Advice On An HOS Situation, Please

Thanks, Robert and Pianoman. I don't think I can edit my logs, once I've certified them... and they encourage us to certify them daily, so they're all certified. Lol. Today I didn't use any on-duty time not driving, except pre-trip. Not sure if dispatch can edit things to give me more margin, but I'll call them when I'm down to 10 minutes or so, if I'm not going to make it.

Dennis, we picked up a "re-powered" load from a Prime driver when I was in training. That's why I notified them today--more than 24 hours ahead of my scheduled delivery. I thought they might repower it or get my appointment extended to the next morning

Hi matt,

A lot of those company loads have windows to deliver. Sometimes those windows can be days. From my experience, they give you the earliest you can complete a load even though there's days before they need to get it there. That's one thing i don't like about driving for company.

If i had to drive for company again, and i was in your situation, i'd give them an ETA over the computer, and if they don't seem to really care about it being there late, then i wouldn't sweat it either.

Hi matt,

A lot of those company loads have windows to deliver. Sometimes those windows can be days. From my experience, they give you the earliest you can complete a load even though there's days before they need to get it there. That's one thing i don't like about driving for company.

If i had to drive for company again, and i was in your situation, i'd give them an ETA over the computer, and if they don't seem to really care about it being there late, then i wouldn't sweat it either.

Exactly!

I've had this exact thing at more than a few companies. "We put that time on there because we want you to be on time", is the line I've been told more than a few times.

Do your best. Nobody can expect you to be superhuman every day. Get it there safely, rested, and not worrying about it.

Thanks, Sid and Packrat. So, my appointment for the live unload is 1700 tomorrow. When I notified dispatch today that I was right on the margin of not having enough time on my 70 to get there, in part I was hoping they would reschedule the appointment until the following day (when I have 10 hours coming back on recaps). Is that what you're saying about the delivery window?

Most of my appointments have been really tight... like I'm sitting in the drivers seat, ready to go, when my 10 hour break is up so that I can keep on schedule. This load actually has some time... but I don't (on my 70).

They might just be testing you to see if you're reliable enough as a new driver.

Yes, maybe. I've been on time to my first 7 solo dispatches, including a 2,100, 4-day load that I had to plan in detail ahead of time. This one will be a photo-finish, however...

62 mph has to limit you v.s. 65-72 mph. Remember, some DM's push you more than others. Most of my loads, were drop n hook, a few live load/unloads here n there. I drove what I felt like, trying to get as far as possible, most of the time. But if I got tired, bad winds, etc, I shut down, and never heard anything about it. Of course my 2 young DM's I had my 4 months with Legends were cool, about anything I decided to do each load. Just "get it there when you can, safely!"

Only true way to run and have recaps, is a 9.5 hour day, 10 max, saving the last for later. And your hours comeback after midnight, sure your QV shows "hours coming back in 1 day/2 days"? At CRST they always had our "Actual" pick up times, an hour or 2 earlier ( they didn't tell us that) lol

Also BEFORE you certify your day, look thru your edit options and find every minute you can shave off. Like times I forgot, to change duty status when I got to a shippers, when I parked and went to check in etc so I would try and fix stuff like that, I could if possible it's in your "certify logs" page. I hated the 4 mph thing at shippers, like FED-X, TARGET, WAL-MARTS, because their yards were 10-15 mph, their yard goats ran around crazy fast ! So any minutes doing yard moves, if I couldn't edit, I put notes "yard move at shipper/reciever" or "forgot to change status" whatever could get me some time back. Seemed like every 8-10 days I ran down my 70 to point I had NO choice, but do a 34.

I never log on duty except for my pre trips or occasionally yard moves. Im not saying thats a good policy, I choose to do it though. In other words, I keep all the time I can for my 70. I try and keep my driving to 8.75 to 9. For recaps.

I've had this very similar situation come up numerous times. I just explained that I'd possibly need to t call the load or better yet reschedule the delivery to after midnight when I get my recaps. You get the hours back at 12:01 AM in your terminals time zone. I do this when I very first get the pre plan. I communicate as early and often as possible. No one from my DM all the way up to my terminal manager has had an issue with it. I usually try to time my start times to encompass getting my recap.

When I first went Solo, I really didn't want to give my DM bad news and not make it, over time I have learned that they appreciate the communication and proactive approach. If you can't safely make your HOS work with a load, you can't.

Matt just do what you can. You did the right thing telling them it’s close and you can’t be sure about it. All you can do. Do not stress over it, they deal with stuff like this all the time. Just do what you can do safely. Do not violate HOS in anyway to get in there. If they allow it you can use PC to get out and park.

I usually run my first week on my fresh clock then 2 on recaps. You just have to keep an eye on the daily recaps, because every day is different. We rarely have the luxury of spreading each day math wise to make it smooth.

Matt if you have the same system as Prime, you can edit after certifying, you just have to re certify the day. It took me 3 months to find that out, and I did only because I was on the phone with my logs person to see if we could knock loose about 30 minutes. She found me almost an hour! Mind blown. Lol