Went over my 14 1.5 hours

Illinois state dot said adverse conditions did extend the 14 and can only be used at the most once in a 8 day period but I have not read up on just went off what I was told by them

Edit well I read the rest of the post and the state dot guy that told me that did not know either guess thats part of the problem 1 that book is to dang boring to read and 2 not even the enforcement remembers all the rules right anyways I concede I was wrong it dont extend the 14.

 

In a sense yes I do. I have twitter, facebook txt messaging, local radio and maps that I have made up over the years where I have found places to park in emergency's and when need be. I have waze which gives me crowd source traffic info to my destinations due to route restrictions I have a list of police departments and also utility and municipal contacts with a 70' load you never know what you are going to run into in some places. If my chances of not making to where I need to be look bad I make the choice to stop before I put myself into a situation where I am exposed. The company doesn't always like it but at the end of the day it is my licence, my tickets and I am the one piloting the truck and it is my call. I am not going to lose half a weeks wages on a violation and a violation on my record just to get a load anywhere I do my best but like you asked I can't think of everything and I can't see the future and in 300 miles a lot can happen.

 

That is one of the problems the rules are complex there are a lot of them and they are constantly changing. Also the committee of the fmcsa is made up of mostly safety advocates and enforcement. http://mcsac.fmcsa.dot.gov/members.htm. Most states are broke you don't generate revenues by having straight forward rules plus there are a number of rules that are a 1 size fits all and some days it is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The other thing is how different dot agency's interpret the rules and what they mean and how they are applied. The FMCSA gives guidance on some of the rules but they don't have the intention of all of the rules mapped out. Then to add to that you have state, regional and local governments that have rules that can put you into problem. So unless you can remember millions of rules likely no matter what you do at some point in your travels you could be in violation of something.

 

The years I have been around isn't that the job. Everything is pretty much a catch 22 at the end of day. He asked what he could have done and there are a number of things in the future could have done since he was knee deep in the a pile of poo what he did do was likely the most logical thing and after 14 hrs on the road and hard driving coming up with good ideas of how to solve his situation wasn't as easy as me arm chairing the situation after the fact and being able to critically think about what could have been done.

I have been here and had these debates with safety department after the fact it is great that I could have done something that I didn't do at the time either from fatigue or frustration. When you are knee deep in the pile of poo and the situation isn't looking to resolve itself in a nice neat manner as long as everyone is still alive and no big fines were paid it is a good day and tomorrow will be better and it is a learning experience. All of my experience has come right after the words "Oh, SH**".

 

All companies don't believe in that safe haven rule and dot definetly don't if you are pull over but the op should be ok since this is the first incident