I'm sure a lot of you have abused this far more than once, I being one. I haven't gotten caught on the road, but what worries me is when DOT comes in to do an annual inspection/audit. If I have misused this status, say 20 times, does that mean I get ##'d 20x?
For instance, I've traveled empty, no dispatch, from the receiver to my terminal to take my 34 hour at home. I've done this maybe 10 times already. I just saw an opinion piece by an expert that says this is a common misunderstanding. You should be finding the nearest truck stop as driving back to the terminal is considered work.
I've done other no-nos as well that could get me in the hot seat.
Over-abused Personal Conveyance
Discussion in 'ELD Forum | Questions, Answers and Reviews' started by reefertank, Jun 22, 2020.
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Last edited: Jun 22, 2020
Reason for edit: inspection/audit -
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If you're audited it takes 10%> of the log violations to get big fines.
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Cattleman84 Thanks this.
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If you deliver a load on Your way to start your time off, and you run out of hours waiting on a shipper to unload, why can’t you use personal conveyance to drive home? I mean if you’re working a regular job and you get off work after a long day you can still get in your car and drive home. LOL why should truck drivers be any different? Why do I have to find somewhere around the corner and sit like an idiot for 10 hours so the government says I can legally drive home?
Vampire, alds, AfterShock and 3 others Thank this. -
But - that is only a valid explanation if that is what you are actually doing. If you are driving back to your terminal, you are not off duty. If you are driving back to your terminal under PC, you are falsifying your logs.
Now FMCSA did clarify that there are some exceptional situations where PC is appropriate. Like you describe, getting stuck at a receiver waiting to be unloaded and running out of hours.
In that situation, the driver should locate the closest safe place to take their break and PC there. That parking spot might be in the direction the driver is headed, or it may be in the opposite direction.
If the driver instead decides to PC to a spot that is slightly further than the closest one, but is in the direction of travel, that driver is now enhancing operational readiness and has falsified their logs.Tb0n3, Cattleman84 and bad-luck Thank this. -
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AfterShock and TokyoJoe Thank this.
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Vampire, AfterShock, Cattleman84 and 1 other person Thank this.
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If you have to drive the empty trailer back to the terminal, you aren't off work yet. If you don't have to drop the trailer off at the terminal, then you are OK to PC all the way home. If you choose to drive back to the terminal because your car is parked there, you are not off work yet. But you can choose not to pick up your car and drive straight home under PC.alds, AfterShock, Lite bug and 2 others Thank this. -
Coffey and Dieselboss Thank this.
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