Trucking guides
The things that cost money when you get them wrong, explained plainly with the arithmetic shown. Every figure that moves with diesel is recalculated from this week's EIA average rather than left to go stale.
Planning
US time zones for truckers
The map, the fourteen states split between two zones, where each interstate changes, and why Arizona catches dispatchers out every summer.
What time zone is Arizona in?
Mountain Standard Time all year, no daylight saving — so it matches Pacific for eight months of the year. With a live Arizona clock.
Money
What is deadhead in trucking?
Empty miles are the cheapest thing to ignore and the most expensive thing to forget. What deadhead does to a rate, with the arithmetic.
Average mpg for a semi truck
6 to 7 mpg loaded, and what each half a gallon is worth in real money at this week's diesel price.
What is a fuel surcharge?
The DOE peg, the mpg assumption and the arithmetic — worked with this week's published diesel average.
How much per mile should I charge?
Your floor is arithmetic, not a feeling. Fixed costs, running costs, empty miles, then margin.
How much do owner operators make?
The gap between a $250,000 gross and what reaches your account, line by line.
Paperwork
What is a lumper fee?
Who pays to unload the trailer, how to get it back, and the receipt that decides whether you do.
Detention pay in trucking
Two hours free is a convention, not a law. What to record, when to start the clock, and what detention really costs.