Paper Log Distance to Time Question DOT

Their are computer programs that scan your paper log and pick it apart.
Speed,safety checks, 30 min break,Pre and post trip inspections. miles.

 

ON the westerm region. Speed limit is 75. Yet average log speed is 50 to 55. Depending on weight.

 

I agree, log it as you do it. The disadvantage with paper logs, you round up to the quarter hour your running slow, you round down your speeding.
I'm like most in this thread log 53-54 on the west and around 62 on the east.
Be aware, that DOT started using a new program several years ago.
They input your starting point, your stop point, truck dimensions, loaded and empty and they can tell you with almost 100% certainty how fast you should have been able to make the trip.
A friend of mine got a $1300 ticket in Arizona a couple years ago.
After the DOT ran the numbers through this new program, based on distance, current road construction, terrain, etc., it showed he was averaging 78 mph in a truck that was governed at 65.
So he not only got a speeding ticket but he was also cited for falsifying his log book.

 

That would be handy to have.

 

You bring up a good point about the weakness of trying to log it as you do it, the rounding. Especially if I have multiple stops it gets to the point I have rounded down too many times and then I need to make a round up or two. Sometimes it's better to remake the log, eliminating most of the stops, so I can show correct mph to time.

 

I have always followed the rule that my Dad taught me. Don't ever average over 50 miles per hour. I spent my whole life in California until moving last year. The California speed limit has always been 55 for trucks. It's impossible to average 55 when you factor in stoplights, lower speed limits etc. Most of the time I show an average of 45 mph or so. It's worked well for me, almost 20 years driving trucks and never a ticket.

 

This is why you always round down. If you leave at 8:10, you put that you left at 8:00. The cops are never going to bother you for going to slow, only the other way around. When I've been checked, I've had a few times that the officer actually chuckles when he looks at my log book. They are so used to drivers cheating the other way, they don't care about driving too slow.