elogs or paper?

Also, I believe you'll see more fleets adopt a regional model.
As in 5 days out, weekend at home for a 34-hour reset.
Alot less irregular-route OTR truckload where you're out for weeks at a time.
You'll also see more local daycab opportunities as fleets will realize the benefits of having local drivers on the clock to do the city work/multi-stop deliveries.
More drop-hook at shippers/receivers, more relays between drivers, and drop/hooks at yards & terminals.
Less waiting around at shippers/receivers...less waiting around for loads...especially because dispatch is better able to make use of your HOS as they can see it in realtime.

Alot of guys complain, but I think e-logs will ultimately be a blessing for many drivers over the long-term.
Unless you're a smaller fleet or independent driver.

 

You bet your boots that's what Marten is doing.

Talk to our OTR guys, they're getting table scraps.

 

I think it's funny, I have very limited experience in transportation. First company ran everything by the book, so the transition to eLogs is going to a boost for them. It will make things easier for the drivers, dispatchers, and customer service.

The company I'm with now is going to struggle like crazy when we make the move to eLogs. I think it's going to be interesting. I like chaos and if things go as I anticipate it's going to hit the fan when the switch comes. Should be seeing something interesting things in the next year or so.

 

The BIGGEST issue that I saw was that the dispatchers had no clue about using a driver's 14. A driver would empty in the morning, after driving a bit, or just going on duty... but of course, his 14 has started. Then, they make him sit all day waiting on his next load... he gets a load in the afternoon, and only has 3-4 hours left on his 14...

Not only is the driver's day wasted, there's a good chance he might not GET to the shipper to pick up, or being able to move once he's loaded.

 

That's why I think irregular-route OTR will mostly be a thing of the past.
JB Hunt is the new model...they're mostly a dedicated/intermodal company now.
More regional runs where drivers re-load their hours at home on the weekend or sometime during the week.
Weekly average mileage will drop (as the trend has been for awhile now)...probably 2,000-2,500 mpw will be the new norm...sometimes less.
Will be rare to see a 3,000 mile week except maybe for reefer as some perishable stuff can't ride the rails.
On the plus side, I think you'll finally see rates go up and raises for drivers because alot of capacity will be knocked out of the box by EOBR's.
So big fleets will regain some pricing power in the marketplace...especially if demand continues to pickup.
Then there's also CSA2010 which will sideline alot of drivers + carriers, as well.
Of course, the big ATA McMega haulers will continue to cry about the "driver shortage" in an attempt to get illegals in their trucks as a "path to citizenship" for 1/2 the wage/rate.
So who really knows where this is all going?

 

In addition to several other kinds of trucking (oilfield, equipment, liquid & dry bulk, etc.), I have used both elogs and paper when hauling refrigerated while both team and solo.

The reality of refrigerated is that it is; hurry, then wait, hurry, then wait, then hurry like hell to get the produce to the receiver. The grocery business, like many these days, is a model of just-in-time (JIT) delivery. Perishables don't accumulate in warehouses to be shelved when stocks are low. That model doesn't work for lettuce, or strawberries, or...

Typically, produce is picked from the fields and shipped on the same day. Then it is sorted and distributed from the warehouse to the retail locations on the same day it is received. And the expectation is that the produce will absolutely be at the receiving warehouse at the agreed upon time. Like the transport of live animals, the transport of perishables is subject to additional conditions, pressures and expectations beyond what is experienced in general freight hauling... the supply chain from the farmer's field to your table has a lot of potential issues.

Produce hauling also plays havoc with driver's schedules because a truck might have 4-6 picks over a couple of hundred miles (I have had as many as 9 picks and over 450 miles) before it is loaded for home. Factor in waiting time getting loaded at coolers and to be strictly "by the book" is going to both increase the cost and decrease the quality of your next salad. Even working with appointments has issues; some coolers are very good, most are "okay" and many are atrocious.

Elogs are very compatible with teams because you can always have one driver on duty, or it doesn't matter when you have an "off-hour" break (more than 2, but less than 8 hours so you can't split break, but it does eat into your 14). Each driver just does their shift (typically 10/10) and the load is where and when it needs to be.

Driving refrigerated solo, on the other hand, is not very compatible with elogs. In the process of getting a full load on, a driver can very well have 8, 10 or 12 hours of sleeper berth time... just not all in one neat, single, timeframe. A driver can be well rested, but due to the rigidity of elogs they may have to take another 10-hour break.

So, I don't see elogs working well with solo refrigerated unless one or possibly two changes occur; 1) U.S. HOS sleeper berth provision is changed to allow more flexibility (in Canada we can have any combination of two periods totalling 10 hours so long as the shortest period is no less than 2 hours), and/or 2) add a perishable/produce loading exemption (the FMCSA currently lists something like 24 exemptions from the HOS).

A lot of produce is carried by small fleets and independant drivers. I think flexible, workable, solutions need to be explored.

 

When sitting in traffic and your clock runs out, Jill starts repeating "name here", "you are out of hours of service" it gets annoying..lol....and it it hasnt happened to you yet, it will.. I believe it wont be long before "I was trying to make it to the truck stop before my clock ran out" will be a normal excuse for an accident.

 

lol You named your qualcomm's voice.

 

Probably his ex-wife's name.

 

HAHA, Jill is the common name used when talking about a GPS unit.