Electronic Logs are a Joke

Problem is that there will still be negative feedback though-out all of commerce. Feeder calves and hogs will double or more in price. Feed and doctoring them will also double or triple. As will processing them at a locker. Of course your electric bill for your freezer will also increase. You would likely save some money doing this, however it will still not be the same.

Think $4.00 a gallon diesel fuel is bad? I'd say it would be up the $5.00+ in very short order... as they would have to increase fleets especially local fleets, by one truck out of 5 to do the same work. (Many fail to realize that there are a lot of day cab companies, and seasonal trucks that run up on HOS and over all the time) If they too have elogs, this practice will likely have to end as well, thus putting more truck on the road to do the same work.

 

I agree. There is a lot more at stake then just "keeping everyone on legal HOS". If everyone is forced to run e-logs the industry will evolve to make it work, but in order to do that fleets will have to add trucks to make it work and rates will go up so drivers can still be profitable on less work. It would be hard to get someone to drive for you if they will have to live in their truck and only make slightly more than somebody at a good paying factory job. This rate increase will trickle down to the consumer as increased cost of goods. Plus the extra trucks put on the roads will clog the roadways more than they already are and that will lead to increased chances for accidents.

 

Ive stated my problems w/elogs all along--BUT--I do not see where they are gonna hurt the livestock guys--they have already exempted them form the 1/2 hour deal--Im betting there will still be exemptions to HOS for certain specific types of transport--therefor weather they are logging electronically or not--it wont really matter

 

I put a comment on the e-log vs paper thread that adresses some of my feelings , I am sure that what ever the next mandate is, it as always will close more and more " loopholes" I think if they had their way the occupation of OTR would cease to exist , I figure that's where they are ultimately aiming,

 

fooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Split driving 10 pm 6 am is 8 hrs

 

I think the reality is that eLogs are going to happen just like pot is going to be legalize somehow someway in every state soon. I'm a new trucker starting with a company that does paper logs. Working with the current set of drivers no one wants to switch to eLogs. The question is once you have to switch over you are going to have to make a living with the eLog or find something else to do. I've also read some reviews of some owner operators who noted they thought their income would drop switching from paper logs to eLogs but surprisingly they did not. The only time the lost was really in traffic jams or in severe accident slow downs. Anyone's experience better or positive going from paper log to eLog?

 

my experience wasn't positive. my miles dropped. and so did my loads. and my pay.

i seem to have better time management on paper. it's also nice to NOT have to park it when the perfect plan came up 6 hours to early. or to short, however you want to look at. like the nevada detour around arizona that caused drivers to literally spend 6 hours in line to make a right hand turn in some town.

 

And that can happen, depending on customers one hauls for and how the loads are set up. Some of us have fine tuned the customer base and know how to pre plan loads so that the e-log thing really is a non issue. I thought that it would be a real blow to have one of those e-logs in my truck. I could have just pulled the truck and went somewhere else. But I figured I would at least try it and get some real world results and make a more informed decision compared to what folks claim in truckstops and forums. I have actually done quite well on e-logs. Sure, it can be a thorn in the side occasionally, but for the vast majority of loads, it really doesn't mean anything more than just a device to take care of the logging. You would sure be hard pressed to prove to my bank account that e-logs are costing me money and lost revenue.

 

My boss has been pondering this for a while now. For our niche, fuel hauling, the general view is that for every 5 trucks/trailers... one more will be needed to cover all current loads mainly due to wait times at terminals. Of course, this will make longer wait times at terminals with more trucks as almost EVERYONE is in the same situation. Anticipating the elog mandate, the boss has been letting customers know that rates will HAVE to go up if this happens... seems other fuel hauler carriers seem to be following this as well.

Again, $5.00+ diesel fuel at the pump may be a reality very soon. With this, FSC will increase but likely not cover this hike.

We all seem to feel this WILL effect EVERYONE'S bottom line, period.

So the new question is.... If elogs have not affected your revenue in your particular niche, will buying $5.00+ a gallon fuel without FSC covering the difference affect your bottom line?

 

That would be part of running a business successfully... making sure that you are getting a rate that covers fuel variances. Problem is, a lot of folks seem to think it will take xxx to do something when they have not even been down that road yet. Even with e-logs for almost 3 years now, I am hauling the same number, or more, of loads with very little modification to scheduling and home time.

Now to be fair in all of this, if one has been really operating outside the bounds of regulatory compliance, sure, they are going to find life very unpleasant if they have to use e-logs. That is why some of us started modifying how we did things BEFORE going to e-logs, so there would be little change. One can't expect this kind of a thing to not put a dent in how they are doing things when they are playing fast and loose with the regs.

Like with your fuel hauling, things are going to have to get more streamlined, not just with the trucks, but at the terminals and delivery times will have to be coordinated better for it all to work. And that is the one bright light in all of this. Costs are always being looked at, and cost reduction is always a goal. If E-logs drive up cost to do the same thing so much, then folks will find ways to make it all work more efficiently to cut those operating costs. Adversity can lead to better efficiency. That is why we haul with semi trucks and not mules. And a lot of fuel hauling is done locally, so many of those folks are not log based anyway.

Not sure how it is going to drive up fuel costs from the mid $3 range I pay now, to over $5 just because of the increase in cost to move the stuff from terminal to pump. I have hauled fuel before, and I can guarantee one thing, you boss doesn't figure out how to do it a lot cheaper an additional $5000 a tank load, someone else will come in like a shark and take away your runs.