Truck transit time calculator, with HOS breaks

Why miles divided by speed is the wrong answer

Divide 1,100 miles by 50 miles an hour and you get 22 hours. A team could cover that in about a day. A solo driver can't, because the federal hours-of-service rules cap how long a driver can drive and be on duty before stopping. The real transit time includes the required breaks and at least one full 10-hour rest, and it depends on how much of the driver's day is already used when the trip starts.

This truck transit time calculator plays the rules forward, hour by hour. It drives until a limit is reached, adds a 30-minute break or a 10-hour reset as the rules require, and keeps going until the miles run out. The result is a realistic freight transit time for one driver, and an arrival time if you add a start.

The hours-of-service rules the calculator uses

For property-carrying drivers, 49 CFR 395.3 sets the main daily limits. A driver may drive up to 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty. Driving must stop at the end of the 14th hour after coming on duty, and breaks don't extend that window. And a driver must take a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving. After driving or the window runs out, the driver needs 10 hours off before driving again.

The calculator applies those four rules. It doesn't model the 60-hour and 70-hour limits over 7 or 8 days, sleeper berth splits, the adverse driving conditions exception or the short-haul exceptions. If your week's hours are nearly used up, or you split your sleeper time, your transit time will be different. Treat the result as an estimate, not legal advice. Your ELD is the record that counts.

• EXAMPLE

  EXAMPLE RUN

  1,100 miles, fresh start at 6:00 Monday

  At 50 mph, the driver drives 8 hours, takes a 30-minute break, then drives 3 more hours to reach the 11-hour limit. Then 10 hours off. The next day repeats: 8 hours, a break, 3 hours. That's 22 hours of driving, 2 breaks and 1 reset: 33 hours in all. Earliest arrival is about 3:00 pm Tuesday, before traffic, weather or dock delays.

Choosing an average speed

The speed you enter should be your real average for the trip, including fuel stops, short stops, traffic, construction and terrain, not your cruising speed. A truck governed at 65 mph rarely averages that over a full day. Many drivers plan on 45 to 50 mph across a long run, and less in cities or mountains. If you track your trips, use your own average from past runs on similar roads.

Loading and unloading aren't in the calculator either. Time at the shipper and receiver counts against the 14-hour window, so a long live load before departure can cut the driving day short. If you're starting after a long wait at the dock, enter the hours already used in the window.

Full truckload transit time vs other modes

A full truckload with a solo driver moves roughly 500 to 550 miles a day once rest is counted, depending on speed and stops. That's why a coast-to-coast load usually takes four to five days solo. Team drivers can keep the truck moving while one rests, so team transit can be close to the driving time alone. LTL freight takes longer than full truckload over the same distance, because it moves through terminals. Rail freight transit times depend on schedules and terminal handling, which this calculator doesn't model.

Freight transit times also shift with the season. Peak produce and holiday periods bring more traffic, longer dock waits and tighter appointments. Our freight seasonality calendar covers when those peaks usually happen.

Reading your result

• +Arrival is before the appointment. Good. Add a buffer for traffic and weather before you accept.
• +Arrival is after the appointment. Ask for a later appointment before you book, or pass. Running late on a tight appointment can cost detention rights or the load.
• +A reset lands right before delivery. Starting a little earlier, or planning the 10 hours near the receiver, can save a day.

Check the appointment times on the rate confirmation against this number before you sign it.

Loads planned around your hours

Our dispatchers check your available hours before they book. They won't put you on a load with an appointment you can't legally make, and they plan the next pickup around your reset. You approve each load once the timing works, and the broker sends you the rate con. See how we work with owner-operators.

For safety at speed, the truck stopping distance calculator shows how much road a truck needs to stop. For the cost of the run, use the trucking cost per mile calculator.