drive/sleep mode

patperkins · Jul 27, 2011

just how wondering when driving as a team, how often do you switch driving, 4, 6, 8 hours what seems to be the most productive???

chetjester · Jul 27, 2011

Interesting question. Have you ever heard of Hours of Service rules?

bikerpaul · Jul 28, 2011

He seems to have a reasonable question. Why not answer it instead of a smart a** answer?

RoadKing06 · Jul 28, 2011

Pat depends if you are driving a vehicle that you have to log what you drive. CDL, straight truck for example.
You can only be in Service for 14 hours of the day, and can only drive for 11 of those hours. You must have a 10 hour minimum rest period in the sleeper, or 8 in sleeper, 2 resting(out of Service) after your drive period.

So no matter how you break it up once you start driving you are done on the 14th hour period no matter whether you drove for 11 hours total or not. You are done until your 10 hour sleep period is over.

I hope this makes sense. Takes awhile to absorb this, at least it did for me.

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App

paullud · Jul 28, 2011

It really depends on what you are driving. If you are in a vehicle over 10k lbs you will need to deal with HOS as it has already been stated but if you are not logging your best bet is to find a system that works for the team. For some it is easier to pick a time say 5-5 and you each drive those hours or you can also just switch out whenever the driver is tired, for my wife and I, it could be as little as 1 hour on those all nighters or 18 when I get in the zone.

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Jenny · Jul 28, 2011

Being in a van its a bit different for us, but we try to switch between 11pm and 2 am. I then drive until about 8-11 am. we try to switch at convient times, such as fuel stops. That way I have a clean windshield and a bathroom break.

mcavoy33 · Jul 28, 2011

chetjester said:
Interesting question. Have you ever heard of Hours of Service rules?

If you thought about it, you'd realize that he doesn't have a CDL, so he isn't concerned about HoS rules. He's asking about van drivers.

Thats pretty obvious if you think about it. Too bad you didn't think about it.

chetjester · Jul 28, 2011

Wow. Such overly sensitive people on this question. Is the heat and slow freight getting to you?

Nowhere in that post was there an indication that the driver was talking about a van. I thought about it for hours, and never thought about vans. Especially since most van drivers are solo.

So chill. And get a sense of humor.

I'm ready for all the negative feedback now. It's gonna be a good day for reading.

patperkins · Jul 28, 2011

Thank you for your honest expressions. I probably should have told you that I drive a cargo van, my bad. I have been expediting for 1 year now. Sleeping space at times can be limited, and adjustments to sleeping in a moving vehicle. I occasionally drive as a team (my wife or another family member) when I get some longer hauls. I also have had dispatch call me shortly after dropping and have to get rollin again. I know what your talking about being in a zone, but for those occasions when I'm not I was wondering what works best for others. I like to keep the wheels moving because that's when your making money, but safety first, right! I plan on moving up to a sprinter type vehicle in the future, and driving more team. Always looking ahead for a future game plan.

Dakota · Jul 28, 2011

patperkins said:
Thank you for your honest expressions. I probably should have told you that I drive a cargo van, my bad. I have been expediting for 1 year now. Sleeping space at times can be limited, and adjustments to sleeping in a moving vehicle. I occasionally drive as a team (my wife or another family member) when I get some longer hauls. I also have had dispatch call me shortly after dropping and have to get rollin again. I know what your talking about being in a zone, but for those occasions when I'm not I was wondering what works best for others. I like to keep the wheels moving because that's when your making money, but safety first, right! I plan on moving up to a sprinter type vehicle in the future, and driving more team. Always looking ahead for a future game plan.

If your in a van and the company does not impose restrictions, you can switch drivers anytime you want, when you get tired at restroom breaks etc. In a straight truck it isn't that easy because of HOS

chetjester · Jul 28, 2011

I have no experience driving team in a van. Only in a T/T and straight truck. In the straight truck, my co-driver informed me before she got on the truck that she didn't do nights or snow. When I was training for C.R. England, my one and only student was totally mindless after 8 PM, so he never drove at night.

Now, in a van, most time there are limited sleeping options. During the day, it's easy to drive but hard to sleep. At night, it's easy to sleep but hard to stay awake. So, maybe the best option is to split the night. Split by 3 AM. From 3 AM until dawn, driving is very difficult. Our minds and bodies are just not good at staying awake (my favorite time to drive). So take turns. But, for safety sake, split up the night on those long runs. And, don't be afraid to pull over for a 20 minute power nap. They can be all you need to keep you going.

Enjoy your Sprinter. It's nice being able to get dressed standing up.

mcavoy33 · Jul 28, 2011

chetjester said:
Wow. Such overly sensitive people on this question. Is the heat and slow freight getting to you?

Nowhere in that post was there an indication that the driver was talking about a van. I thought about it for hours, and never thought about vans. Especially since most van drivers are solo.

Don't you think that pretty much every CDL holder knows about HoS? That fact pretty much ruled out your comment which came across as highly condesending which is why people jumped all over it.

chetjester · Jul 28, 2011

So. Everybody thinks when I ask "Have you ever heard of Hours of Service Rules" I'm condescending. Are you serious?

Way too sensitive.

Dakota · Jul 28, 2011

chetjester said:
So. Everybody thinks when I ask "Have you ever heard of Hours of Service Rules" I'm condescending. Are you serious?

Way too sensitive.

I don't know, it's hard to judge attitude with the written word sometimes. I read is as you saying it with a smirk, although you could have been 100% serious.
That is what gets us in trouble sometimes in these forums

mcavoy33 · Jul 28, 2011

chetjester said:
So. Everybody thinks when I ask "Have you ever heard of Hours of Service Rules" I'm condescending. Are you serious?

Way too sensitive.

How many CDL holders do you know that don't know of HoS?

edit: its also the newby forum, and I find a lot of newby's get chased away by smart *** comments and tangents in there threads making fun of them.

Dakota · Jul 28, 2011

Also, I think some of us need to remember that a newbie with a question, is a newbie, to us the question may be obvious, to them it is a serious question. I think we all forget that from time to time.

chetjester · Jul 28, 2011

If I am driving a van with placarded Haz-Mat, am I subject to HOS?

I don't recall if getting a Haz-Mat endorsement requires one to know about Hours of Service. With my Class A, of course I know. I'm not sure if a non-cdl driver can haul Haz-Mat and would know about HOS.

I'm not making fun of anybody. It was a real reply. Sorry I caused you all so much heartache. Let's move on.

Dakota · Jul 28, 2011

chetjester said:
If I am driving a van with placarded Haz-Mat, am I subject to HOS?

I don't recall if getting a Haz-Mat endorsement requires one to know about Hours of Service. With my Class A, of course I know. I'm not sure if a non-cdl driver can haul Haz-Mat and would know about HOS.

I'm not making fun of anybody. It was a real reply. Sorry I caused you all so much heartache. Let's move on.

You make a good point haz-mat may indeed require logging/HOS not sure though. How many expedite companies haul haz-mat?

greg334 · Jul 28, 2011

mcavoy33 said:
Don't you think that pretty much every CDL holder knows about HoS? That fact pretty much ruled out your comment which came across as highly condesending which is why people jumped all over it.

NO. a lot of people still can't get the grip of driving for 11 hours.

This is another example of a thread where a simple question was asked and people acted as if OP should have known the answer. BUT this one didn't have a moderator jumping in and posting a stupid comment.