How To Improve Your Trucking Time Management
With the ongoing driver shortage, the trucking industry is facing the potential chaos that could occur as more and more drivers quit. It’s no secret that company drivers have an extremely high turnover rate. Plus, the ELD mandate that goes into effect December 18th could cause even more drivers to quit.
By improving time management skills and learning how to communicate with dispatchers both company drivers and owner-operators can increase their profit per mile and working conditions.
Effective Time Management For Truckers
One issue that truckers face with their hours is having too many unpaid hours. Generally, truckers are paid per mile, not by the hour. This means the hours spent waiting in traffic jams and for loads to be loaded and unloaded are unpaid.
This method encourages OTR drivers to drive as much as they can to increase their profits. Through methods of driving tired, forging paper logs, and more. Sometimes if they do stop to rest dispatchers may pressure them to drive more to increase production.
However, because truckers are only allowed to legally drive 11 hours a day these actions to increase production can be stopped. The ELD mandate will help enforce these hours and stop dispatchers from pushing drivers beyond their limits.
One of the ways to better manage your time is to plan your routes accordingly to find parking earlier in the day. You don’t want to be caught at the end of the day circling lots that have no space left.
If you park early you can get up early and beat the traffic. However, sometimes your parking solution can be as easy as learning what places along your route always have parking available and what places are always crowded.
You can also check out parking apps like TruckerPath where other drivers share information about how much parking is available around them so you will know if a spot is waiting for you or not.
You will want to avoid traffic, meaning don’t be on interstates and highways during rush hour traffic in the early morning and afternoon. Take back roads to bypass all of the commuters. You can also drive at night to avoid traffic congestion.
Also, you can call your shipper and try to move uploading and unloading times to see if they can take care of your freight sooner. This may help you to cut down on the number of hours you have to wait. Keep in mind that you will never want to be late, that could cause you to wait around for an extra day before your truck is unloaded.
It’s also smart to plan ahead for your routes. Try to schedule the most efficient stops and look at your routes on Google Maps. This will help you avoid going through city areas with a lot of traffic.
You can also use Google Maps to look at your destination to learn where the entry gate is and the loading docks. This way you won’t circle the facility three times and waste time trying to figure it out.
Improve Your Hours
With a little planning and experience, you will be able to learn how to efficiently manage your time and reduce unpaid hours. Even though trucking does involve extra hard work and time it’s an extremely rewarding career with freedoms that no other industries provide.
Please share your trucking time management advice in the comment section below and visit ExpressIFTA.com for more trucking blogs.
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