Well Bert, is has been my experience that during the day, the 40 meters is used most often in the East Coast by mobiles because it is the easiest to work.

One rule of thumb - when the VHF is booming, the HF usually sucks, other then the lower bands.

When the 10 / 12 / 15 meters is open, the VHF usually sucks!

With inversions in the atmosphere with all this goofy weather we have been having lately - it is possible to get 2 or sometimes even 3 e hops when working the gray line.

You just need to keep in mind where the gray line is at different times of the day.