| Trip Planning is often discussed throughout truck driving | | | | your personal business outside of driving you will be |
| school. Our goal here is to give you some tips on how | | | | able focus on meeting your driving goals. |
| to plan your trip in a manner that will help you | | | | - Practice multi-tasking. If your waiting at a fuel stop or |
| maximize your income. | | | | at a shipper, get other things like trip packs and |
| Trip planning and logging go hand in hand because you | | | | planning done. Don't waste your time. |
| need to understand Hours of Service rules in order to | | | | - Drive slower. Try not to rush so you can drive a little |
| trip plan properly. In a trip plan, you lay out what you | | | | slower and get better fuel economy. If you plan ahead |
| are going to do. Your logbooks show what driving you | | | | for it, you'll be fine. |
| have already done. | | | | - Review your trip plan often so you'll know where you |
| A basic Trip Plan is designed to answer these | | | | are as far as meeting your goals. Also, when you |
| questions: | | | | review your plan, make adjustments as needed to |
| 1. Where am I going? | | | | improve the plan if you can. Remember to ask for that |
| 2. How long will it take to get to my destination? | | | | early delivery so you can reload. |
| 3. Where and when am I going to stop along the way? | | | | - Use up all of your drive time. Even use the scraps of |
| A forth question often asked by the most profitable | | | | time that are left between loads. The miles will add up |
| truckers on the road is, " What can I do to make my | | | | come the end of the week. |
| trip as profitable as possible?" | | | | - Take care of your health. Eating well and sleeping |
| Here are some tips from successful drivers so you'll | | | | well will keep you from losing money do to illness. |
| know what to expect after truck driving school. | | | | We'll continue to look at other parts of trip planning part |
| - Run ahead so you can take your slack time at the | | | | 2 of this series of Trip Planning for Truck Driving |
| end of the trip. Professionals are often looking to | | | | School Students. Even though you may still be in |
| deliver early so they can reload that much sooner. | | | | trucking school, this article and the articles to follow will |
| - Spend your Hours Of Service Driving and not | | | | help you develop into a profitable driver. |
| handling personal business. If you are able handle all of | | | | |