How Much Downtime or "off the clock time" do you have?

First off the mandatory break is 10 hours. So if you sleep 8 hours you still have a couple hours to eat, shower, etc.

It's mostly drive and sleep with no free time, but it depends on the load. Right now I have free time because my load doesn't deliver until tomorrow morning.

 

That would probably depend on the load and how much time you have to deliever. I've had loads where i've had plenty of time and could play around (which I usually don't) and i've had loads where I don't have time to play around and i'm on a tight schedule. Even with loads that I have alot of time on I still try to get to my delievery as soon as I can because never know what can happen that can slow you down like beakdowns, traffic etc etc. My free time is my on 10 hour break, during live loads and unloads, and waiting for a load to be assigned (unless I take a day off to get my hair done).

 

Planning out a week is impossible.
It is more, planning the next day or two.

But, I do try to plan well in advance. I try to not run more than about 9-10 driving hours a day.
Which means 10-12 actual hours, after breaks and fueling and scaling...
By doing that I can keep my total hours below the 70/8.

And I try to keep my driving hours during daylight hours, for a couple reasons.
Firstly, I don't see as well at night. So I would rather be safer than sorrier.
Secondly, it is much more difficult to find parking after dark.

So, my free time?
Between 11 and 16 hours per day.
Not counting 2-3 days totally off for home time every 5-6 weeks.

 

Freight can be slow sometimes, and slower for some carriers in some markets. Time sitting, waiting for a dispatch after unload (for some carriers) is the biggest consumer of [idle] time, and is the hardest to estimate or plan for. Some carriers have little time for dispatch across the fleet, but for others, long delays are almost the norm. Furthermore, it is this time (awaiting dispatch) that is often out of the driver's control and therefore the most frustrating for those who want to make money and have some sort of "plan or idea" for how the next few days may play out.

 

I'd say on an average day I usually stop about 12 hours after I come on duty. I usually work (load, unload, drive, fueling etc.) anywhere from 7-10 hours each day and I usually kill a couple of hours out of the 12 waiting at customers, stopping for lunch and other stuff.

It really just depends on the day though. Sometimes I run my 11 and/or my 14 out and others I may only work 4 or 5 hours and be done. As others have said it really all depends on when and where I pickup and deliver. Some of our terminals have 300 mile loads that load one morning and deliver the next and others have 450-500 mile loads that load and deliver the same day.

 

It sounds like you need to check out the website for HOS on http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov. You may have to dig around to get on the right page, but I think it is better to study the rules so you know what is going on.

But; you have a 14 hr window when you start your log for the day, once you start that window you have only 14 hrs till you have to be off it and parked somewhere safe so plan ahead where this might be. You may drive 11 hrs only during that 14 hr period, the 3 other hrs in there are used for pre and post trip inspection, breaks, sitting at the shipper or receiver, etc. You must have 10 hrs off in the sleeper before you can start your log again. There is a split sleeper berth provision, but that may not be needed by you to use.

I copied and pasted this from the website and this is something that has to be worked in during your week also.
60/70-Hour On-Duty Limit
May not drive after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 consecutive days. A driver may restart a 7/8 consecutive day period after taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty.
60/70-Hour On-Duty Limit

I am not going to mention rollover hours since I think this is something that may open windows to problems esp if you are ever involved in an accident.

You will be using a log of some sort according to the company you work for, it maybe paper or electronic. The paper take a little bit more time I think in making sure things are logged correctly, but make sure you keep it current just in case you are pulled over at a scale, it is hard to explain why you haven't started the day if you don't even have it started on paper. Whatever way you need to make sure you are doing it correctly, the electronic log is not forgiving at all, when you run out of time, you run out of time, go over and it is a violation.

The best laid plans for a shipment go array sometimes. It is best not to waste time in picking up or delivering a load, my husband always liked to be in their front door vs having to drive 6 more hours to get there after a 10 off, but sometimes this isn't possible. Always check and see where you can stay for the night/day in case you are early, some shippers have overnight parking, some don't even have a curb to park on. It is harder to find parking in truckstops the later in the evening it gets, same for showers.

Get sleep when you can, it is nothing like staying up all day goofing off and then when you're ready for bed there comes the load you have to leave for now, that's just how it works sometimes. Of course if you have a good company that sends pre-plans ahead of time that is great, but....most don't.

 

today i drove 8 hours still 6 hours from reciever appointment is in 28 hours so i guess truck will get cleaned tv will be watched clothes washed nap
wander thru TS 5 times ##### on the cb nap etc etc

 

Yep sometimes it works out you have too much time, means wheels ain't runnin. But it is a good opportunity to get all those chores done. It's a shame more truckstops weren't set up with washers and tv's and stuff. Even the oasis's in Ohio are great compared to most Pilot's and Love's. But we would have preferred being closer if possible so as to have more time to run for the next load, with it being hard to find a truckstop in all areas you have to do what you did and be happy. Nothing like patience I guess (lost mine somewhere).