What does running hard mean to you?

Why would you think you could not drive at normal speeds with a load considered "oversize"? Never pulled any? I have pulled oversize that were 2 inches off one side of trailer. Pulled others that were 15' high-12' wide-87' long but only weighed 15-20 K. Why wouldn't I run the speed limit if the conditions warranted it??? And most of states he listed have little traffic. Now if you are working with escorts and hauling heavy loads that take a long way to stop you really have to watch it. But don't just assume that those banners make it inherently more dangerous. Many are just a little different.

 

Nah.Not really.You have to remember everyone is "put together" in a unique way if you will;and each has a different endurance level.Throw in the mix different age levels,diet,sleeping habits and of course it DOES get complicated.

In MY case the runs I get usually involve leaving MN for the West Coast or NW and the run is always around 1800mi. I have somehow gotten into the habit of preferring to start my day at 2-3am and run for a straight 11hrs. (With load checks of course as the trailer will be either an RGN,Flat or step usually) In MY case I start with a tall glass of caffeine (coffee) and water or an occasional soda for the rest of the day. No matter what I always hit the "wall" 2hrs or so before sunrise where I do indeed get sleepy. If bad enough I will pull over and nap for an hour or so but usually it goes away and I'm one hyper White Boy for the rest of the day.

I think no matter what one does you have to once in awhile 'work through the pain' or 'wall' whichever term ya prefer. Those who refuse to do this..well..are easy to spot and nuff said on "them."

 

The ones in charge of making to rules should have been in my shoes the last few days. On Dec. 2nd, I took a 34 while my truck was serviced. The last four days, my working hours have been, dating back from and including today, 2.75, 8.75, 1.00, and 7.00.

I can state....categorically....that I am more sluggish and "tired" from the excessive idleness than I would be running hard. But you can't get that across to the clowns from PATT and the rest of 'em that want to limit us to a "reasonable 8 hours driving per day".

 

Aww I know..I did a run to Ohio last week for a friend of mine and the same thing happened when I got jammed at a steel mill 2 days ago in Warren,OH and had to sit/wait 5 hrs. I was exhausted when I finally got a door. Boredom maybe.?

8 hrs a day driving. Glad I will soon be done with this OTR ####. The goobermint better throw in entertainment along with the daily per diem. Maybe the "J" will then bring the buffet back??

 

Stt

Yes and no. 10 hour break gives you time to sleep. And if your roling your hours you'll have more time.

But when your burning thru your 14 cause of pick ups and drops, unloads or what ever the days seem long. If your driving during the day then you don't get a load tell the following night your sleep patterns get all out wack. That's when I get tired. 11 hours of driving straight doesn't make me tired.

But you may find you don't swap from days to nights much. Or if you have longer runs its a whole lot easier caause your mainly working of your elevven or rolling the hours. That of wich is usualy destermined by the time period between pickup and delivery. A lot of shorrt runs is more tiresome to me. But you still have a ten hour break. If you make an effort to sleep during that time I don't think you'll need all that energy stuff

Good luck if you decide to get into trucking!

 

Thank you for saying that.

Miles are money........I get paid to drive it, not to sleep in it.

Zero logbook tickets since 1974. Zero at fault accidents during the same period.

 

Oh yeah I forgot about the split sleeper. I rarely use it but then you would have an eight hour break. Still time to sleep.

 

I never show more than 15 minutes loading or unloading.

 

Thanks Bumpy and ryanj. Now I have my two posts and can use the "thanks" button!

 

Exactly. Actually, I run different with an OSOW than with a legal load. With a legal load, you have more options. It's easier to park, easier to fuel, most scales aren't even going to look your way with prepass. Oversized, you're the first one shut down in bad weather. Metro curfews during the week, football curfews on Saturdays, no Sunday running on the east coast. In the winter months, if you catch a curfew in the evening, you catch the morning curfew the following day. So you run full tilt. Unless they want you to walk inside a scale, you don't open your left door.

and if the state allows you to run at night, you run at night. If you have a pilot car who was a trucker, he can stay in the saddle too, and you can cover as many miles as you can with a legal load.

Speaking of running at night, I ran up 35 last night in Texas, cruise set on 75. There was this ConWay truck in the right lane, about the 301 mm. I'm in the left lane, going around a left hand curve and I see ConWay coming up on a tanker rather quickly. I flashed my lights, and ConWay hit his turn signal. Suddenly, the tanker came to a halt ( I think a four wheeler stopped in the left lane, and made a hard right turn to get off the exit.) ConWay got crossed up a bit but avoided hitting the tanker. I pulled my hazards, stood on the brakes, and yelled on the radio, BRAKECHECKBRAKECHECKBRAKECHECK!!!!!!!!! A truck came up behind me, nosediving with his hazards on. Someone asks, " what's the 20 on the brake...oh....!" A bunch of other drivers came on the radio asking about the brakecheck. We suddenly started moving again and I told everyone that the brakecheck was over. I sure am glad vampire truckers still run the radio.