Ok what is the best way to log ( the right way) I read somewhere that if you drove/logged 8.75 hrs a day you would never run out of hours is this true? And you have 70 in 8 days right what is this you gain back your hours from the first day you started and you get them at midnight on the 8th day and so on with the 9th from the 2nd day etc..... please explain to me.

 

No.

If you drove 8.75 hours per day, you would be over your 70 hours when you included in pretrips, post trips, fueling, loading, and unloading. If you logged no more than 8.75 hours either driving or on duty (not driving) per day, then yes, you will never run out of hours.

 

As pointed out, it's 8.75 hours total, not just driving. In practice, you'll work more on some days than others, so the 8.75 daily thing is a theoretical example.

On the 70 in 8, you've got it right. Your 70 hours, essentially, include today and the previous seven days. So whatever you did eight days ago disappears each midnight.

 

Ok just to make sure, say on 8 am on my 8th day I am out of hours and the first day I drove 10 hours I would get those 10 hours back at midnight on my my 8th.

 

And is that the best way to run legally and can I still make good money?

 

IMHO it isn't a very logical way of running. It makes far more sense to use a 34 hour reset to gain back hours than spreading your hours out over the 8 day period.

 

sbatson...There is no real good answer to that questions as each week may vary, especially if you are going to be running "long haul" or 48 state driving. General freight that you haul will vary in length and time/days to accomplish the trip. Most of the time you will have no say in the budgeting of your hours, particularly your 70hr. You are dispatched by whats available to you from when you emptied. Your dispatch has to most control over the usage of your 70hr.
Ill run hard for 6-6 1/2 days and run out of 70 or have insufficient left to be of any use on another trip, this will force me into a 34hr reset, as I wont be recovering any hours anyway off a recap. Other weeks my runs will be of length that Ill reach the 8th day and start recapping with adequate hours to stay ahead on my 70.
I agree with Rev, though. Running a "hard" (my term) for 6+ days and then taking 34hrs off really does seem to bring the best mileage and pay. Ive done 3800miles in 6+days and pickled my 70, and Ive done 3000miles in 7+ days with 70 left over.
Just gotta hope that you have a reasonable location to accomplish the 34hr reset.

 

It's best to run for a company that gets you good miles. You're told when to pick up and when to deliver, depending on what your company has available for you It's not like you can say, "I only want to drive eight hours today so I'll just see you tomorrow."

In terms of maximizing your miles; In a perfect world you would run flat-out for eleven hours, do your inspections, take your break, and run another eleven. The freight doesn't work that way, but if it did you would burn up 70 hours in less than a week. Then if you take 34 hours off, you would get a full 70 back.

 

In a perfect world this would be known as Drop and Hook at both ends .(but this is not a perfect world)

 

Id be shocked if anyone who worked 8.75 a day made ANY money or ever got home at all.

Imho the best way to run is hammer down and run hard as you can til you run out of hours. Um.. fixing.. *cough* the cartoon book as needed. Then do a 34 and start again. You do that long enough and have a dispatcher he's going to gt used to it. When that happens you can work together to get you home a lot more. Or if you dont care about hometime to have your 34 in a decent place with things to do instead of some godawful corporate truckstop parking lot.