HOS Brain Teaser For Fun

This might be a fun puzzle to solve. I’m sure the experienced drivers will figure this out right away, so how about seeing if any “rookie or student” can be the first to post an answer?

So yesterday I had a good day. Everything went smoothly except for one 45 minute traffic backup due to road construction. I ended up driving 744 miles for the day. No HOS violations or trickery. And I parked at the location I had planned to stay when I was done. All by the book. My truck is limited to 68 mph. The absolute maximum hours I can drive, as we all know, Is 11 hours. Now 68 X 11 = 748 miles. It’s never possible to maintain maximum speed for 11 hours straight, plus I lost about 45 minutes of driving time due to the construction backup. And I stopped to fuel one time during this 744 mile, one day trip. Yet I got 744 miles total in regulation time. And no, I didn’t use Personal Conveyance or split sleeper at all. So, rookies and students: How is this possible?

That's a great brain teaser B.K.

I'm fairly certain I know the answer, but I'm not going to spoil it for the folks in here learning how to be efficient truckers.

I will give a little hint though. B.K. managed his clock in a way that could give him 14 hours worth of drive time instead of the typical 11 hours.

Get those gears turning. It would be great to see somebody new at this, or perhaps someone just studying for their permit, solve this riddle.

Math really is a truck driver's friend. It helps a lot out here when you can do simple math.

Where's your pre or post trip On Duty from the 29th?

I lied. It was only 743.6 miles. I rounded up, like with taxes.

What would be really cool is if more HOS brain teasers were posted by other drivers. That would be fun and educational.

And the slogan for the winner would be: “Winner, winner, buy yourself a chicken dinner”.

Also, if someone else posted this same brain teaser, I don’t think I could give the answer. I only know the answer because it happened to me for the first time.

All I can say at this point is that Old School gave a good hint.

Where's your pre or post trip On Duty from the 29th?

Pre & post trip don’t show up on my HOS tab. But for the sake of this puzzle, let’s say that I didn’t log a pre or post trip. And don’t bust my chops, the pre and post trip were done. Good question, BTW.

68 mph max 60 mph average speed (assumed) 30 minutes fuel stop / DOT break 45 minutes lost in construction traffic 744 miles total

Start clock driving at midnight after an Off Duty Walk-around inspection.

Assume 10.25 hours driving time completed at 60mph = 615 miles.

Shut down at ~11:45am for 10-h break after a 15 minutes On Duty Inspection.

Resume driving at 9:45pm at 60 mph average speed.

Complete 135 miles at midnight

Total miles = 615 + 135 = 750 in 24 hour day.

The math isn’t perfect, but does show how it could be done based upon the info that you provided.

I’ve had a couple calendar days like this where I legally drove over 12 hours to bet over 600 miles. My truck governed at 62. Typically cruise at 60 mph.

Where's your pre or post trip On Duty from the 29th?

Pre & post trip don’t show up on my HOS tab. But for the sake of this puzzle, let’s say that I didn’t log a pre or post trip. And don’t bust my chops, the pre and post trip were done. Good question, BTW.

Guess I don't see it.

12:11 Driving

12:11 On Duty

Giant red flag.

I think I know how you did it, but it still seems strange that your On Duty and Driving are exactly the same. That’s a first for me.

Did you hit an unpredicted weather event which allowed you to extend your clock past the normal limits?