Staying Off The Clock

I've done a whole heck of a lot of reading/watching; if the wheels aint turnin-you aint earning and so on. For those of you who try to stay off the clock or preserve your service hours, how long does your day actually become? If you're running 11, what about paperwork? sitting? How long is your day on average? 14? 15 hrs? And of course, trucking is organized chaos and there will be constant change but I'd like some idea before committing to any contracts. Right now I only work 40 hours a week, so it'll be a huge adjustment for me.

I've found that you can essentially add an hour onto whatever you drive. So eight hours of driving generally is about a nine hour day, etc. There's paperwork, trip planning, sweeping out trailers, cleaning the truck's interior, as well as a whole host of things that I just can't call off the top of my head right now

Ah good, thanks

I can't pinpoint an exact amount of hours per day that I work.

I will tell you that the most hours a day I work on average, is around 15-16. That typically happens when I unload, load, and drive 11 hours. Those loads typically require three tarps also.

The least amount of hours I work on average, is around 9. This is typically when I am running recaps.

The most and least hours in a day that I have worked is 24 and 0 respectively.

Keep in mind that my clock does not reflect actual hours worked. I have gotten to a shipper at 0800 and been told that the load won't be ready until 1500. Too easy I'll just sleep until its ready right? Wrong, knocks on my door every hour needing me to move. Knocks on my door because they will start loading me piece by piece as it comes off the assembly line. By the time I am loaded and tarped it is now 2000 and I have a fresh clock ready to roll! Sorry I went off on a tangent but you get the drift.

Sorry I went off on a tangent but you get the drift.

Yeah.

Millis is dry-van only so that should help, no tarps, no reefer etc

That's fair but I look at this way.. if you have a full 70 you run your ass off and take a reset. The reset is your breather. If you don't get a reset than you run recap at about 8.5 hours a day and then the entire time you're on recap is a breather lol. It makes sense if you don't think about it

Most top tier companies are pretty good about having loads lined up right?

When you first start solo you will most likely run your clock out every day. This is because you have to hone your skills and learn how to manage your clock. The 24 hour day no longer exists in trucking.

Most top tier companies are pretty good about having loads lined up right?

It depends man, if you the company gets a high dollar load going to podunk Minnesota with no load planned for a back haul then you might sit. I say that because I recentlyhauled an oversize load up to Eveleth, MN. I was parked up the night before and empty the day of my appointment at 0700. At 1300 that day i got a deadhead order to Minneapolis. At 1700 I got my load assignment for the following morning. There are many factors. You will sit occasionally. Just know that you can legally rack up about 3000-3400 miles and still get a reset in a 7 day week. If you look at it the way then the sitting doesn't bother you as much. That situation I mentioned above happened a couple weeks ago and I still ended up with 2940 miles for the week.

Most top tier companies are pretty good about having loads lined up right?

I think you're confusing something here. Almost everybody has tons of freight they can line up for their drivers. It's not like Swift has certain customers and Prime has some others, while Schneider has a select group different from those other guys. At just about any given customer you're going to see all the major players there along with a good many independent O/O's too.

The driver is the one who makes his own life easier. It is the driver's performance that keeps his loads abundant and lined up and ready for him. This comes about as you develop a style and a consistency of running your loads so that the planners recognize you as a person who understands how to get things done in this very challenging endeavor we call "trucking." It's a big part of why we teach people to stick with their first trucking job for one full year. It just takes time to lay the foundation for your trucking career.

The world of trucking is full of people who can never seem to grasp the concepts of being a Top Tier Driver. My dispatcher tells me regularly how much more I'm getting done than the others on my dedicated account. He always says somethinglike this, "I wish some of these other guys could understand how your dead on accurate ETA's (estimated time of arrival) and PTA's (projected time of availability) and your complete mastery of your hours keeps you busting that 12,000 miles per month barrier consistently."

It sounds like I'm using a pun when I say "you will be the driving force of your success at trucking," but it's the truth that a very limited group of drivers ever lay hold of. My driver manager has twenty years doing this and he tells me that only One Out Of Five Drivers Ever Grasp The Concepts Of Success At Trucking.

So, you can't count on finding just the right company to help you succeed at this. Every successful trucking company has a core group of superior drivers that they rely heavily on, and then they have some that are struggling to improve themselves, and finally they have the group that probably will never "get it."

I was extremely successful at Western Express, but I never met a driver there who was happy about his situation there. Think about that and what it means. There were thousands of drivers there who could have been making great money and thoroughly enjoying themselves like I was. Unfortunately they refused to accept their responsibility in this endeavor and always pointed the finger of blame on the company. Who else can you blame when you're convinced it's their responsibility to make you successful?

So don't think that there are some "top tier companies" out there that can keep your wheels turning. You've got to focus on your responsibility in this endeavor. That's where the reality is - it's all about how you manage your efforts at this.

Again, we stress sticking with that first job commitment for one full year or more. If you are always looking for a company that can keep you racking up the big money, well, you will always be looking.