How Do YOU Deal With Time Zone Changes?

I have been getting soooo much good information from T.T. and all you truckers but one thing I have been wondering and not reading here is how you factor in the time zone changes. Does your dispatcher help do that, are you solely responsible, is it a function of your GPS or Qualcomm , how do you do it? Come to think of it, I have never driven across a time zone border. Are there signs telling you of that on interstates or some place?

Thanks everyone and a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving to you as well!

Your Log Book will always be kept on your Home Terminal time zone. I keep my cell phone clock set to my Home time zone. There is a function on cell phones to have it automatically change time zones when you cross a time zone. I have an app on my phone called US Timer. It shows a time zone map and the current time in those zones. My home terminal is in Arizona ( we do not use daylight savings time) , but right now it doesn't matter for the purposes of this discussion. My Home terminal is in the Mountain time zone. If I am in the Pacific time zone I subtract 1 hour, Central add 1 hour, Eastern add 2 hrs. All of your Pick up and delivery times will be calculated in the time zone they are located in. For example: If I have a pick up in Phoenix Arizona on 11/24 at 0500 and it delivers in Dallas Texas on 11/26 at 0800, I just add 1 hour to my Home terminal time. I would need to make sure and deliver by 0700 by my clock. I prefer to always live by my Home Terminal clock and add or subtract. I know this was a long winded explanation, but it is really quite easy. I hope this helps!

Your logs are always in your home time zone but deliveries and pickups are typically given in that local time zone so you simply adjust accordingly so you aren't late. Its really not a big deal.

There are two parts to your question, Stewart A.

First part: Trip planning, after calculating the time it will take you to get to your destination, you will have to add in the time zone changes to get your local ETA. Not a big deal. Here's a map that is suitable for planning.

Second Part: Log book, you keep your logs in your home base time, so that your duty cycles never need adjustment (baring Standard Time, and Daylight Saving Time changes).

I'm sure others will chip in with lots of tips.

Your Rand McNally atlas shows where the time zone lines fall, along with a lot of other valuable information.

Your Rand McNally atlas shows where the time zone lines fall, along with a lot of other valuable information.

Spoken like a true old schooler, Old School. Our atlases and slide-rules will never crash, need charging or new batteries, and never need Internet or cellular connectivity. They are ready to work immediately, with no delay for booting or waiting for an app to load. And you never have to reset or worry about forgetting a password...

10-4 there John. You want to hear something crazy? I keep discovering drivers out here who don't even keep an atlas on their truck!

If you're going east, you'll be an hour late. I keep it simple.

Pilots, radio operators, NASA and other space agencies use zulu, or universal coordinated time (UTC), also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). It may or may not be a good thing that the trucking industry does not use a standard time. Nonetheless, I would think that you'd be less likely to make an error if you simply convert the shipper and receiver's times to your own (home terminal) time, base all your calculations and schedule your appointments and stops based upon the time you read on your watch (assuming of course, that your watch is set to your own (home terminal) time, and does not reset itself based upon your geographic location, or the computer or cellular network that you may be connected to.

And as Old School pointed out, your atlas has a time zone map to help you with that portion of your trip planning.

If you're going east, you'll be an hour late. I keep it simple.

Unless you are on Pacific time and going to New York, you will be 3 hours late!