Why CSA 2010 and E-Logs are a good thing.

This is a very entertaining thread...one problem keeps popping into it though: Why do so many use the term "EOBR" when referring to e-logs?

The EOBR is the "little black box" the records (and transmits) physical information regarding engine parameters, speed, braking, gear use, RPM's, exhaust info....and only recently has the inclusion of GPS been added to the mix...I think 10 years now...! The "e-log" function has been included into the system of the entire operating system of the EOBR, for "driver convenience"...(what a sales pitch that was)....

To the poster that thinks the EOBR/e-log system will be eventually at all the coops for the DOT to take a "quick look" at each truck passing by....well that would require ONE system, not a choice of systems manufactured by different companies....and a monopoly is illegal (so far anyway)...

 

How did we get to this point where required "tracking" and "monitoring" is demanded by groups/individuals like MADD, PATT, some mother whose little baby or family was killed by some truck accident? Here is a good example...right from this forum! Thanks BigBadBill!

 

EOBR comes from Part 395.16 of the FMCSR
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.aspx?reg=395.16
§ 395.16Electronic on-board recording devices.(a) Applicability and authority to use.This section applies to electronic on-board recording devices (EOBRs) used to record the driver's hours of service as specified by part 395. Motor carriers subject to a remedial directive to install, use and maintain EOBRs, issued in accordance with 49 CFR part 385, subpart J, must comply with this section.

 

Sort of like the "thug gangster" wondering why the cops are always messin' with him. We spent 50 years embracing the Smokey and the Bandit "outlaw" image and now we cant figure out why people want to keep an eye on us.

 

I'm not so sure that would be one system, just a consistent method of sending the information to a computer. Kind of like connecting your computer to a wireless router. You can have all types of computers and connect, sure you may need to install a different type of program but it can be done. I would suggest that it's a matter of time, however I can't imagine the time frame. It'll be years before eLogs become mandatory, then you'll need to agree on a universal transmission method (or at least narrow it down to a few) then you'll need to update the hardware in the trucks and in the scale houses. Possible? Yes. Practical? Not so much.

 

Part 395 Appendice A already has the specifications. http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.aspx?contentid=3676
Two to three years probably until they are mandated.

 

Meltom,all you need is a similiar way off storing the info.
That is just the file extention on the computer.
In Europe only .DDD and .ESM files are allowed for storage off the data.
The local DOT has programs to analyse that data.

Overhere they visit us yearly(if i'm lucky every 2 years)
The guy came ,looked at the data said i was doing fine and told me to keep it like that.
I have a nice bussiness,won't ever be rich but can live comfortebly.(and yes,i do earn more then a compagny driver)
So i guess there is live with EOBR's.(we don't have the GPS function)


I would like to add these points(well they more questions really):
What if there were no rules?
No HOS,nothing...............just everybody driving trucks however they feel.
How much would the driver's life improve?
Would he earn more?
Would freightrates stay the same or would they go down even more?
Would there be less accidents or more?

 

O fut pe mata'n pizda is tu'mi sugi pula; sa'ti iau tot neamul in pula; fututi mortii matii de cocalar inputit!
Take a load of this, ya wanker! (be careful what you put on your profile)

The worst thing that came out of the 80's was the deregulation of the trucking industry. Reagan was a darn good pres but he definitely made some mistakes.
There were some changes that needed to take place, like the (regional)authority issues that forced you to change names on the door fifty times during a coast turnaround trip, the registration issues that put a truckload of plates on the front of your truck and some other minor things that were a none sense.

Anyone remember the 'bingo plates'?

The worst thing about deregulation (of trucking, not truckers. Cause drivers have been overregulated into oblivion) was the fact that it made it possible for crooked arse holes to get ICC anytime and as many times as they want. Start up a "trucking company", make a quick buk by running the crap out of unpayed drivers and equipment on the loads that they couldn't re-broker to some other dumb arse, and after few years of this practice, hiding or moving cash around to keep from paying taxes, go bankrupt and/or close when things got too rough (they call that a "sell") and go across the street or across the town(to keep being to conspicuous) and do it again under a new name and new ICC , and line theyr pockets with tons of $$$ some more. They call this 'smart business' and brag about retiring early.

You may think that you've been aroun for a long time sonny, but let me tell you something: there are people that's been around allot longer then you from families that have been involved in trucking since trucking was in it's infancy!

So, don't you go around bragging that you know it all!

 

I thought you said you were done with this thread?
Deregulation (actually reregulation) did not happen under Reagan, it happened under Carter. It was called the Motor Carrier Act of 1980. It was passed and instituted in 1980, while Carter was still President. Reagan was elected in November 1980 and took office January 1981, he had nothing to do with it.
It was because of this act, that I got to meet an ICC man and he taught me not only how to read and understand the regs, but use them to my benefit, instead of whining and crying about them.

I never had a bingo plate. I did have a bingo card and a waffle plate, though.

 

You must like banging your head against the wall. But you don't give up, I'll give you that!