EOBR Electronic Logs - Good or Bad

Paddletrucker, You are doing what I have learned: Make more money from the miles you run. Some don't understand how to do this so they don't believe it can be done. They seem to be stuck on more miles=more money. Gross money means nothing to me. Net money is what I'm after. Some have run illegal so long to get those high gross dollars that is all they know. O/O's there is a better way.

 

So as I stated above, how? Not to sound like I'm being a jerk or anything so don't take it the wrong way but as a company driver how do you get paid more regardless of it being Net or Gross as a company driver when you the company driver have no finger in say because the company is going to pay you what they are going to paying you? I'm just curious, that's all.

 

Gee, Paddletrucker, I guess you have some kind of "magic" crystal ball or something that lets you see into the future , accidents (that haven't happened yet) blocking the road, traffic lights broken,all sorts of other delays, ect. when you do your trip planning...

 

As soon as EBOR are required in all trucks, some scum corporate exec. will have a way to wipe out a drivers hours at a click of a mouse so that driver will have the available hours to pick up or deliver a "hot" load. That driver will be pressured into delivering that load or be fired. The sweet part for the company is they now control all the records so the driver doesn't have a leg to stand on.
Just wait until a driver (heaven forbid) is involved in a fatal accident. The Company (whom controls the records) will now do everything they can to make the driver solely responsible. They'll have the paperwork(EBOR's) to "prove" it. EBOR are not about safety, they're all about control and liability.

 

I can believe that too. I'll still keep a hard copy log book and digital pictures to match the EBOR and hard copy to back my ### up and don't care how much extra work it's gonna be. That's the great thing about digital camera's. No film!

 

As a company driver you can't just get more money. The only way that I know of is to find a company that pays more money per mile. My comments were more toward the O/O. With CSA2010 coming every driver should ask the question: Is it worth cheating on my log,getting caught,and those points following me for three years? Because if you get too many you will become unemployable.

 

That's what I figured. I was sitting here thinking that maybe there was something I missed along the way being some loop hole in the system on how to get more cash out of them.

 

That's a tough one. I just didn't like being a company driver. So I stopped. I bought a truck and did it that way. Much better for me.

To more completely answer your question, though, I still have to insert my opinion. RUN COMPLIANT. Take care of that CSA2010 score. Pay attention to what's on your DAC, or USIS report. DIspute it if you have to.

Make yourself very desirable as a driver to the best company. Market yourself to the best paying companies. Demonstrate how you can be productive while being compliant. I know it's one million times easier said than done, but that's the way it is. It's also one of many reasons why I own a truck and don't drive someone else's.

I sometimes run with a driver who was hired by UPS as a feeder driver right off the street. 67 cents per mile. Paid hourly (20+ bucks) when not driving. Overtime after 8 hours daily, NOT after 40 hours for the week. Union membership and benefits. Nice retirement. Home every day. Pretty sweet deal, even if it is driving a Mack day cab, pulling doubles. Especially when you consider most UPS guys start loading trucks and then spend 20 years or so delivering packages running their tail ends off.

I told him one time that I didn't know that UPS did that. He told me that they occasionally do, if the runs are not bid on by guys in packages. He happened to be looking for a job, seriously looking. UPS needed a driver. He applied and got it. Of course, he had a spotless record, and came highly recommended by previous employers.

I wonder how many guys applied for that job who were passed over because of logbook tickets and out of service orders? After I bought my truck, I was looking for a place to lease on to. An old man told me to start interviewing the companies, rather than the other way around. Most good company drivers I know who make good money have the same opinion. They know what their expertise are worth and they want to be compensated accordingly.

That is one of the reasons I think it's so important to run compliant and take care of that MVR, CSA 2010 score, and USIS (DAC) report. The other reason is that I don't want to chance having to share a jail cell over a logbook. Think it can't or doesn't happen?

http://www.truckstopusa.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2783


http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2002/April02/042902/042902-07.html

http://fleetowner.com/news/fleet_courts_getting_tough/


http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=70063

 

Again, these are all hypothetical situations. Sure, they do happen, but I've been able to plan, or rather, prepare for them to the best of my ability. I usually plan alternative routes before I need them. I do have the advantage of being a ham radio operator. I usually hear about accidents from locals or listening to law enforcement with plenty of time to take a different route long before I hear about them on 19 or see them. In all honesty though, it's very rare. I leave myself plenty of time and don't run right up until I'm against the clock before I shut down. I just haven't had problems with this when guys who run the exact same thing I do have. I can't explain it, I just do my best to prepare for the possibilities, if I can.

I think there are lots of guys, and I'm not saying that it's what you're doing here, that simply use these hypothetical situations as an excuse to not even try to run compliant.