Run more efficiently

As far as split sleeper, if knight allows it , then you should be able to an 8/2, 7/3 or 2/8 or 3/7 split…like if you’re at a customer that usually takes 2hours to unload/load, go sleeper berth for that duration…again that’s if knight has it set properly and allows it.

trip plan, use 50mph as baseline avg speed..using that method, more times than not you will be early…if that occurs, then update your pta with dispatch to show more accurate time as you get closer…

 

A split has nothing to do with recaps hours.
Planning for the week does.

And you don't get miles back on the recap, you get hours to run those miles.

If you want to run on recap hours then you will average your daily on duty time (including drive time) to be 8.75 hours.
That means you can not run many 600 mile days without some 300 mile days in the mix for the week.

 

Assuming clear weather, drive nights. Less people on the road less people you gotta pass, less people that speed up when they see you passing. Assuming it’s safe and legal you can run against the governor till the sun comes up. Trick to driving nights is making sure you get proper rest meaning if you’re under 30 you’re aiming to get the full 8 hours no macho bolony about not needing that much sleep. I normally prefer to start around midnight. Drive until the suns about to come up catch an hour nap and then finish the rest of the shift.

 

So you start your day knowing that you will be tired enough for an hour nap 6 hours in?

I'll stick with driving during the day so I can have a good nights rest and complete my shift without an hour long 'nap' in the middle.

 

Well, I dunno how many long runs Knight offers, but when I drove for outfits that ran large cross-country triangles (5000-6000 miles, two long legs and a short leg in between to recoup hours), I'd often be under one load for at least 4 days. I'd also hook loaded wagons in San Diego, which meant I didn't lose half a day on the docks at the outset. When en route, I'd try to get up early (0400-0430 hours) so I could walk right into a truck stop shower, get rolling no later than dawn and often before dawn, run all day and pull into my next truck stop around sunset or shortly thereafter, which meant there was still plenty of parking available. Also, I'd combine as many tasks as possible at each truck stop: refueling, making minor repairs to the truck, eating, even relaxing & partying before going to sleep. If a driver stops each time he or she needs to do something, much more time is wasted, you understand. Keeping that left door shut and only stopping when necessary will ensure that you adhere to your schedule, despite slowdowns & setbacks like traffic jams, wrecks, road work, bad weather, etc. Once you get in the habit of running long that way, you'll find extra time for that commercial sightseeing gig (i.e. paid tourism). Night driving can lead to fatigue and increased danger: your eyes get tired, you can't see road hazards as well until you're right up on 'em, you have all the drunks getting out of bars after midnight, etc. Whenever I had to do some night driving, I preferred to do it first thing while I was fresh, then have the whole dawning day ahead of me. Of course, if you're stuck with a short-haul outfit, it's difficult to run the way I described... moi, I liked the long runs, and having a 90-m.p.h. truck didn't hurt, lol. Hope this helps... good luck to ya!

P.S. Live loading & unloading at docks can waste a lot of time... if you're stuck doing that deal on the docks, try to knock out other tasks while you're waiting, or catch a nap so you're fresh(er) when ya start rolling. Clock management is very important in the trucking industry, the sooner ya learn to make the most of every stop, the more time you'll have later to do other things.

 

You still have to take a 30, so an hour isn’t much longer. Some people are on a schedule like this. I used to “power nap”, when I was younger.

 

IMO, split sleeper is something to be avoided unless you use it often and FULLY and completely understand it. It's very, very easy to ALMOST get split sleeper right and generate an egregious HOS violation. Split sleeper berth is mostly used to save one day's clocks (11 or 14 Hours) not for recaps/avoiding 34 hour resets. Maybe I'm wrong. The trouble for drivers seldom using split sleeper is they try to use it AFTER they drive out their 11 hours of drive time thinking it will allow them to shorten the 10 hour sleeper/off-duty. Once you use up almost all of your 11 hours, you need a 10 hour break. If you are planning to split sleeper you need to stop long before you use most of your 11 hours of drive time.

IMO customer delays and waiting long hours for a dispatch are what often forces a desperate to think about splitting the sleeper berth time. Reefer drivers are generally much better at using split sleeper because they do it a lot more than dry van, flatbed, tanker.

Running on recaps versus using up your 70 and then needing to do a 34 reset is also often a matter of how much time customers and others waste your time and less about planning to drive one manner versus the other, in my experience. I would easily prefer to drive/work no more than 8.75 hours per day and never take a 34, than use up my 70 and have to do a 34 at a random truck stop. When I knew a trip was going to be so long that I had no choice but take a 34 it was usually along a route I knew well and I could choose where to take a 34. I never found much benefit to running out your 70 and then stopping versus stopping with 5-10 hours left on 70 and starting your 34 in a more pleasant location. Stopping early versus using all but 1 minute of your 70 may set you up for a better/worse start to the next week. YMMV

 

Customers have far more power over making your day efficient or not, in my experience. All the "let's get this going" doesn't have as much affect as some customer delaying you 2-6 hours for some reason they don't tell you. Your efficiency is under your command most when you have multi-day long trips, like coast-to-coast. The more customers you contact the less you schedule is under your control.