I really want ALL truck drivers to read this!

I guess if it would have been me, there'd have been no arraignment'I'd have put a bullet in my own head... saving the taxpayers some money.

That being said... you think our economy is bad right now? Try having all truck drivers run "by the book". Freight would become backlogged so quickly it'd make your head spin.

Until shippers and receivers step up to the plate and stick to appointment times as well as have the load READY when a driver gets there, nothing will ever change. Hardly a week goes by where I'm not sitting in a dock somewhere while they load product in my trailer that is coming fresh off the line.

So... a driver arrives at a shipper and the load is not pre-staged. In fact, it's not ready at all because they are still making it as the driver waits. His company, desperate to make the customer happy, doesn't bother to charge detention time'they don't want to ruffle any feathers.

The driver checks in, docks and goes back to his truck to catch what is hopefully just a short nap while they load his truck. About 7 hours and thirty minutes later, they knock on his door... the bills are ready.

Now for the "by the book" dilemma. If he logged 15 minutes on line four when he arrived at the shipper, to cover time checking in and docking, then went to line two while they loaded, the rules say he'd have to log line four again while he signed the bills'7 hours and 30 minutes later. Now he doesn't have a consecutive 10 hours break. Going by the book, he's going to have to take another 8 hours, minimum, in order to satisfy the 10 hour rule. After which, he'll have to do the math to figure out how many hours out of his eleven will be left before he'll have to take another 2 hour break because he chose to split.

This is a tough game to play and you have to be willing to accept the risk. And that risk is the fact that if you screw up... the lawyers, prosecutors, judges, juries, cops and somebody's mama are all waiting on the sidelines to lock you up and throw away the key. Then they'll suck every last dime out of your company's insurance until all the attorneys have got a shiny new Lamborghini parked in their garage.

The rules I live by: Drive when I'm awake. Sleep when I'm tired. Don't wreck the truck. It's as simple as that.

 

Logs we understand what you are trying to say and do, but until you leave that desk job and come out here for 2 years you will see there is a big difference from your field of vision and ours. Drivers want to get home more than twice a year and $200 a week take home won't cut it. I am not saying a guy should run drastic, but it would help a lot if you knew what it is like out here. I know you are gonna say you know what it is like, but that is like saying I am a combat veteran compared to well I saw it on CNN....

 

I have always felt that the dispatcher and the log auditors should have at least 1 year on the road in order to do their jobs.

They would then be in position to FULLY understand what the driver has to do. Not their job only and quote rules and policies and the load must be delivered on time.

 

AGREED! I had 5 years of driving before I became a dispatcher. I feel this has really helped me with not only communication between the drivers and I, but I understand more about this profession in general, which has helped me do my job better.

 

Well, I have never been a dispatcher, but I did sleep next to a holiday inn last night!

 

LOL thats just funny

 

That make you smarter than MOST dispatchers NOT including Cyber. There is a general lack of lazines on the part of some dispatchers to coordinate the loads well in some cases, there are many instances of miss comunication betwen the shipping/receiving depts to the office where people who give out the loads to agents/who then give the loads to the freight companies or on to a broker who does the same. This week we have had places say you are not here at your appt. time none was given and when asked it was said you don't need one.... to having appt times and when ya get there they say we do do it by appt. times........Before we went to Mercer we were w/a small covered wagon fleet out of MO. their safty guy (the bosses bro-in-law) went over the logs...made ya one that would work if needed and then all ya did was make a new one...usually it was just a 1/4hr. error somewhere. The log dept is always going to have issues with the drivers and the dispatch is always going to want to keep a shipper exstatic and everyone wants a paycheck at the end of the day.
I personally know a former grain hauler from my area who was parked on an off ramp.....(I know ---this was about 20 yrs ago)......up on I-70 and some woman plowed into him ,and because he could not log being there parked! he got in a heap of trouble. SHE ran into him....she could not maintain control of HER vehicle but SHE did NOT get the ticket and his insurance had to pay. And I think he lost the truck because of it all.
I had a lady in the beauty shop I used to work at aske me how I felt about the new HOS rules this was abt 15 yrs ago....I said I was exstatic because this ment that freight rates would have to go up and cost her the consumer more money in the end. She was not so pleased with the potential out come. .............I have to stop I am going to get mad if I don't......as long as the govt. keep over regulating things and mandating trucks to run within unrealistic paramaters and as long as America expect the shelves at Wally World to be fully stocked when they walk in we will have problems America and that is just reality.

 

JUST SAY NO!!!!!!! when every one stops making excuses for driving over hours, Then it will be better for all of us ,.. when one driver drives over their hours , then the rest of us are expected to do the same..
The ones who drive over their hours are the ones CAUSING THE PROBLEM..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

So, you log all the time waiting for the load, unload on duty not driving?

You log only 15 minutes for fuel even though it takes 45 minutes.

If not, then you are running as illegal as the driver who drives over 11 hours.