Shutting Down

Whatever works best for your personal schedule is best in the long run.

 

Nobody can tell you the best way to run your truck.

 

In practice, it makes no difference. You can only get there when your hours and your ten lets you get there. Shut down earlier, you can leave out earlier. Shut down later, you must leave out later.

Your ultimate goal should always be to get as close as possible to the end point as soon as possible.

 

Park at shipper or reciever.

 

The clock does not matter to you and at the same time it matters.

It matters because the load will not get there faster, but it will get there later if you don't have the hours to run it. You will wait until you get hours to run it some more. Usually you already know if you have the hours to deliver by a certain date and time appt at the customer. If you do not, your first job before anything is to let dispatch know asap so they can find a relay driver with hours to finish delivery on time or a team to come get your load and go while you sit.

One way or another that load will get there when it gets there, not a moment before. If it's late? It's going to be expensive to someone possibly you.

At the same time your clock does not matter when you get somewhere legally and at the appointment time or earlier your job is to be unloaded and rested so you can roll the next load. But not until then. If you are out of 70 hours for the week at delivery, you take the 34 and reset before going for another load.

I cannot tell you how many times Im rolling to delivery against my 70 hours with less than a hour to go until the entire week is finished and the truck must be parked somewhere (Personal conveyance in those days...) until legal to get loaded and rolling. I remember the Law pulling me over in PA when I ran a uphill a touch hot in speed and watched 30 of my 45 minutes to the end of 70 go bye bye onduty as he examined it for a potential OOS.

He came back and said I better not see you this side of the state line today. Scram. (He knew as well as I knew that we all are out of hours that morning on my 70 anyway.) it took me two in midstate NY to get hours back on recap. As luck would have it I have not been back in that part of PA since. (Mid 90's)

Run your hours, do your trip planning to be sure you have hours to get there legally within a appt date and time. If you cannot, get a new appt date and time or give the load to a team with hours who can get it done. That is where talking to dispatch comes in.

The problem with appt times if you have not yet found out, is that if you are 10 minutes late to walmart DC, they can tell you to take your load, horse you came in on and go away until you get a new date and appt time. That could take as much as 10 days into your future, which means you get to baby sit that load making no money all that time.

 

Don't be late to Wal-Mart DC or you will lose a day without pay, same thing with sysco food mostly.

 

That’s the cue for all the super-truckers to come in and say “it’ll be there by God when I get it there and they’ll praise and worship me when I do get there”.

 

They don't haul these #### loads.

 

I just got done doing a 1200 mile run to Murfreesboro Tennessee and back. . It starts with a 3 hour load out at the dairy than drive like hell to get there before clock runs out.

Go get unloaded for 3 hours and haul ### home.

Not doable in 2 days anymore with all the construction traffic. Shut down early the first day. Got up early second day drove 300 miles got unloaded and drove back a 100 miles out of Nashville and shut down early and went out for a steak dinner and a shower.

Slept in the next day and went out for breakfast at Crackhead Barrel than wandered back for another shower.

Drove a few miles down the road and spent a few hours at the Corvette museum.

Took my time driving the rest of the 400 miles home.

Wasnt going to make the trip in 2 days so chilled and Smelled the Roses.