What would be the best and easiest way for a new guy to figure up my driving time to get somewhere?

 

the best rule of thumb is to figure 50 mph, that will usually get you real close. you can make better time if it's all interstate but being earlier than you thought is always a lot better than being later.

so if you are going 500 miles, figure 10 hours. that will allow time to stop and fuel and pee and eat and things like that.

 

Depends on the types of roads you will traveling on, Interstates, State routes, city etc.
But...I generally use 60mph to calculate eta's only because its easy to figure in my head. 60mph is more of an "ideal" situation though so after figuring the "ideal" add in some buffer time to account for any possible delays that may be encoutered enroute, I will also figure in what I call "fluff" time, which is time needed for yourself enroute, eating, restroom breaks etc. For every 5hrs of "ideal" driving 30-60mins of delay and or fluff time might be appropriate. Im usually riding my governor the majority of the time(65) so that in itself can account for some delay/fluff time. Assuming I can maintain the 65 consistently.
Most dispatchers plan a Driver/Truck figuring about 50mph, I can usually best the dispatchers planning.

 

I used to use 60 too- because that's a mile a minute- 60 minutes in a hour- 600 mile day- now 660 day(11 hours)-- but now with the 14 hour rule- I also
'budget' a full 14hours for every 660miles of a run + 10hrs for the break- then whatever else is lift over divided by 60 again.

 

i usually average 45-50 MPH. that includes slowing for hills, slow drivers up hill and downhill grades, traffic and quick pit stops, etc, etc

 

We aren't here to take pee breaks. We gotta get some freight down the road brother

 

For an all around estimate I suggest using 50 mph. 60 mph IMHO is a little too optimistic, especially if running east of the Mississippi.

If you know however that a big chunk of your trip is going to be on 2 lane roads you will want to use 45 mph.

As mentioned using these numbers will usually automatically build in time for fueling, traffic backups, getting slightly lost, etc.

 

Get a GPS, it will tell you what time you will get there and will even tell you the route to take. If you are smart you will add an hour or two to what the GPS tell you. You might want to look out for low clearences and goat trails.

 

Yeah, 45-50 is a good rule of thumb. Then when finished with your trip, subtract your starting trip hub miles from your ending hub mileage and divide that total by 58-65 mph. Then put that on Line 3 like everyone else does. :roll: