .80 cents - $2.00 a mile with those numbers