Some Confusion About The Use Of Sleeper Berth At Shippers/Receivers

I have read posts/comments about drivers who go off duty to "the sleeper birth" on their E-Logs while at a shipper/receiver during live loads. Please explain how you would most effectively use the 8/2 split, if getting loaded/unloaded will be completed within a couple (2-3) of hours. Thanks all.

3-3 hours really wouldn't do you any good. But, just in case there's a ridiculous delay, go in sleeper berth.. if they hold you up 8 hours, you've lost nothing on your 14 hour clock. If it's 5 or more hours, I'd hang out long enough to salvage my clock by staying for 8 hours then rolling.

Factoring in that I (as a driver)would not know how long the delay is going to be, about how many hours should I wait before I consider using the sleeper birth? I have read of drivers stating when "they got to the dock, they immediately went to sleeper." Would that be done to prepare for a " just in case" that they may be there for 6, 7, 8 hours? Also, if they are sitting at the dock waiting to be loaded/unloaded, aren't they considered "on duty-not driving"? How could they log into the sleeper?

3-3 hours really wouldn't do you any good. But, just in case there's a ridiculous delay, go in sleeper berth.. if they hold you up 8 hours, you've lost nothing on your 14 hour clock. If it's 5 or more hours, I'd hang out long enough to salvage my clock by staying for 8 hours then rolling.

If you're running dry van with CFI, you're not going to deal with those extra long waits quite as often, as if you were running reefer , which is where alot of those delay stories comes from. That doesn't mean you won't ever have long waits, but it won't be quite as often.

In my own opinion, I would suggest just ignoring the 8-2 option for the first few months you're solo. Focus on getting your 10 hour break every day, and get a feel for what it takes to run effectively.

Factoring in that I (as a driver)would not know how long the delay is going to be, about how many hours should I wait before I consider using the sleeper birth? I have read of drivers stating when "they got to the dock, they immediately went to sleeper." Would that be done to prepare for a " just in case" that they may be there for 6, 7, 8 hours? Also, if they are sitting at the dock waiting to be loaded/unloaded, aren't they considered "on duty-not driving"? How could they log into the sleeper?

3-3 hours really wouldn't do you any good. But, just in case there's a ridiculous delay, go in sleeper berth.. if they hold you up 8 hours, you've lost nothing on your 14 hour clock. If it's 5 or more hours, I'd hang out long enough to salvage my clock by staying for 8 hours then rolling.

Per the fmcsa rule book, yes you are "supposed to be" on-duty when waiting at a dock. But truthfully, that's not practical for us. It's the accepted practice that once you are bumped to the dock and you're just waiting for a green light, phone call, buzzer, or whatever says you're done, that you log sleeper berth. If you stay on-duty, you'll burn your 70 hour clock at an unnecessary pace.

Chris is right. However make sure you get clarification from CFI how they want it logged. I've seen some people say their company requires them to log 15 minutes to deal with paperwork

Factoring in that I (as a driver)would not know how long the delay is going to be, about how many hours should I wait before I consider using the sleeper birth? I have read of drivers stating when "they got to the dock, they immediately went to sleeper." Would that be done to prepare for a " just in case" that they may be there for 6, 7, 8 hours? Also, if they are sitting at the dock waiting to be loaded/unloaded, aren't they considered "on duty-not driving"? How could they log into the sleeper?

Your company is going to have a minimum amount of time that they expect you to log for various things. In my case, at customers, it is 5 minutes {check in} and 5 minutes {load/unload}. So, as soon as I have logged that 10 minutes, then I am hitting {sleeper berth-customer load/unload}.

There is no harm in this and if it turns out you are there for a long time, then if you hit 8 hours you will have paused your 14 hr clock. Of course if you did not do this correctly, you can always edit the entries later, provided you have not messed it up by getting on the drive line.

This manner of doing things is generally accepted and understood within the industry and by the regulators. Of course that does not mean that it will fly in every circumstance. If there is a serious accident, some official may decide to enforce the letter of the law...just be aware of that.

The flip side of the coin is if you are only there 2 hours, and take 8 sleeper the next break...you will get hours back. the amount depends on the number of hours you drive bewteen breaks.

a driver called me last night..."i drove my wbole 11, but my 10 hour break isnt up and i have 7 hours of drive time now...why?"

because he drive 7 hours to the customer sat for 2 hours getting loaded, then drove the remainder of his 11 hour clock which was 4 hours. he went into sleeper and the clock automatically calculates the 2/8 split he didnt mean to take. so after the 8 sleeper he got back 11 hours of drive time MINUS the 4 hours he drove between the two breaks and wound up with 7 hours of drive time almost 2 hours earlier than he expected any hours back at all. he only needed 2 more hours to get to the next customer so arrived there early.

My company requires 6-7 minutes on duty/check in time then it's off to the sleeper I go. Yes, I absolutely nap while I'm in the sleeper. I've pretty much trained myself.. get horizontal and I'm out. If they're going to call my cell when they're finished, I'm napping with my Bluetooth headset on lol.. otherwise they're going to have to beat on the side of the sleeper to wake me.

I really need to study the 8/2 Split. If I started on -duty at 6am for pre-trip, start driving 630am and get docked at 1000am, that will be 4 hrs on my 14 and 3.5 hr on my 11. I go to sleeper birth for - lets say 2 hrs - while being unloaded or loaded. When they are done, is it correct to state my 14 didn't stop, but my driving line did stop ****il I started driving again). Would I stiil need to shut down by 8pm? If so, do I only need to take an 8 hr break to start a new 14 hr day, or have to take the full 10 hr break. Oh, and that 2 hour sleeper would satisfy the 30 minute break in the first 8 hours?

The flip side of the coin is if you are only there 2 hours, and take 8 sleeper the next break...you will get hours back. the amount depends on the number of hours you drive bewteen breaks.

a driver called me last night..."i drove my wbole 11, but my 10 hour break isnt up and i have 7 hours of drive time now...why?"

because he drive 7 hours to the customer sat for 2 hours getting loaded, then drove the remainder of his 11 hour clock which was 4 hours. he went into sleeper and the clock automatically calculates the 2/8 split he didnt mean to take. so after the 8 sleeper he got back 11 hours of drive time MINUS the 4 hours he drove between the two breaks and wound up with 7 hours of drive time almost 2 hours earlier than he expected any hours back at all. he only needed 2 more hours to get to the next customer so arrived there early.