Why Do Some Truckers Try To Avoid A 34-hour Restart?

When i first started, my FM said "we discourage company drivers from taking 34 resets".

As time went on, i just took them without telling him lol or did it on the weekend when he wasnt there.

I like my time off especially in the terminal. we have lots of toys to play with there lol and i always run into awesome people, including ones from this forum.

when team.training, i try to give "rolling 34" to.each just to break up.the monotony. i once gave us each two 34s in the same.week and we still.did.5200 miles.

Great Job PJ.

Apology in advance but I am not completely clear on the use of recaps.

I (accidentally) did about 10 days on day/week totals on paper logs when in class before being told instructor didn't care! Good news is I did fine on paper logs while training (elogs only used when I was driving... not all the time. I was paper when riding with trainer). Not enough to learn how to use them to manage day/week/paycheck!

Thanks!

Dave Reid, that was a very good comment on this subject. My trainer suggested I do what you do and I understand it, but I'm not sure all the beginners here understand what you are suggesting. Maybe you could explain the 8:45 per day aspect and just what it accomplishes. That would be very educational especially for those in school trying to learn HOS.

Also, many consider the 34 reset as a 24 hr. reset because it is almost always taken in combination with a 10 hour DOT break.

If Dave doesn't chime in here, maybe one of the other HOS experts can explain the 8:45 trick.

Marc, when someone answers my previous post you will learn a lot about recaps.

8 3/4 hours per day X 8 day week = 70 hrs. 9th day time coming back from recap is 8 3/4 hours.

So, you can't AVOID a reset unless you run your schedule so that you don't NEED a reset, if that makes sense.

I usually run hard and take a reset to relax but some weeks I run off my recap hours to run some extra miles.

Personally for me it all depends on the loads. If I have a tight load, and I have to max out my hours, I’ll do it and if I am lucky enough to have extra hours, I’ll try to sneak in a 34 hour reset. It all depends on the freight and the needs of the customers. My FM keeps me running so 99% of the time I am running on recaps. Other than hometime I think I’ve taken two 34 hour resets in the two months that I’ve been back running OTR.

As we see from the responses to this question, different drivers have different preferences as to what strategy works best for them.

Sometimes the best strategy changes depending upon what is going on. for example, even though I normally run on recaps, this week I am busting it hard and trying for as close to 11 daily as I can get because a) last week I had a load with extra time on it, so I pushed it the first day and then had 34+ off before delivering on Monday am, and b) I am taking off for a two week vacation starting tomorrow night so I'm trying to jam as close to 70 as I can get into this M-Sat. But, normally I run recaps.

To further clarify, if you limit your logged driving/duty time to an average of 8 hours and 45 minutes daily, you can run forever and never run out of hours, so you can take time off when you want to but you'll never *have* to.

Depending upon your dispatch, this may or may not work for you.

I think it likely works best for certain types of freight too, but I only have personal experience with reefer , dry van , and biological cargo.

To answer another question posed in another post on this thread, no, most companies aren't going to deduct from your home time allotment because you got a 34 on the road, but then again in one way of looking at it you might be losing income because of it.

Drive for a while and find a strategy that works for your lifestyle, your wallet, and very importantly, your dispatch. Just be sure to develop a real strategy that works for you. As has often been said, hoping for the best isn't a good business plan. Whatever you're going to do, do it on purpose, and *with* purpose.

Dave Reid, that was a very good comment on this subject. My trainer suggested I do what you do and I understand it, but I'm not sure all the beginners here understand what you are suggesting. Maybe you could explain the 8:45 per day aspect and just what it accomplishes. That would be very educational especially for those in school trying to learn HOS.

Also, many consider the 34 reset as a 24 hr. reset because it is almost always taken in combination with a 10 hour DOT break.

If Dave doesn't chime in here, maybe one of the other HOS experts can explain the 8:45 trick.

I'm taking g my first reset in al.ost 2 months. Only because I need 5.5 hours a d I only have 4.57 hours. But is a nice truck stop in Laramie. The water is hot, the food is good and the spot I picked is close to the restroom. I had planned on making my chili tonight, but when I was at Wallyworld I forgot to buy a can opener. And the truck stop doesn't carry one. And as any vet knows, a p38 would come in handy now.

Raptor

I'm taking g my first reset in al.ost 2 months. Only because I need 5.5 hours a d I only have 4.57 hours. But is a nice truck stop in Laramie. The water is hot, the food is good and the spot I picked is close to the restroom. I had planned on making my chili tonight, but when I was at Wallyworld I forgot to buy a can opener. And the truck stop doesn't carry one. And as any vet knows, a p38 would come in handy now.

I can't figure out how to post a link....a tech moron. But you can open cans without an opener on the edge of a curb or on concrete....Google it or its on youtube....I'm one of those weird prepper dudes....have done it just to see if I could if I had too....it works!!!!