If I drove from my home Florid to Indiana without picking a load would that count against my hours? I would pick a load once I got there.

Well I was doing just that except from WV to Elkhart IN, about 554 miles then grabbing a load then driving anywhere from 150-200 miles before I slept for the night, so what I found out was you want to record every mile you can since its your business , The government gives you .58 cents per mile to deduct from your taxes so as an example 554+200@.58 per mile = $437.32 thats how much you would be losing on your tax deductions, so to answer your question you can do either but your hurting yourself in the long run.

Hope this helps still new to RV Transport and learning everyday....