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slowmover · 11-17-2011, 11:19 PM

You should add in another night on the road, IMO. First, you don't have 12-hours of daylight at this season of the year (and it shortens as you travel north);

San Jose - sunrise 06:49 (dusk 11:03 hours later)
Detroit - sunset 17:08 (10:44 total daylight local)

and you have to contend with time zone changes in the "wrong" direction, a two-hour deficit. Night driving is contraindicated statistically for safety.

What you do have is 48-hours of "drive time" which does not include necessary stops for rest, food and fuel. Take some time to break the trip, daily, into legs of set distances (2-hours or 100-miles) to keep alertness high. Every four hours requires a one-hour break. Best time to fuel car and driver.

White line fever is pretty much unavoidable after [6] hours of daily driving. Doing this kind of driving is what we do as truck drivers. The race is not to the swift, but to the rested and alert. Day One is easy, but each following day increases fatigue . . contraindicated for FE except by cruise control.

By planning to be off of the road 1.5 hours before dark (sunset precedes dark by 30-minutes) you'll give your trip plan the flexibility for accidents, construction, etc. And, if not used in that manner, one can wash the dust off the car, have a nice sit-down meal and lay out all necessities for the next day prior to falling asleep.

Whatever may be, don't travel prior to dawn (30-minutes prior to sunrise) for an early start. And, as corollary, stop well before the sky darkens.

It's all about the pace, the rhythm. FE is fine motor skill application as you know. The NVH of traveling (noise-vibration-harmonics) take it away.

At a 480-mile/day pace one can figure in the rest areas, fuel/food stops and have the room at the end of the day to arrive in full light given no unknown obstacles.

Truck drivers use 50-mph as an inclusive speed to account for stops, etc. And are limited to 11-hours daily of driving. 2400 divided by 50 is 48-hrs, divided by 11-hrs daily = 4.5 days. Consider this at some length, for it's proven by millions of drivers over uncounted miles. An extra night leaves room for the lagniappe I think you desire (if I may).

Gaisma is your daylight hours tool, and US DOT National Traffic is the rough overlay of more specific state links about roads. I imagine you already have a travel weather site.

I navigate via Starbucks, Ambest truckstops, highway rest areas and roadfood.com/ for short side trips for food when unpaid miles are ahead.

Good luck

.

11-17-2011, 11:19 PM	#4 (permalink)
slowmover Banned Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 2,442 2004 CTD - '04 DODGE RAM 2500 SLT Team Cummins 90 day: 19.36 mpg (US) Thanks: 1,422 Thanked 737 Times in 557 Posts	You should add in another night on the road, IMO. First, you don't have 12-hours of daylight at this season of the year (and it shortens as you travel north); San Jose - sunrise 06:49 (dusk 11:03 hours later) Detroit - sunset 17:08 (10:44 total daylight local) and you have to contend with time zone changes in the "wrong" direction, a two-hour deficit. Night driving is contraindicated statistically for safety. What you do have is 48-hours of "drive time" which does not include necessary stops for rest, food and fuel. Take some time to break the trip, daily, into legs of set distances (2-hours or 100-miles) to keep alertness high. Every four hours requires a one-hour break. Best time to fuel car and driver. White line fever is pretty much unavoidable after [6] hours of daily driving. Doing this kind of driving is what we do as truck drivers. The race is not to the swift, but to the rested and alert. Day One is easy, but each following day increases fatigue . . contraindicated for FE except by cruise control. By planning to be off of the road 1.5 hours before dark (sunset precedes dark by 30-minutes) you'll give your trip plan the flexibility for accidents, construction, etc. And, if not used in that manner, one can wash the dust off the car, have a nice sit-down meal and lay out all necessities for the next day prior to falling asleep. Whatever may be, don't travel prior to dawn (30-minutes prior to sunrise) for an early start. And, as corollary, stop well before the sky darkens. It's all about the pace, the rhythm. FE is fine motor skill application as you know. The NVH of traveling (noise-vibration-harmonics) take it away. At a 480-mile/day pace one can figure in the rest areas, fuel/food stops and have the room at the end of the day to arrive in full light given no unknown obstacles. Truck drivers use 50-mph as an inclusive speed to account for stops, etc. And are limited to 11-hours daily of driving. 2400 divided by 50 is 48-hrs, divided by 11-hrs daily = 4.5 days. Consider this at some length, for it's proven by millions of drivers over uncounted miles. An extra night leaves room for the lagniappe I think you desire (if I may). Gaisma is your daylight hours tool, and US DOT National Traffic is the rough overlay of more specific state links about roads. I imagine you already have a travel weather site. I navigate via Starbucks, Ambest truckstops, highway rest areas and roadfood.com/ for short side trips for food when unpaid miles are ahead. Good luck .