On Duty, Not Driving

Exactly. Unless they explicitly say you can leave the premises for a given period of time, like if they stop working for lunch, you aren't really off duty. I've been questioned by DOT on this before so I log it all on line 4 under typical circumstances. If you're allowed to log sleeper that's cool but I don't do that. Theoretically that time could become important later in the week if you run low on your 70 but I don't worry about it. I like to keep the logbook clean and easy so even an idiot could follow it along without a ton of questions.

 

I make it easy, I go to bed... they'll come wake me up when I need to move.

 

You log all that time as on duty, yeah, you will be low on your 70 later in the week. I prefer to actually get home like I do each weekend, and still make enough to make going home worth it.

 

Everyone can log sleeper if you don't have to be on the dock or sitting in a drivers room.

 

Not sure why this is so complicated for some or that they have such an enlarged paranoia gland that they see a DOT official around every corner just waiting to pounce if they do not log every single minute on a customer property as on duty. Many times, I take full breaks at customer locations and unload in the morning. What, like every minute I am there I have to log on duty? After all, I am not going anywhere. I am not going to take a cab and go to the other side of town to see a movie. Don't be stuck on stupid. And in those situations, I don't show one minute of time till I get a signed bill of lading back in my hands and get ready to leave. Truck hasn't moved all night and there is nothing to suggest the anything I logged was in error.

 

You can certainly be off duty or even taking a 10 hr break on a customers property (yuck, but knock yourself out . But if I'm checked in and spotted at a door waiting for the green light IMO that is on duty and not nap time. Again JMO. DOT doesn't even bother looking hard at paper logbooks anymore from what I've seen the past couple years.

 

Doing flatbed I log on duty to check in and set up. Once I'm done I go to the sleeper, once they finish loading and I start securing I log back on duty to I'm secured and tarped. Then I roll out. I've not had one single issue with dot on my logs.

 

Better than being off duty and taking a 10 hr break at a truck stop (yuck) and risk getting the nose taken off my truck by some newbie trying to back. Nice and quiet at many of my customers and their lot doesn't smell like piss and I don't have to listen to other trucks idling around me all night long.

 

I've been inspected where I marked the loading as on duty but the unloading as sleeper. Questioned for it. Told officer the load needed restacked at shipper (cross dock load) where I helped to speed it up. At receiver I check in and go to my sleeper where I mostly sleep only waking up every couple hours to check for a green light. The unload took 5 or 6 hours. After explanation it's all good. Log it how you do it and don't be unreasonable about it.

 

The above regulation does seem to suggest that the Feds want you to log "all" time spent at a shipper as On Duty.

As an enforcement officer, I can only tell you how I look at this. (Unfortunately, it does not mean that ever other officer takes the same position.)

I know that every driver spends SOME time at the shipper doing work related duties. These may involve positioning your truck at the facilities, signing paperwork, checking loads, etc, etc. When I look at a log book and see absolutely no on duty time, I know the driver is not being truthful. He is essentially hiding hours. When I look at a log and the driver has logged some / any on duty time, I don't quibble about it. Did he log enough time? I don't know and I don't really care. I wasn't there.

And I can tell you, I've stopped many a driver who logs loading / unloading/ fueling, etc as off duty. When asked about it, they always say the same thing: "I wasn't working." It's the same answer they give me when they log off duty while undergoing an inspection. And in those cases, I cite a violation.

And I know what they seem to want in the above regulation, but in my mind there is a bit of a clash in the regulations. One could argue that the entire time you are at the shipper, you are remaining in readiness to drive. But - if you get in your sleeper, IMO, you can and should log it as sleeper berth. So essentially, you are in your sleeper - but at the same time waiting to be loaded or unloaded. This seems like an obvious point that needs to be addressed by the Feds in an interpretation, so that various officers can't come up with varying interpretations. And in my mind, it's not a fault of the officers in the field as much as the guys who wrote the regs. The officers have to interpret it one way or another to do their jobs.

So - if it's me that's looking at your log, and I see ANY on duty time, I will never question it. If you back up to the dock and climb in your sleeper and log sleeper, that seems perfectly reasonable to me.

Perhaps this is something that I should send up the chain someday for an interpretation before I retire.

One added thought - If you work for a company that requires you to log ALL time spent at the shipper as On Duty time, then obviously that's what you have to do if you want to work for them. The majority of companies I see want you to log as little on duty time as possible so they can get more work out of you.