HOS violations. How often and how bad?

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Driver Eight, Jan 16, 2013.

  1. Driver Eight

    Driver Eight Light Load Member

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    Ive now had to go a few minutes over on all three..my 11, 14, and 70.

    How serious a problem is it? And how often do y'all find yourself in that situation? For me it was usually a question of finding a safe place to park after not leaving enough time on the clock after delivery in order to log on duty time. Or miscalculating a distance to consignee or truck stop. Am I going to suffer some day?
     
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  3. biged169

    biged169 Light Load Member

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    If you get caught or learn to nudge things a bit if your using paper logs.
     
  4. Driver Eight

    Driver Eight Light Load Member

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    E logs. That drive line is permanent as far as I know. And of course once you start driving you have to have 15 minute pretrip before that. 14 hour clock isnt stopping on e logs.

    Anyway I was only curious if I am an isolated gangsta or just one of the gang.
     
  5. scythe08

    scythe08 Road Train Member

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    You will if you get in an accident! This is one of the biggest complaints that Drivers have had with the HOS as it currently is. What happens when we can't find a safe haven within our 11 hours driving, 14 hours onduty, and/70. The answer from DOT has always been the same (in my experience) ,"Well you should have planned better" or ,"That's not my problem! You should have obeyed the law"
    Like we can magically pull a truckstop out of our ### and park there.

    I usually plan all my trips as the truck doing 52 MPH regardless of the speed limit and I always keep an eye of the 7 day forecast and adjust accordingly for any storms. I always google map the route by my companies routing and I get the accurate mileage or close to it. My last OTR company was off by 10% minimum of their preplans all the time. Cover your butt and don't plan off fudging your logs all the time or it will come back to bite you big time. Get used to running legal. You protect your license at all costs. No delivery is worth ruining your career over it.

    I have been in 2 not at fault accidents. But if I had been caught illegal, then I would have lost my license and maybe even gone to jail.
    Protect your license at all costs!
     
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  6. Driver Eight

    Driver Eight Light Load Member

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    By "caught illegal" just what do yo specifically mean?
    Fudging a log or over on your clocks? Im getting worried now. Its so hard to be able to avoid all service failures and HOS violations at the same time
     
  7. pokerhound67

    pokerhound67 Heavy Load Member

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    well, you dont say whether or not you are on e-logs. in either case, you were poorly trained (i dont mean that to sound like a slam against you, i swear).

    if on paper logs, you arent being creative enough. you can always find ways to cut time from the log. when driving through construction, or inclement weather, you obviously cant go 65 mph, as is the most common speed limit. but if your truck is governed at 65 or above, you can log that you drove at that speed 95% of the time. not saying you SHOULD, merely pointing out one creative logging method.
    also on paper, pretrips can always be shown as 15 minutes, regardless of actual time. you can show loading and unloading as 15 minutes, and the rest of the time at shippers/receivers as sleeper berth time. fueling can also be a 15 minute thing, and can be combined with pretrip. post trips neednt be logged as any time.

    on elogs, its a little tougher. still can show loading/unloading and fueling the same way. but drive time is out of your control for the most part. if construction has traffic stop and go for 2 hours, thats 2 hours you lose. makes it all the more important to show loading and unloading and fueling at the minimum times.

    as to your question, it all depends on if you get caught, and where you get caught. violations are a fine and you get put out of service if you are still illegal when caught. if you were over on your 11 and/or 14 youd get shut down there for 10 hours, if over on 70 shut down will be 34 hours. the fine will vary, the same as a speeding ticket in new mexico could be $40 and in california same speed violation could be $300.

    i personally have practiced creative logging from day 1...trainer taught me. for 2 years with 1st company logged EVERYTHING at 63 mph (truck governed at 63) and had my log book checked many times. never received so much as a second glance. (never logged over speed limit...in california everything was logged at 55 for instance) on elogs fueling took about 5 minutes. loading/unloading no more than 15 minutes. pretrip combined with fueling when possible, still 5 minutes. i went off duty the SECOND i got to shipper, receiver, truck stop, etc. 1st thing i do, always.

    ive gotten one ticket in 9 years for log violation. was completely my fault. having a fairly bad week, until they gave me an AWESOME load that i had too few hours to complete legally. about 3 hours more needed than i had. i decided it was worth the risk, and took it nearly all the way. got level 3 in montana, my 1st one ever. log book was over, no question, on 70. shut down, load had to be repowered, got chewed out a bit by fm, and paid around 300 bucks i think. i would never run SHOWING illegal again, the fine isnt worth it. but if i was given that 2000+ mile load today under the same circumstances, id take it and run it for a day at least before telling my big company fm that i couldnt finish it. small company, id give them a heads up immediately, as the chances for them to find another driver to finish it would be slimmer.
     
  8. Driver Eight

    Driver Eight Light Load Member

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    Unless you start turning down challenging loads. Then there goes your paycheck because the DMs and planners are like this guy can't drive
     
  9. pokerhound67

    pokerhound67 Heavy Load Member

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    forgot something...as far as being caught, of course the worst thing would be an accident. a fatality accident might land you in jail for quite awhile, and the lawsuit might leave you destitute for a lifetime.
    being caught by a leo or dot? ive been told they can go back 7 days when inspecting log look. so if you went over TODAY you are at risk of getting that fine for next 7 days, then you are safe.
     
  10. oldslowchevy

    oldslowchevy Light Load Member

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    i run loose laf logs, and trust me when i tell you this, dot knows why i run them, but as much as i hate to admit to this, if i ever get caught doing what i have to do at times it will be my butt.i run leagle 98%, that other 2%..... well not so much.

    i learned long ago to log it as you do it.

    i know this does not answer your question, but i feel you will be going to "log class" soon enough with your company. but this may be the only warning your company will give you about your logs before they show you the door. this is not the 70s or 80s where being a "rebel trucker" is cool, or makes you part of the "gang" to you, this may be just a job, but to many of us, this is a way of life and would be lost with out this trade. so we protect our cdl by not running illeagle.
     
  11. Driver Eight

    Driver Eight Light Load Member

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    Yeah I guess the kernel of my question was will I get in trouble today for going 6 minutes over on my 11 six months ago? Or do you basically need to get caught on the day it occurs.
     
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