ELD Exemption for single truck operations?

Stop crying over the safety ########. We all get it's not about safety. It's about compliance. Jesus that argument is getting old

 

If THEY weren't so concerned with falsified data to safety.


WE wouldn't have to worry about compliance.

 

Safety is a paper dragon.

Ive always known it's rather difficult to get the good stuff on a given company, who and how many got hurt or killed. (OSHA etc)

It's not good to learn about a truly baad company when you read it's CEO has been arrested for pushing drivers to do illegal things. And finally I should push back a little bit. I see it as a gradual loss of freedoms. Might as well put robots aboard and kick em down the road.

 

One thing about most drivers is they love to talk, so I'm sure you know how often paper logs are falsified and how easy it is to "appear" within the guidelines. After auditing untold amounts of drivers logs, it's amazing to see that the majority of drivers falsifies one way or another. Driving while stating they are off duty or in the sleeper while fueling, going through scale houses and toll booths... This can all be determined during a DOT investigation unfortunately. I understand that everyone needs to make their hours somehow, but there is a cause for safety. Don't get me wrong, there are so many great drivers out there, but take it from someone that has been in a collision on personal time due to driving longer than 15 hours fatigue years ago, the risk is not worth it to anyone on the road. There are thousands of drivers out there willing to take this chance and feel that they can get by with paper logs. It is unfortunate that ELD's come with an expense, but they are much harder to cheat.

Electronic Logging Devices drastically improve safety on the roads as many Carriers and Owner Operators have already made the switch. Driver fatigue has been a long-standing concern for the FMCSA. Department of Transportation and FMCSA determined that 11.7% less accidents occurred with drivers using ELDs rather than paper logs in a 2014 study. Speed also factors as a concern as over 1,000 fatalities a year take place on the road due to commercial crashes.

 

You're kidding. RIGHT??????

ELD doesn't absolutely nothing for safety and it DOES make more fatigued drivers.

I see WAY more accidents today then i saw when i started 15 years ago. In fact. I know of one accident that driver fatigue killed the ROOKIE. 2 months ago. In my own neighborhood. sort of.

 

It may drastically improve... etc.

I see it as a liability. If so and so had to stop 2 hours from customer due to being out of HOS, the dispatchers have the power in them to inflict fear and make them go in anyway. Firing the driver if they refuse.

Unfortunately most drivers will meekly break the law and keep their jobs which now should have little to no value when Dispatch revealed it's true colors as a enemy of lawful HOS.

 

It is literally jail time for a dispatcher to force a driver to run beyond regulations and goes against the driver record to follow that directive. I know most drivers don't want to get their employer in trouble, but at this point it's you or them. My advice, document the situation and find another employer.

 

This exact scenario ######## to me tonight. (As far as running out of his 2 hours from my delivery) however my company wouldn't dare threaten me to go on in. If they did, they would find their truck sitting and me waking home.

 

The ELD's are not the culprit. The underlying HOS regulations which were never intended to be enforced with the rigid unforgiving precision of a computer are.
The land of unintended consequences are upon us.

 

I can tell by your response that you are unaware that it is quite easy to falsify an ELD.

1) Mega carrier with yard less than 2 miles from railyard. Driver doesnt log in, drives there, spends hours looking for a good empty. Once he finds one, he logs in and shows 15 minute for pretrip, and then starts his 14 hour, even though in reality, it started 2 hours earlier.

2) Driver switches to sleeper birth Las soon as he arrives at shipper. If he spends enough time there, his 2 hours could combine with 8 hour sleeper to reset his clock. Yet he's been on duty the whole time.

3) Driver gets to shipper or receiver, and then goes sleeper birth. He checks in 6 hours later, and it takes 2 to 4 hours, so he logs it 8 or 10 hours, and then goes merrily on his way.

In what way is ELDs safer than paper logs?

Let's also talk about some grey areas that ELDs turn black, and they shouldn't. I arrive at the truck stop at 9:45 pm, and take and log 15 minute for a post trip. I can not leave before 8:00. What if I'm ready at 7:55? ELDs, no way! I get stuck in traffic and exit 1 minute after I am supposed to be done. Paper logs, that's rounding. ELDs that's a violation.

If you like them, use them. I prefer not to waste my money when I could put it to better use.