Trip Planning for Newbies

Varies from place to place. Call to make sure. allstays.com gives you that info. Trucker be aware................

 

Especially in the extreme northeast....... No road is as it seems ...lol

 

Also you may find usefull following apps loves ,flying j ,petro, circle k and even walmart can save ur but in a pinch watch cerkle k there usaly small tight areas even had to use a closed cvs pharmacy one time due to icy roads . But over all experince and a good map book is key use moter carer map only the others are ment for cars and fo not show low briges or restricted routs .

 

ummm.....Murry....did you notice this thread was from 2013......those apps weren't around then!

 

Consider a 9 hour day, divide the USA into 500 mile blocks. Example Little Rock to Amarillo Texas is right about a day's run. with two hours driving time in reserve in case of problems. Armarillo to roughly Kingman NM But sometimes Holbrook is the stop of choice at near end of day. California is going to be day three.

Boom done. If you go east from little rock, it's Knoxville at end of 500 miles then there to roughly Strasburg VA give or take a little bit. I think the old stop is no longer there. It was a complete and very good stop at one time or another.

From Williamsport Maryland you can access Connecticut by the end of the third day. Anything further north into maine might be a 4th day.

Again I keep the USA divided into 500 mile blocks.

Then there is my personal 35 mph trip standard for appointment purposes. I can do a little math against the empty miles, loaded miles plus 20% fudge and then divide by 35 to get the total hours needed to do this run. Whatever the number that comes out to, divided further by 10 hour blocks for driving, 8 hours for sleeping etc.

Usually appontment times will have to be rescheduled. Why? People make promises that you will be somewhere with a load which probably is not going to happen for a variety of very good reasons. If you were given the authority to create a appointment time you will legally be at and not one minute sooner or later you will be sticking to that time and date. Otherwise you will be kicked out of the Industry.

Weather, winter in the mountains might be a while at 15 mph on split ice and interlock. A while might be defined as 20 hours to reach safe haven. If you reach it at all. You might have to stop two or three times more often to do a run that takes less than a day in summer time sunshine. Or spend a few days and nights waiting out a lethal winter storm.

Sometimes in the eastern mountains we have high wind warnings. I cannot tell you how many hours I have sat in say Somerset Pa for these winds to die down. Taking on anything stronger than 60 mph in a tractor trailer that is now a massive sail trying to flip you over is not recommended. We lose so many each year who foolishly take on known high winds.

Im not here to be negative. Ive learned a good team like us can do a LA to Avenel NJ and back across the USA to LA in less than 6 days. That is really good money. Also a team can do overnights between Memphis, anywhere east of the rockies, reload with cardboard going back to a particular shipper and drop hook for another over night delivery. That kind of trucking is a very high value one and with that kind of challenge, you are never late. Again it's way easier to do this as a team rather than single. In fact it's preferred to be a team so that load is attended constantly and hardly ever stops except to get fuel which usually happens on the return trip prior to memphis.

Finally but not last. Learn the word "no" and mean it. Dispatchers hate the word No. But they will abuse a 90 day wonder until he or she burns out fast because that driver is weak and is a yesman without any ability to say the word no. Remember you are in a fleet with anywhere from 100 to 15000 drivers. Half of them laying around the break room down the hall making whoop up over nothing, surely dispatch can whistle up one of those well rested and movitated hell raisers to take this load down the road. And give you something less demanding. If they give you anything at all.

 

REALLY???? Original post was how many YEARS ago.

 

L O L

 

Do you still have this sheet you could send me? heide.scott@gmail.com Thanks