Full Circle

          Last night, I was all set to share some more thoughts about the 8/2 split when I realized that today I was picking up at the same place I was when I found out that the blog was “a go.”  It feels like I’ve come full circle.

          I had created the blog with six sample posts, created a blog proposal and gave it to David Freymiller the next time I saw him.  I handed him this folded up paper, said “check this out,” and took off like a shot.  I was scared to death.  In my mind, the blog was a good idea, but I wasn’t sure that he would agree.  I’ve had plenty of ideas that I thought were great but couldn’t find anyone to agree with me about them.

          I was shocked about a month later, when I was sitting in a dock at the same place I’m sitting right now, and I got a call from work.  I was expecting it to be Clyde, but it was Denise.  She was calling to tell me that they’d all looked at the blog and discussed it and they wanted to go with it.  It was a mind-blowing moment.

          Sometimes I’m still a little blown away by it all.  Writing is a passion of mine, it always has been, and I’m here to tell you… if you have a passion… don’t give it up.  Keep pursuing it until you get to where you want to go with it.

          More on the 8/2 split next week.  BTW, I saw all the comments on the Facebook page.  WOW!  That’s all I can say about that.

The 8/2 Split

          During the 12 years I was off the road before coming to Freymiller, the Hours of Service laws were changed.  The most difficult part about learning the new rules was understanding the 8/2 Split.  It took me months to really understand how it worked, and I spent those months relying on my brother to tell me when I needed to do one and my Qualcomm to do the math for me.  It took me about 6 months to get a solid understanding of how it worked.

          I would be willing to bet that 50% of the drivers I know won’t use the 8/2 split because they don’t understand it.  I’ve had many tell me as much.  I’ve also had drivers tell me they wouldn’t do one on paper logs because it’s too easy to mess up and go into violation.  On December 18^th, the law requiring all drivers to be on e-logs went into effect.  I know there are some exceptions, but I’m not one of them.

          On e-logs, there are times that I HAVE to do an 8/2 to be able to make on time delivery.  There are also times when doing one is the best use of my time.  Most of the time, both situations involve me getting held up for more than 4 hours, either at a customer or with repairs.  When that happens, it’s usually in my best interests to “finish out an 8 (hour break),” which resets the 14-hour clock back to where it was at the beginning of the 8. 

          The 8/2 Split works like an escalator: whatever falls off the top comes back on the bottom.  Think of it as a revolving 14-hour clock.  This is the visual I use when I’m explaining the 8/2 Split to a trainee.  It seems to help them wrap their brains around it easier.

Drive	5
Break	8 (Sleeper Berth)
Drive	6
Break	2 (off duty/sleeper)
Drive	5
Break	8 (Sleeper Berth)

          This was a quick explanation, I think I will expand on it next week with some examples of when I choose to use it.  I just wanted to show you that the 8/2 Split isn’t as scary as most drivers think it is. 

Blah!

          I’m finding myself very thankful for the mundane continuity of my job right now.  I’ve had some personal stuff going on that I can’t do anything about. Nothing catastrophic; mostly just irritating.

          The hardest part is these things are weighing on me heavy enough that I’ve been racking my brain all week trying to think of what I wanted to blog about this week.  No, I didn’t come up with a good answer. 

          For so many years I’ve had people tell me how strong I am.  I hate hearing that because it usually comes at a time where I’m going through something really hard and I can’t help but wonder if people convince themselves of my strength so they can justify not asking if they can help. 

          I’m okay, really.  I’m just “not feeling it” today.