Trip Planning

Dependable trip planning begins with selecting a realistic pace for the load. A driver’s pace determines how the available hours are distributed among driving, required rest, customer handling, and other necessary daytime stops. When those time categories are calculated correctly, the driver can render a dependable Next Available Time, or NAT.

The appropriate pace may change from one load to another. Before selecting a pace, consider:

1. Recent utilization: Have you been off duty, recovering from a maintenance event, or operating consistently? Is this the beginning of your work period, or have you already been running hard for several days?

2. General fatigue: How rested do you feel? Do you have the physical and mental energy required to maintain the pace safely?

3. Routing conditions: Does the route involve congestion, construction, mountain travel, severe weather, limited parking, or other conditions that may reduce productivity? Driving through New York-area traffic requires different planning than traveling across an open section of interstate.

4. Prior workflow knowledge: Have you visited the shipper or receiver before? Do you know whether the facility typically loads or unloads quickly, requires extended check-in procedures, or regularly causes delays?

5. Geographical location and resource availability: Consider where fuel, parking, food, maintenance assistance, and safe stopping locations are available along the route.

The highest possible pace is not automatically the best pace. The objective is to select the most productive pace that can be maintained safely and dependably under the actual conditions affecting the load.

Bright Trucking’s standard utilization benchmark is based on an average pace of 475 miles per operating day for 23 operating days per month:

475 miles × 23 operating days = 10,925 miles of monthly utilization

This benchmark does not mean that every driver must travel exactly 475 miles every day. Some days will produce more miles, while customer delays, maintenance, traffic, weather, hours-of-service limitations, and other operating conditions may produce fewer miles on other days. The benchmark provides a practical monthly measurement for evaluating whether the truck’s available capacity is being used effectively.

As an operating principle, Bright Trucking strongly believes in delegating responsibility for day-to-day utilization and scheduling to the driver. The driver is on the ground performing the work and is therefore best positioned to consider fatigue, traffic, weather, customer activity, available hours, parking, equipment condition, and every other factor affecting the truck’s schedule.

This autonomy is both a competitive advantage for our drivers and a business advantage for Bright Trucking. It allows the company to make use of driver knowledge, judgment, talent, and energy while giving each driver meaningful control over how the work is completed.

This operating principle is a significant reason for the development of BT COMs 1 and 2. These communications allow drivers to render pickup, delivery, and Next Available Times based on current operating conditions. Through this process, we believe our employees are more empowered and Bright Trucking is stronger.

This autonomy also requires discipline and dependability. NATs must be calculated carefully, communicated accurately, and met consistently. When a driver is unable to maintain dependable utilization or repeatedly renders inaccurate times, the Fleet Manager may provide additional scheduling direction or temporarily assume greater responsibility for setting the truck’s schedule.

1. Calculation 1: Drive Time — DT

   • For trip-planning purposes, drive time is calculated at a planning rate of 50 miles for every hour of driving:

   • Total Trip Miles ÷ 50 = Planned Drive Time

   • For example:

   • 450 miles ÷ 50 = 9 hours of planned drive time

   • The 50-mile-per-hour planning rate accounts for the fact that a truck does not maintain highway speed during every minute of the trip. Traffic, construction, reduced-speed areas, entrance and exit ramps, inspections, and other ordinary conditions affect the average distance traveled during an hour.

   • On some routes, the driver may safely average more than 50 miles per hour and recover time. Time may also be recovered when a shipper or receiver completes its work faster than expected. This is called pace recovery or Special Services/Handling Time recovery.

   • Recovered time increases the driver’s available scheduling margin, but it should not be assumed before it occurs. Calculate the initial NAT using the standard planning values. When time is actually recovered, the driver may use it to protect the existing schedule, accommodate necessary stops, or render an updated NAT when appropriate.

2. Calculation 2: Off-Duty Rest-Break Time — ODRB

   • Off-Duty Rest-Break Time represents the qualifying off-duty periods required during the trip. Each full rest period is ordinarily planned as 10 consecutive hours, consistent with applicable hours-of-service requirements.

   • The number of rest periods included in the calculation depends on the selected pace and the number of operating days required to complete the load. If the trip’s drive time exceeds the driving allocation for one day at the selected pace, another operating day—and therefore another planned rest period—must be included.

   • For example, a 450-mile trip requires 9 hours of planned drive time. If the driver selects a 400-mile pace, the trip extends beyond one 400-mile operating day. The NAT calculation must therefore include the additional operating day and the rest time associated with that pace.

   • Use the Pace Chart to determine the correct ODRB value. Do not remove required rest time merely to make a delivery appointment or produce a more favorable NAT.

   • Drivers should also plan to enjoy this time. During the workday, think about the rest activities or stress relievers you would like to use when you stop for the night—provided they fit your hours-of-service requirements and operating schedule.

   • One of trucking’s greatest benefits is the opportunity to experience places that many people never see while working. A driver may spend a quiet night in a remote location, visit a new area, enjoy a meal, exercise, read, watch a program, or simply get uninterrupted rest. Use the time well. You earned it.

