Paperless logs

SYGMA has used electronic logs since before I started working for them in 1999. The first system was Tripmaster. Pretty barebones. There was no communication with the company, and no tracking (GPS). You had to hook up to an electronic download station when you finished your trip.

The system they are now using is Cadec. It's a Windows based system. Every truck has a wireless LAN for download on return to the center, and a Nextel based system for sending/receiving on the road. GPS is also installed.

The Cadec has some bugs, but overall it's a pretty decent system. What I liked about it is that it tracked your HOS to the second. So, if you stopped for 5 minutes to get a drink, it wouldn't eat up your drive time. I have even used the reports to help a driver get out of a speeding ticket; it tracks every second of your activity-including MPH.

I really preferred running on electronic logs. Now that I'm an owner/operator I have to run paper again. I miss just having to hit a button.

I have the Drivers Daily Log program, but the company that I'm leased on to will not accept any logs other than theirs. I was using it for a while in tandem with paper logs. I liked that it kept track of my hours. Made it pretty easy. I got tired of transferring my paper logs to the computer, though.

 

I just don't like the idea of a computer log my hours. Really it gives me the creeps that anyone would want to be watched that closely.

I have loose leaf and don't have a problem drawing my lines. Of course it pays to be an O/O, I am able to make decisions company drivers cannot.

 

Frankly, I can't wait for paperless logs. The time savings is going to make it worth it, and being able to have it broken down into smaller than 15min segments will prevent a lot of DOT nags that I am expecting (like the driver in one of the other posts, got nailed for not doing PT while in the sleeper all day)

 

I really get ticked off with not being able to log my time to the second. I get hit with "speeding" violations because my logs show my speed higher than 63.9 MPH. I don't calculate the miles because I travel at 65. I figure I should never have a problem because my average will never touch 65. But because I try to round to the closest quarter, I get nailed sometimes. So technically, they are asking me to falsify my logs by changing my actual miles ran. Idiotic.

 

its not just watching but time management. paperless logs can be of some benefits, which i too will be finding out soon when i start my new job. its going to be the "wave of the future" along with automated shifting transmissions.

 

Don't count on that lasting. The FMCSA is just about poised to make OBR's mandatory. Look for the issuing to come down the pike before the end of the year.

 

i was told by an averitt recruiter today that they will have them inside a year he also said all new trucks bought from now on are going to be autoshifts

 

Yeah, I wouldn't have minded a computer log.

But what about inspections, do you fill one out on the computer or what?

 

Still not sure of all Abbreviations, What is OBR ????

 

I had paperless logs in maine when I drove for PEP. It has a recorder and must be unloaded about every two weeks,if it filled up on the road we had to switch back to paper. When we got back to maine,Pep manager unloads and prints all the logs up and we had to sign each one. That's how their system works. You could call up your hrs on the monitor to show the dot,was only asked once and that md. dot officer didn't know what to check or look for,my wife was with me,she laughed like heck after we left there. That dot officer asked me if I could print up the logs there,I told him in a nice way,if I had a printer with me,we wouldn't have room to sleep. Oh well'''