As a way to maximize all time available, you should always do the following _________.

Plan Your Trip
While proper trip planning has always been important, it's even more important while driving with an EOBR. Let's face it, drivers weren't exactly honest driving with paper logs. If they didn't plan a trip correctly and couldn't make their pickup or delivery on time, the problem could be easily resolved by lying on the logbook. Not only is this practice illegal, but it's nearly impossible to do on electronic logs. Before you accept a load, you should plan out all of the details of your trip including the following:
Know where you will fuel.
Know where you will take your breaks.
Plan your route and be sure you have the correct directions to each location you will be going to.
Schedule an ETA for your arrival at your destination.
If your trip will take longer than 1 day, plan out each day of your trip.
Leave yourself some cushion room in case of a road closure, unexpected traffic, a weather event, etc.
If you can make your trip safely and legally but you don't have a comfortable cushion time, inform your dispatcher about the situation before taking the load.