3. Calculation 3: Special Services/Handling Time — SS/HT

Special Services/Handling Time is the time allocated for completing work at shippers and receivers. It may include:

• Facility entry and check-in

• Waiting for an available dock

• Loading or unloading

• Trailer inspections

• Securement or load-related work

• Obtaining and reviewing paperwork

• Completing required communications

• Exiting the facility

Drivers assigned permanently to a particular trailer may spend considerable time at customer facilities while the trailer is being loaded or unloaded. Although the initial check-in process is often brief, much of the remaining time may be spent waiting for a door, a forklift operator, the completion of loading or unloading, or final paperwork.

Our recommendation is to approach this time much as you approach an off-duty rest period: have suitable rest activities and stress relievers available. This helps prevent the driver’s emotional state from becoming tied to the efficiency of a particular shipper or receiver. When circumstances permit, a productive viewpoint is:

The more time the customer requires, the more time I have available for an appropriate rest or stress-relieving activity.

Customer facilities are controlled environments, so the driver will not always be free to use the time in the same way as a full off-duty break. However, drivers can prepare by making the tractor cab as comfortable and functional as possible. Consider comfortable pillows and bedding, appropriate hot and cold food storage, clean clothing, bottled water, charging equipment, entertainment, and an organized living space.

One of the most valuable skills for a long trucking career is developing a flexible mindset—the ability to establish a temporary home inside the tractor under many different circumstances. That may mean resting during an Ohio blizzard, spending the night on the remote plains of Utah, or safely managing an unexpected stop in New York City.

Use the standard SS/HT value shown in the Pace Chart unless the trip contains additional stops or known customer conditions requiring an adjustment. If customer work is completed early, the recovered time may be applied as SS/HT recovery.

4. Calculation 4: Off-Duty/On-Duty Daytime — OD/ON Daytime

Off-Duty/On-Duty Daytime is the amount of daytime scheduling allowance available for necessary stops and activities outside the planned drive time, required rest periods, and customer handling time.

This category includes activities such as:

• Fueling

• Meals

• Restroom stops

• Inspections outside the customer workflow

• Parking searches

• Brief personal stops

• Other necessary daytime interruptions

Fueling is legally recorded as on-duty time. However, for the limited purpose of calculating the NAT, fueling is grouped with the driver’s other daytime stopping allowance. This is why the category is called Off-Duty/On-Duty Daytime.

The amount of OD/ON Daytime available is determined by the pace selected for the load. Once the driver selects a pace, this allowance should remain in mind throughout the trip.

For example, if the selected pace provides 1.5 hours of OD/ON Daytime and the fuel stop requires 30 minutes, the driver has approximately 1 hour remaining for other planned or unexpected daytime stops. The driver should continue subtracting from the allowance as the time is used.

Whenever practical, complete the greatest portion of the trip before using unnecessary daytime. Get near the destination, confirm the route, identify parking, review the appointment instructions, make sure no unexpected issue remains, and then rest. This protects the delivery schedule and reduces the number of problems that can arise during the final portion of the trip.

Time recovered through a stronger-than-planned driving pace or faster customer handling may increase the driver’s available scheduling margin. Recovered time should be treated as added protection—not as a reason to disregard the original plan.

Next Available Time is the date and time when the truck is expected to be unloaded and available in the next delivery city. NAT calculations therefore run from one delivery-city NAT to the next:

Current Delivery-City NAT → Next Delivery-City NAT

Use a notepad or the Trip Planning Practice Chart and record the following abbreviations:

• DT: Drive Time

• ODRB: Off-Duty Rest-Break Time

• SS/HT: Special Services/Handling Time

• OD/ON Day: Off-Duty/On-Duty Daytime

• TLH: Total Load Hours

Step 1: Select the Pace

Choose the safest and most dependable pace for the load after considering recent utilization, fatigue, routing, customer knowledge, geographical location, weather, parking, and resource availability.

Step 2: Calculate Drive Time

Divide the total trip miles by 50:

Total Trip Miles ÷ 50 = DT

If the result contains a decimal, translate the decimal into minutes when completing the final calculation.

Step 3: Determine the ODRB, SS/HT, and OD/ON Daytime Values

Use the selected pace and the Pace Chart to identify:

• The required Off-Duty Rest-Break Time

• The standard Special Services/Handling Time

• The available Off-Duty/On-Duty Daytime

Adjust SS/HT when the load contains additional stops or known customer conditions requiring more time.

Step 4: Calculate Total Load Hours

Add all four time values:

DT + ODRB + SS/HT + OD/ON Day = TLH

Total Load Hours represent the complete planned duration from the current delivery-city NAT through the next delivery-city NAT.

Step 5: Translate the Duration and Render the NAT

Translate the Total Load Hours into days, hours, and minutes. Then add that duration to the starting delivery-city NAT.

Starting Delivery-City NAT + Total Load Hours = Next Delivery-City NAT

The result is the next date and time when the truck is expected to be unloaded and available in the next delivery city.

For each Trip Planning Practice Scenario:

1. Record the starting delivery-city NAT.

2. Record the total trip miles.

3. Select the appropriate pace.

4. Calculate DT, ODRB, SS/HT, OD/ON Daytime, and Total Load Hours.

5. Translate the Total Load Hours into the next delivery-city NAT.

6. Submit the required COM 2 using the NAT produced by your calculation.

The purpose of these scenarios is not simply to obtain the correct answer. The purpose is to develop a repeatable planning method that allows the driver to manage time throughout the trip, protect required rest, maintain utilization, and communicate dependable availability.