Side trips during your driving time off / 34 hour resets.

The best thing to do would be to arrange to get there before the 34, then wait it out at the relative's home (assuming you can park there with the trailer). Otherwise you'll have to drop the trailer somewhere secure and bobtail there.

You can't be "off duty" if you're moving a load, but many companies allow personal use of the tractor.

 

i live in northern cali and had a wedding to attend in phoenix, i just arranged to take my home-time in phoenix that time.

or when i was passing through/spending the night in a town, i would call my friends to come and get me at the truck stop. then drop me off in time to go back to work.

with the price of fuel the way it is, i wouldn't recommend alot of bobtailing out of route, the company will probably frown on that.

 

You can pick any where you want to go or be as you home time. We have done 34 hr restarts and did some side trips and site seeing. It is a great way so see places on you free time with out sitting at a truck stop and being bored

 

My husband and I had all of our things in storage & drove that way for over 2 years. Couldn't see paying rent at $700/month for a place we never saw. We'd still be doing it, if not for the $375/month deal we found in SD.

Basically we saw friends and family across the country and took time off wherever seemed interesting. Vegas, Tennesee mountains, etc. Not hard to find something to do when you can drop the trailer & bobtail. It does help if you work for a company that doesn't mind personal use of the tractor and/or doesn't have a Qualcomm ....

One little tidbit some of you may not know....there is a guy at the Ontario West TA that rents cars out, at a reasonable daily price. Either he, or his contact info is located somewhere near the game room. The cars are picked up & returned out front. For those of you who have family there or are stuck & just want to see what there is to do in LA, it's not a bad deal. Personally, I park at the East side TA (much better security) and walk over to the west side to rent the car. Ask some of the locals what there is to eat & do.....I just went driving one day and found US 101 and the coast, drove along the Pacific for a while and ended up finding a great little steakhouse. Well worth it to get out of the truck for a while!