Professional Skills · Driver Training VideoTrip Planning & Fuel Stops

Start with the clock, not the map. You get 11 hours of driving inside a 14-hour window, and that window starts the moment you go on duty — it does not pause for fuel, weigh stations, or a slow shipper.

Truck GPS is not car GPS. A route that's fine for a passenger vehicle can put you under a low bridge, on a weight-restricted road, or through a town with a truck ban.

Plan your fuel like you plan your hours. Don't run the tank down to fumes hoping the next exit has a truck stop — know your range, and top off before you're guessing. The same goes for parking. Truck parking is scarce, especially near cities and after dark.

Build stops into the plan, not around it. A trip plan should mark where you'll fuel, where you'll take your 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving, and where you expect to shut down for the day — before you ever leave the yard.

Your company standard: plan the route with commercial routing, verify clearance and weight on anything questionable, fuel and park before you're critical instead of after, and build your 30-minute break into the plan instead of discovering it late.

Good trip planning never shows up as a line on your paycheck, but it shows up everywhere else — fewer surprises, fewer violations, fewer nights spent circling a truck stop lot at midnight looking for one open space. Plan the trip like the miles depend on it, because they do.