Favorite Schedule

I teamed with a driver ,Houston to Alaska.He liked the 3 am to 3 pm shift.We only had to stop in Edmonton to pick up some paperwork.He liked to start early then its easier to find parking late in the afternoon.It works good on long runs,it depends when your stops are and the time of your appointments.

 

I drove dry van. Typically I was up and rolling by 5 or so. It depended largely on what city I was going to drive through, how far away it was, and when I needed to be to my destination.......and try to be parked by 5. I very rarely had to hunt a parking spot, and I almost always knew where I was going to park for the night.
But, yeah, your schedule looks doable. It's just that there are so many other things that go into your plan.

 

Your schedule is largely going to be defined by the freight you're hauling. You want to meet the customer's needs/expectations AND maximize your earnings, so having a "set schedule " probably won't be a thing.

Most of us have developed a "prefered running time", which is based upon our typical freight base. Starting at 0200 may work, or you may end up twiddling your thumbs waiting for customers to open. I wouldn't get to locked into anything until your feet are truly wet and you start getting a sense of what's what.

Good luck.

 

I usually start driving 7-8 am. If you have a delivery for 7 or 8 am then you two options. You can park at delivery 10 hours before or try park say 50 miles away at truck stop. Then get up in morning drive 50 miles to make delivery on time.

I don’t like getting up before 6am myself. if I have 7 am delivery I look to see if customers has parking available and would plan on parking at customer by 9pm. I don’t like parking at customer since some don’t have any parking available.

if I had 7am or 8 am 9 am delivery I look to see the nearest truck stop I could park at a see if I can get 20 or 30 miles from delivery. Then plan on leaving say 45 minutes or 1 hour before my delivery time.

If getting to truck stop the night before at 9pm they would usually be full. My company will pay for reserved parking. I might get paid parking spot or see what parking is available at delivery if it would help me avoid rush hour traffic. I look to see what will make my job of driving the most convenient plus still trying to get most out of log book

 

Harder to find parking at night. Better to do mostly night driving and sleep in the daytime when there's plenty of parking available. I did reefers for 18 years and it was perfect for me. If it wasn't I wouldn't have done it for 18 years.

 

Work for a courier service that runs local around your area.

 

I have no schedule. My schedule is determined by the load I'm dispatched on. So it changes pretty frequently. As far as parking goes, I'll pretty much park anywhere. If there's 63 feet of space, that's where I'm going. Could be a truck stop, rest area, customer, on ramp, abandoned lot, our terminal, drop yard, the more options you give yourself, the less pressure you feel to go to sleep by a certain hour. Many drivers aren't going to agree with my parking philosophies.....I don't care lol. It's worked for me.

I will also advise you, don't be so one dimensional that you gotta use only major truck stops for parking purposes. They will fill up quickly. Keep your eyes peeled for other mom and pop truck stops. There are diamonds in the rough that never fill up. You may have a load that won't fit that schedule. So don't stay true to it. Also, if you have an 800 mile run, it's sometimes better to cut it in half if you have 2 days to get it to your customer. Then you'll have an easier time finding parking.