First, unplugging the QC to deliberately deceive the carrier is grounds for having your contract canceled. I know several to whom this has happened, and for the very reason that was illustrated in this thread.
I can run 1500 miles no problem with maybe a 20 minute power nap. So, why should my carrier limit me?
The carrier would, and should, limit you because no matter how much you protest, it's still highly unlikely that you are the only person on the planet who safely can run a 1500 miles trip straight through on only a 20 hour power nap.
As a side note, I have a friend who proudly proclaims that she is an excellent driver, simply because she has never gotten a ticket nor has ever had an accident. Just the same, she's one of the worst, and most unsafe drivers I know.
When you are on a long run and take a significant break early in the load, even though you can make up that time over distance and still deliver the load on time, many carriers have learned this is not always the case, and they have been burned with late deliveries too many times, even by drivers who have never been late, to take the chance. Therefore, they'll swap the load out, which gives them significantly better chances of seeing their freight delivered on time.
Incidentally, if a drywall contractor who works 20 hours straight causes the contractor or the customer money or increased liability, then the contractor will have two choices, find a drywall subcontractor who won't cost any undue additional money, or put a policy in place to control the subcontractor to prevent him from costing too much to have under contract.
Carriers are in business for one reason, and one reasons only, to do what is in their best interest to service the customer. If you say you can deliver a particular load on time, even if you can and almost certainly would, history has shown the carrier that their computer is right more often than the drivers are, and if their computer disagrees with you, they will go with their computer. They will go with whatever option that gives them the best historical probability of getting the load delivered safely, legally and on time, regardless of what a driver says.
What this means is, if you want to be successful, you must work within the constraints of your carrier's policies, as you will have little to no chance of changing them. It means that if you get offered a long load, and you take a break early in the load, or don't have enough hours per policy, and will be showing late if you take a break, the load is gonna swap. OK, now, knowing that (and disconnecting the QC is a really good indication that you know that), it means that if you take the load knowing it will swap, and you don't want it swapped, then you shouldn't have taken the load. If you
need a 2 hour break before your scheduled 4 hour break, but continue to drive, anyway, to prevent the load from swapping, then you are intentionally driving stoopid and
deserve to be highly regulated.
Imagine I'm with my friends carrier and I have been up since 6 o'clock in the morning waiting for a load. The day has been pretty mild weathered so I have had no need to start up my truck and dispatch has no way of telling how long i've been awake. Lets say I get a load offer at 7 o'clock at night and it has to go 700 miles in 20 hours. What if I take that load and then decide to run 10 hours and take a 2 hour break? Well, I would get a message that I have not taken a full four hour break and would be swapped because I had burned up most of my 16 hour clock. Do I just run the load straight through, or do I tell them to swap me out at 600 miles?
You should have been honest with them, and yourself, right up front when you were offered the load. If you've been up since 0600 there is no way you can safely take a load at 1900 of more than about 300 miles driving distance before having to take a break. If that 700 mile load doesn't have enough time for that break built into it from the start, then you should turn that load down and take the next one, or tell them up front that the load will need to be swapped. It's just a load, and I can't think of a single load that's worth becoming stupid for.
This is a business where you are paid per unit. In our case it is the miles that are the units. The more units that you produce; Ie, miles that you run, the more money you earn. If you can't pull thousand milers overnight at least once or twice a month, you are simply in the wrong business. But you need to be able to do it on your own terms; not the companies terms.
The only way you can do it
on your own terms is to
have your own authority. Otherwise, you have no choice but to defer to the authority under which you are operating. It's flat out that simple.
) ...... depending on how rested you were when you got the call ......
