The Dreaded Electronic Logs

I'll agree with most of that.....last outfit had Peoplenet.......it didn't work with oilfield exemption logs so it was just window dressing for the customer and a GPS tracker for the office to locate us.


Electronic goodies have a tendency to break down.......at the most inconvenient times.......ours stayed down for about 30% of the time for either hardware or software issues.


They'll always tell you to go back to paper logs when your magic box is on the blink.......that's a PITA.

 

We use peoplenuts and I agree with most of what's posted. The only real PITA I found with our system is with their "training" and accompanying literature. As with most "one size fits all" stuff, there's alot on there that a driver will never use (Eg the section for Ferry Operators). My "training" consisted of a 8 minute CD, a pamphlet and the phrase "you'll figure it out". Let's face it, kinda embarassing for us "old guys" to phone in with "I think I ######### up my e-log, whadda I do?" every so often. My first trip out I got DOT'd and the guy wanted to see the screen. Fortunately he was an old hand too and just as confused as me. We spent 15 min commiserating over #$&**!! electronics and trying to decipher the "instructions". He still gives me a wave and grin whenever I cross his scales.

 

We use peoplenet also. Only problem I have is dispatch thinking we run paper still. Not too many issues otherwise.

 

We have Peoplenet in the trucks but right now they are just used to track fuel and where we are(but our supervisors are clueless on how to do that). Safety keeps saying that our account will go paperless like others have. When that day comes, then I am going to have the shop move my boxe. The idiots installed it right over my cup holder. I have the screen facing the passenger side right now.

I look foward to e-logs.

 

We use people net and I don't have too much of a problem with it. It does keep me and my dispatchers honest. Plus I'm making as much money driving honest as when I was stretching things a little.

 

My company is switching to peoplenet now. I think they have close to 1/3 of the fleet done, and plan to have it in all trucks by Feb.
We will be on paper with the people net as a backup for a month. Then they will either say you need further training on the e-log, or they will pull your paper and go totally to e-log.

I cannot understand how the e-log's from the cheap peoplenet system are legal.
I know that the rule making on e-logs is still in the future, that will actually spell out how they need to work. But the systems in use now are not even close to what they will need to be.
You are supposed to have the graph easy to access for DOT.
The top end people net system and the qualcom system allow for this. The cheap version my company is getting does not allow for it.

 

I used them for a couple years. I'm pretty much an old school guy but actually liked them overall. One driver got a ticket in upstate NY for not having the required back up paper log book, in case of server failure. And yes..you must carry a paper book to be compliant. If the server goes down for maintenance, or whatever reason, a message would come on the Qualcom screen and advise you to log manually untill service restored. This happened maybe three or four times in a two year period. As danc69 mentioned you CAN do a lot of editing on all lines except driving..a lot of drivers don't realize that. There are pros and cons but like he said, get used to it. Its coming, its here and its now.....

 

And as an after thought I *think* its required to carry the instruction sheet for the officers use telling him how to access and check the logs...at least thats what we were told by the company. We were given a laminated "how to" sheet printed just for an officers use in the event an officer wanted to check the logs but didn't know how.