Stretching the truth on Line 1: Finessing or falsifying?

Line 1, line 2, line 1.57, logging seemed simple until I read this thread

 

Well....Alrighty then.

Yeah...But you're pulling it!
Sorry man I thought there was some hope for you but the more you say about your attitude the more you fall into the steeringwheelholder category.

WOW!!!

It appears to mean nothing to him!

Well....Good for you!

 

And he did all that and less than 7 minutes and 30 seconds so he only had to flag it in his log book!

 

Yes I can drop and hook and pretrip the hook trailers and be down the road in 15 minutes. If you can't you need another cup of coffee, and actually If i'm at the company's yard I would should fueling also in the same 15 minutes.....

If your running out of hours maybe you need to be more thrifty with your 70..... As far as the pump down test why would when you hooking, you simply check the spring brakes when you hook up before you charge the air, come on not rocket science... How many time do you walk around a trailer while pretripping, more than once, is a waste of time.

 

I'm not fast enough to check my brake lights, I apply them but before I can run back there they are off again........ Wow I guess I better not pull'em....

Theres not a driver in exsistance that completely pretrips anything, for one it would be impossible, you simply can not, if you drive it everyday you should be checking diofferent things all the time, brake, fluids, leaks etc....

Time for everybody to chill....

 

Well driver after 27 years I would think you know how to check your brake lights but since you don't this here 2 year vet is going to teach you something. You see it's real easy to check them thar brake lights.

Now let me walk you through this step by step.

Step 1) Chock your wheels.

Step 2) Release brakes (you could just skip 1 and 2 and go right to step 3 if you wanna be lazy about it).

Step 3) Wedge your crowbar between your seat and the brake pedal (this applies pressure on that thar pedal).

Step 4) Turn on a blinker left or right, your choice.

Step 5) Walk behind the trailer and use those eyes God gave you to see if everything is lightin' up purty.

Step 6) Go back and flip the blinker to the other side and rinse and repeat.

Step 7) Go back and turn on the hazards and rinse and repeat.

Step 8 (It's alot quicker when someone else is with you) Apply your brakes.

Step 9) Remove chock.

Now if you're backed against another trailer or building at night you don't even have to go through all of that trouble.

Now if you pull the same trailer every day I understand what you're saying Powder, but I'm talking more about drop n hooks. You still need to test your brakes often though even if it is the same trailer and we all know lights can go out so that needs to be done daily as well.

I don't think ANY driver really inspects everything every single time just like they did to test for their CDL but you do need to check RUBBER, BRAKES and LIGHTS daily.

 

I pull different trailers all the time. I was hooking up to one a couple of weeks ago and was underneath checking the brakes when a 'veteran' walked by and asked if I saw anything interesting. He seemed amused I was actually checking them and he also had to ask how I managed to have the brake lights lit up at the same time when no one was in the cab.

The way I see it, if flashing lights or an OPEN sign at the scale make you nervous you're doing something wrong. If they don't make you nervous and you haven't even checked the basics you're doing something really wrong.

 

WOW!! With so many different view points, it's a wonder if anyone can come to the conclusion that it all comes down to a little bit of "Common Sence". I mean, really guys, this isn't a rocket science kind of thing. If you lack a bit of common sence, what in the world are you doing behind the wheel of a big rig, much less a 4 wheeler?

Now granted, it's been well over 10 years since I've been in the big rig and I am sure a lot of things have changed since then, and that is why I try my best not to offer any insight on the "Now World".

Now, since it is obvious that when it comes to the log books, things have definately changed since way back when. So, like being a green horn all over again, I feel comfortable in asking this question:

Since 70 hours is the absolute maximum time one can spend in any 7 day period (a total of both lines 3 & 4 ) before the manditory 34 hr restart, how do the hrs on Line 2 (Sleeper) play into all of this? I mean, ok, we all know that "NOW", the most you can be on-duty in a 24 hr period, is a total of 14 hrs, of which, you can not log no more than a total of 10 hrs of actual driving. Which leaves a total of 4 hrs on duty - Not Driving, for; Loading / un-loading, pre & post trip inspections, tarping, load securing, waiting at the DOT scales, etc. Once your 14 hrs are up in this 24 hr period, YOU CAN NOT BE DOING ANYTHING ELSE on or with the truck. YOU MUST take a consecutive 10 straight hrs OFF DUTY. Bottom Line. This I get. No problem.

What I'm a bit foggy about is, lets say, I begin my day at 6am, log my pre-trip for 15min (Line 4) then go up to line 1 (Off duty) for One hr for; Shower, coffee / breakfast etc). When I come back to my truck, I begin driving to the customer for say, 4 hrs. (Line 3). I pull up to their docks and begin sitting waiting to be unloaded. (Line 4) Now, There is nothing I can do to load my truck (except watch them "Boaring") and for what ever reason, they will have to stop loading my truck due to what ever, but will pick back up in an hr or two.

So, at this point I have acumilated a total of 6 hrs & 15 min. So, while waiting, I jump up into my sleeper and weather or not I actually take a nap, get naked & jump around like an idiot, or what ever, I spend a total of 1.5 hrs on Line 2.

When it comes down that my load is ready & I can begin driving again, I now have been up a total of 7.5 hrs (Including time in the sleeper). Now, can I continue to drive 6 more hrs before having to pull off in order to leave time for my post trip, or, do I HAVE to figure in my time spent in the sleeper towards my total hrs for the day?

Me, I'm thinking that "IT DOES NOT MATTER" as to how much time I spend in the sleeper. What does matter is that with in the 24hr of 6am, I better not show a total of no more than 10 hrs of actual drive time or no more than a total of 14 hrs of combined line 3 & 4, regardless of how many miles or hrs I spent actually driving.

If I've gon up to either lines 1 or 2 for what ever reasons, the total of time on those lines just gave me those added hrs for actual driving or on duty not driving? or, are those hrs on line 1 & 2 to also be figured into my total of 14 hrs for the day. (Up at 6am, I better be off the clock by no later than 8pm) Kinda bit confusing.

 

I think the rules have changed a bit THD. If you started at 6am you cannot drive after 8pm. You can drive up to 11 hours in between though, I know it used to be 10. Once the 14 is up you can still be on duty for the post trip or anything else, you just can't be driving.

 

That's a lot to dissect but let me help you out with a couple of things. 1st thing, you can be on line 4 for eternity, you just can't drive until you get hours back. 2nd 24 hour periods mean nothing other than your recap. You have 14 hours from the time you start to drive up to a maximum of 11 hours before that 14 hours is up. When the 14th hour comes you cannot drive regardless of how much of the 11 is left but you CAN work on the truck or load unload etc. You just have to get in a ten hour break before you can drive again.

The only exception to that is the split sleeper which is complicated but it requires a mandatory period of no less than 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper and another 2 hour period on line 1 or 2. I'm not going to get into that.

If you start your day at 6am and log a 15 minute PTI and then go shower etc. you just wasted all the time you spent on line 1. You should shower and eat first and then do your PTI and get on with your day.