Federal agents raided a trucking company in Mt. Crawford, VA on February 12th on charges of forcing drivers to falsify logbooks. Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens all the time, but for it to be happening to such a degree that there’s a raid by federal agents really says something.
The raid was the result of an investigation that has been ongoing since 2006 and came about when workers reported that their supervisors forced them to lie about their hours in order to get paid. Agents said that no less than seven witnesses complained about having to falsify records.
Sometimes they would keep a log for the duration of their trip and then at the end of their routes they would get checked by a supervisor. If their books showed any hour overages, they were made to destroy them and fill out new ones with false information.
One driver reported driving from Knoxville, TN, to Dallas, TX, a trip that should take around 13 hours depending on traffic. He said that when he couldn’t do it in less than 11, management made him lie about the hours worked.
The only thing shocking about this news is the degree to which it was happening. The supervisors and owners are either incredibly stupid or complete scumbags, but what about the drivers? These could the guys who are running over hours, driving tired, and giving other drivers a bad name. But, these could also be the guys who couldn’t get another job and need to keep their heads down and do what they’re told in order to bring home enough money to put food on the table.
There will always be drivers who don’t know better, or who are desperate enough to look the other way. The question is: How can we prevent situations like this from happening?
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Source: fleetowner
How can we keep it from happening? Draconian jail sentences for company owners who exploit drivers. Period.
I know another company doing the same thing BUEL INC. in chesnee sc.
The log book came into existence to prevent companies from running drivers to death but somewhere down the line it became a tool to harass drivers and increase revenue. No two drivers are alike and have different capabilities and to try to fit a square into a round hole just doesn’t work. Lofty ideals just don’t move freight but there are those among us with limited vision who just don’t get it. It’s all about the money!
Maybe I’m not following the author’s logic. All these drivers who were forced to lie on their log books should have made MORE pay due to the fact they ran more miles under the radar assuming they were being paid per mile. Why would one falsify a log book for less pay? I can see where a driver can CONSPIRE with management to falsify a log book so a driver can earn more pay under the table by adjusting the rate of pay per reported mile.
Wow, this is something new! What company was this?
I started driving in 1988 and this was the NORM then,and all the way up till i quit driving in 2009.If you didnt run you didnt make any money.IM SURE its still the norm if you want to earn a paycheck.I see the cheap wages these companies are still paying these days,so you do the math!
It took almost 7 years for the FBI to get their act together???
Lying in comic books has always been a given. It’s not rocket science, all they would have had to do is take a random sample of about 10 different carriers and send in an undercover driver for 2 months each. They could’ve nailed 80% in under 2 years.
Sheesh.
How a about some applause for the public safety minded individuals at the FMCSA. It took over 6 years for them to “raid” the trucking company that was forcing drivers to falsify their logs, instead of taking immediate action. The lack of respect, and concern for the over 6 million FMCSA regulated drivers has put public safety in jeopardy over and over again. Just look at the hours of service rules. Instead of listening to the hundreds of thousands of drivers who have stated concern that due to the 14 hour rule and lack of a flexible split sleeper rule, we drive tired to fully utilize our drive time. Get caught, as a driver, falsifying a log, either deliberately or accidentally, and the fine and points against your CSA score is immediate and indisputable. As s company, apparently the FMCSA, will allow it to continue for years.
Public safety is my biggest concern, as a driver. I think my 17 years and 2 million safe miles will attest to that. If only our regulatory body, the FMCSA, felt the same.
Time is coming when everyone will have electronic logs and believe me they suck i had one and i slept more than i ever have and this little piece of info is why is going to happen in 4 years i think
Stamina varies. The hours regulations shackle drivers like myself who have plenty of it.
I know a Cali company does the same Aujla Freight. They ran me into the ground.ended up loseing my lisence.
Lots of trucking companys make drivers redo logs,untill they fit the DOT .But most DOT log checks don’t find out they have been modifted.It will never change,but when a real bad one gets caught, makes me happy,thats just one less crook in my Industry!
The company run electronic logs and the driver still have to do paper logs. The only way to make this stop is drivers stand up. Companies cannot fire you for refusing to do anything illegal of unsafe if they do you will have yourself a lawsuit.
I’ve talk to a couple of this company’s drivers and some of those drivers that reported them where fired for one thing or another and the best part this company has had electronic logs since 2010 so you be the judge something’s aren’t adding up I read the search warrants some of it doesn’t make sence to me but what do I know I’m just a dumb truck driver
If you think electronic log books will stop this think again. worked for werner from 02-09. yup electronic log book. if you drive for a company with 1 also run a paper 1 watch what happens when your dispatcher wants you to move. you magically got enough drive time with few extra hours to make the run. or your dispatcher gives you the revised times to call the log book department an they usually sweet ladies that don’t question the changes you want made. when my dispatcher had me call in an i did an i seen how easy it was to lie electronically just as easy as paper i couldn’t believe it but once i knew for sure an kept a paper logbook an seen i was well out of hours when i added up my time i got out completely from trucking i’m not risking my license for them big companies. and since the last rule change you drive when exhausted for little pay atleast under previous rules you had time to get rested with little pay not worth the risk to your health an your safety an everyone elses safety on the road with you.
