Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

Unladen and not under dispatch has always been the case as far as the dot was concerned, it was abilene who had the stipulation that you had to be bobtail to use the 45min off duty driving. What isn't clear is whether logged off driving also had to be bobtail...per Abilene.

Just a wild guess here, but I would imagine Abilene would rather drivers took the trailer home as they would be ready to work as soon as HT ended vs having to drive *to* a trailer first.

 

Had to use my TWIC card again today. Sure you can get by without it as the $55 escort fee would be reimbursed, but I like having it and being able to eliminate a level of port bureaucracy.

Now if only there was a card I could flash so they would load me before my 14 ran out.

 

Well people act like Alan is God, so I'd say...go for it lol.. I'm kidding, it's your call

 

This is typically logged as "Line 5" - personal conveyance. Some companies logging systems don't have a Line 5 on their QC systems - or have it only for O/O's or Lease Ops.

As long as you are not under a "Bill Of Lading" (ie: empty trailer), or under dispatch - and the company allows it - you can use your rig as a "personal conveyance".

Since QC doesn't allow you to be "in motion" and logged as "Off Duty" - I suppose they make you log out of the system. Not sure how you would deal with this though if you get pulled in. You STILL have to drive through weigh stations - you can't just ignore them. And not sure what you'd tell them if they want to see your logs. I supposed the company could fax them - showing Off Duty as your last change of duty status.

Rick

 

In the spirit world of Abilene? Ummm ... yup! Close enough. LOL

 

Well, there's two states of "logged out". One is you're still actually logged into the truck (system) but you can go into an "inactive" state. This keeps all the current drivers information on the QC so it can be viewed and as you said, the last logged state can be seen.

Then, you can also "log out" of the truck (system) completely in which case any and all info is now no longer available on the QC.

So when we say "logged out" we're actually referring to going "Inactive" but still logged into the system and listed as the driver of the truck. In this state, you can drive the truck with no effect on the logs.

Yes you always have to obey the scales but if asked, I'd simply say I'm not under dispatch, driving it for personal use and here's my last 7 days logs.

 

@KD5AXG ... Best wishes going forward man.

 

Looks like I'll be on night shift tonight. Have to be in Pennsylvania by 7am. Currently at AME-R. Trailer in shop...in line behind two others.
#Drive,Sit,Eat,Repeat

 

First that I've heard that Abilene wanted you to be BT in order to use your 45 min of PC. But again, different messengers; different messages.

Yes, they would prefer you to be under a trailer during hometime for just that reason.

 

Well, this fine muddy overload broker load are up any extra time in this load.... so there goes my hopes of a nice leisurely stroll down US 395 to enjoy the views... but since it's so cloudy and rainy here the views would probably not be all that great anyhow.

Between my feet, the puppy's paws, and community mudpit called Loon Lake, the floor of my cab is in dire need of a good mopping.

And my little detour back to that nub pit is causing me to bump my 70 again... the next two days... so I will be spilling over into Saturday for this load.

Take the good with the bad... great company load to Calgary... not so great broker load getting me back to SoCal... which hopefully will be followed with another great company load running I40 back eastward.

PM is just now due on this truck so maybe I can get that done in WM on my way past.