Logging off duty when in sleeper. Yes or no?

Well I did it the other way..when I first started driving ,I was at a truck stop for 2 days and I logged 48 straight hours in the sleeper..And DOT told me the same thing.so you never came out of the sleeper..I said yea of course I ate, showered,walked around...and got myself a new 8 hours to sit for having a false log book..so yea, you got to log it how it happens

 

Just doing there job, as dictated by the FMSCA regulations... Not knowing the regulations is not an excuse... And yes the federal government is dysfunctional on the regulations.. but it is our job to know the regulations, and to abide by them.

Yes there is a difference between a sleeper berth and being off duty, and it has NOTHING to do with being under a load. It has to do with your physical location.

 

They look for low hanging fruit. The nicer their questions are the more you the driver should go on full alert. The officer will go all 'buddy buddy' then switch to bad cop as soon as you give hime enough rope to hang you with. Companies are so sick of chickenspit violations like this that they are going to Elogs. Log violations fall under Fatigued category for increased chances of crash risk. It is very important to log it like you do it. Once you cross that 'touchdown' boundary of the 'sleeper' you must be logged sleeper if for no other reason to help protect your fellow truckers from Elogs. Every violation like this that is 1000% preventable by proper logging makes companies want to self volunteer for Elogs to protect themselves. Your carrier now will have CSA points for the next 2 years and this will show up on your PSP for the next 3 years. Furthermore, every future inspection, any officer will see the violation and possibly will be looking at your logs closer to see if you 'learned' your lesson. They are always looking for patterns. Patterns of improvement or not.

 

We are supposed to log it how it happens. Also, we can't split our break using the off-duty category. Then, we can just make the log look the way a DOT officer will like, that's always good form.

 

Wyoming, Indiana, California, some states are more strict than others, and we know that. Some officers will accept logs if you're in good shape in general, some want to crawl around and micro-inspect everything. Sometimes it changes day to day...a good argument for consistent enforcement, but who wants that? I saw a California CHP officer let a container truck go on out of the inspection station in Needles - I was behind the container, looking at an 18" strip of 3 (or more) threads peeled off the RR tandem tire. When my turn came, I asked the guy, "you let him go with that that tire peeling tread?" He looked at me, and just shrugged. California CHP. Go figure.

 

"Log it as you do it."

 

Last time I brought my log book into Cheyenne WY Port entry the guy laughed and told me; "Get that filthy book of lies off my counter", They have never looked at my logbook.
D.O.T. men reading laws is like Preachers reading the bible, they all get a different meaning from it and in the end it just boils down to how much of your hard earned cash they can get their hands on.
I think the rule states 8 hrs sleeper birth, so I been writing it that way since all the new HOS B.S. started. Never used to get hassled about using sleeper birth unless you had a co-driver, now they want to make sure your eyes were closed too.