The answer is easy there are two ways to approach this. Change the hours of service to 16 hours. A driver can be either be on duty, driving, eating doing any thing for 16 hours. Off duty time of 8 hours for sleeping. Which will represent having a job lust like those who do not drive for a living. A conventional job folks go to work for 8 hours go home for 8 hours then sleep 8 hours. The other way is to change the way company drivers are paid. drivers should be paid hourly then time in a half after 8 hours. the extra over time pay will encourage employers/dispatchers to tell driver to find a truck stop a shut down for the night.
I drove for a company that did the same thing. They gave me impossible time tables to make my runs. When I told them it was impossible they would tell me how to falsify my logs to make it possible. I was always incredibly tired and stressed out. I quit as soon as I could find another job.
The real problem is that if a driver running outlaw gets in an accident and kills somebody he will go to prison for manslaughter. This has happened several times. I think the dispatchers and company owners should also go to prison. That may curtail the practice of pushing drivers.
FYI… OTR drivers pay isn’t based on hours on duty but rather the miles that is already predetermined by the company you haul for. More pay is only based on the quicker you make your delivery, the quicker you start your next run. It catches up with you pretty quick than you have to lie about that. Usually it is bad planning by the planner to scheduling loads too early and want the driver make up the difference. IF driver doesn’t make delivery time, than it can go on his DAC report if the company is that heartless.
I’m so fatigued right now I can barely stand myself. It does catch up with you and makes you very unsafe.
My company is falsifying my logbooks and making me pay $30 per week for it. Where do I report them?
I currently work for buel and its still the same changing logs the feds did nothing apparently and u must be empty on lot to get paid 2 weeks 3 weeks you only get paid when you return to yard and you will never be able to predict how much till ur handed check i fell for all the bells and whistles big joke im out
15,000 +miles / June 2013… Paper logs.. And they’ll keep pushing you cause the owner gets 800% more than the driver earns… Stop the world ,I get off here… the kid
I work for a company forcing me to drive over hours all the time. If I get too tired and stop or sleep longer because I’ve run so hard, I’m told I didn’t run good. I made a trip from above Atlanta to Irvine California. The first day I ran almost 9 hours and felt too fatigued to drive more because I had just come back from California in three days and left a day and a half later. The second day I ran a little over 11 hours, after my ten was up. The third day I ran ten, and the fourth ten and a half. That’s pretty legal, but I was told I didn’t run good enough. After I got here, I was sent for 5 pickups, ran out of hours on the way to the first, because I was in gridlock…I went off my e log and went to paper and done three pickups that night, had to drive to find a safe place to park and slept four hours and was called getting nasty messages forcing me to get up….I have had to go to paper…running totally illegal and I’m fed up with it. When I get back from this trip, I’m done. I have a new job who runs by the book. I have to work, I needed this job desperately, but I refuse to do this anymore.
Who do I call to report a company making their drivers run two log books to get job done.
I know of a company too. The company CLE. Out of Huron, Ohio. They run their drivers from Huron where they have a terminal. All the way to California in a matter if 31/2 days with little sleep. Also from Huron, Ohio to the state of Washington. They always have trucks end up at terminal. But sine new drivers are acting as thou they are leaving Huron for the first time and state new logs with each new trip faking when they were hired. The owner is one of the dispatchers. So fully a where of everything going on.
I quit the business because I started catching seizures. Many trucking companies knows that their drivers began to catch seizures after their sleep is so out of balance that their health is in danger, yet they still put them drivers back on the road. They only time they get caught is after the driver falls to sleep while driving and kill a bunch of people.
I am in fear of driving at all now because this is not only happening to truck drivers, it happens to other type drivers and people who just have a regular job and have to drive to work.
Everyone who is being over worked and under paid should stand up and do something about all this. We can not afford to wait until the government do something. A fast food restaurant can over work you and make you so tired that you can not make the drive to or from work.
We are being slaved like that while people die for it, people get put in jail who should not be in there for it. They throw out money from the insurance these companies have and the company keeps on making their money and doing the same thing years down the line.
If we make a mistake, our whole life, freedom and livelihood is taken form us. If the big companies do wrong and lose out on money, they get help to get back on their feet by the same government we trust to help us, the workers who are being enslaved and killed.
Another thing that can get you killed as a driver, is the boss hating when they see your check is bigger than theirs. If they see you buy a new car or a new house, it is over for you. They will only allow you to make money on any job if they see you do not know how to manage your money. If they see you saving your money and using it to better your life, you are fired or dead.
All I can say is be safe out there my fellow drivers and workers until things get better.