I work for a local company whose standard operating procedure is trying to make drivers work more than 14 hours na day to finish the work. Most drivers do it. The job requires a line haul run from the Chicago area to Indy and back. Upon returning you can have as many as 7 or more deliveries to make. A lot of the deliveries can take an hour or more to complete. SO what the drivers will do is log the line haul part of the job and then consider themselves local drivers for the deliveries and just collect the extra pay for it and not log it since local drivers do not log. I refuse to do this. I DO NOT want to work for 16 17 18 hours a day They tried disciplining me but after a phone call to the safety department they dropped it. However they still do try to make me work. This past saturday I left as usual after my 14 and now they say that on Monday They will talk to me but that will probably be the end of the line for me. Since this is all verbal how serious will the Department of labor and FMCSA and DOT take these acusations from me about this company???

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Steve

Superman, Sorry to hear about your situatuin. There are protections under the federal whistleblower statute. I am unsure as to exactly what they entail/require. I would do an online search on that ASAP! Next question is, how well have you documented this situation? Not just your memories but hard factual evidence in black and white. I have from the very beginning kept my own CYA log. In it I write down details, who said what, when, and why etc... I record these things as they happen or as soon thereafter as possible. There have been more than a few times where having done this has saved my butt. Hope this helps.

There has to be a paper trail (documentation), they will have to investigate this.

They'll interview other drivers, too, and possibly even follow a couple.

The problem is, unless there's any kind of paper trail, proving the company complicit will be difficult at best. The company will feel the pain when the drivers are called to task..but - to be cold about it - that's the driver's lookout. If they're willing to drive illegally, they can face the music.

From my reading of the FMCSR, what they are doing is flatly illegal. The only way around it would be to make the run to Indy and back, then take 8 hours off, THEN drive local.

I don't think a 2-hour off-duty will fill the bill for any kind of change of status like that.

Of course, I could be wrong. it's happened before, I think.

If you do not follow under the local regulations from time you report and return to work then you must log all time on a log sheet for that day.
You can not log to Chicago and then be local (logging off duty) and then log coming back.

Either it's 100 air mile radius and you only have to track the time you clock in and out
or
it's OTR THE ROAD WORK!

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"Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then."

FYI: They need 10 hours off. THe regulations still haven't been correct when they change the rules in 2004 or 2005. The 8's is only split breaking so when you see 8, replace that with a 10.

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"Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then."

oops - I meant "10" too.. I plead "weekend!"

NO problemo the book I do believe says 8 so just making sure everyone and you knows it should be 10.

They should correct it in the regulations because I would say technically in the court of law the driver would win since that's what it states.

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"Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then."