ELD Mandate....Any O/O's left the business because of it?

Then we'll agree to disagree. After the December soft deadline, I was thinking same as you and predicting a whole lot of nothing. Then April rolled around.

I think we tend to measure others by our own standards. I too may or may not have made minor timeline adjustments to make things work, but never anything too egregious. There's just too many bread crumbs for an inspector to catch for my comfort. I figured most others would be like me, with a few outliers. Maybe 5% or less truly running way outside HOS.

After April, the truth started coming out. Funny how losing a lot of money makes a man want to air it out. People I never would have expected. Doing way more than fudging to make some traffic vanish or get home 10 hrs sooner. Honestly I was surprised at how many were depending so heavily on loose leaf. Within the first two weeks it was easy to see why capacity got so tight. To be fair, I'm not talking outlaw crap with every day starting with 7 days off. More like people running crazy multi drop schedules (safely) and suddenly losing the ability to make it look right. Ive heard from more than one broker that they're surprised I will still accept multi picks/drops. So these guys quit taking those loads and spend their break at the lunch counter griping about what the government took away instead of solving the latest challenge and getting back to earning.

I'm no fan of an ELD, but I'm not gonna make it into something its not.

 

You can tell from looking at the truck usually, not always, but usually, which guys out there to make money and not fashion statement and be billy bid rigger. Black smoke coming out of the stacks and all the fancy chrome bolt covers, straight stacks, and a bunch more, I think I know which one this is.

 

Are you on elogs ???

 

This is true. You can also Thank ambulance chasing attorneys for scaring the public with TV ads showing bad truck wrecks and how much money they have collected for their clients . Although those wrecks did happen ,the fear mongoring by these leaches love to portray trucks and the trucking industry as this dangerous ,public enemy
That they have to protect the innocent from . While they line they're pockets with millions from many people coming out of the woodwork looking to collect on minor if not fraudulent injury claims. Not to fault anyone truly being injured in a bad accident to be compensated for their loss or injury,but there's more fraud ,than legitimate claims in that industry,and they love running those scare ads in the middle of the day when soccer moms and those not working are home watching tv.

 

Mmmmmmm the closest call I ever had was big Petey / big hammer coming around the bend in my lane doing 55 or 60. Problem was it was a blind curve, and he was in my lane. If there was no emergency lane, which I went around him at 60, I'm off the road at 60 mph.

He was on the CB yelling at the W900 big hammer on the correct side of the highway.

You're disillusioned if you think big brother can't see every word you type, every phone call you make, and they can even see you naked in the shower if they so choose.

As to reality. I don't know what reality everyone else is in, but our rates spiked, and at the moment are already going off the chart.

And with my discount I'd say my current nationwide average for fuel is about $2.85.
Let's just call it $3. You're gonna have a hard time convincing me big Petey / big hammer that get 5.5 to 6 on a good day, is a better value than the trustee modern Freightworth that gets 8 plus.

I've had 4 inspections in the last 12 months. The average time a DOT has spent with my e log is about 30 seconds.

I also see the number 1 truck (s) parked 2, 3, 8, spaces deep on the edges of the parking at the stops are big Petey / big hammer with flatbeds.

And none of this is do to the drivers, it is because they are victims of the world around them.

I hope another twenty or thirty thousand old timers quit. Rates will go up more, or the rest of us will get that REALLY big money freight so we can amass real estate and restaurants

 

I really enjoy reading whatever your post because you say things of full knowledge and you can feel there is also a substantial depth of experience. Therefore, I am confused when people with reputation talk about great rates now, as I can see them actually trending downwards (since the beginning of the year), which makes me feel incompetent because I do my best effort to bid and negotiate for the best rate possible, however the averages on DAT (dry van) somewhat prove the trend I've been observing. Also...the freight volume in my area (Chicago - always strong) is much lower from the November - December- January by a lot....then there was 3500-4000 loads in 100 mile radius, now I can see only 1/3 of it. Rates are way better from the same time last year but they picked up November after the long drought over a month before December 18th. I also did not see any sudden "spike" after the leniency period ended on April 1 st. I don't know...it may be different in an open deck and reefer world, but with a dry van I did hope for a better impact, if there ever was to be any.

And are these rates now historically the highest actually - last 10 years or so?

 

The building inspector knows which contractors they can trust and which they need to inspect. At least here in my county, the building inspector often doesn’t even show up......it’s more of a spot check on certain contractors

 

Everything is based on supply and demand, you know that. If there's not enough capacity (for whatever reason) in a given area at a given time, then the rates go up.

 

You seem to be saying the ATA didn’t lobby for the Elog law. I recall otherwise. Elogs had zero traction whatsoever until the ATA lobby switched to Elogs then lobbied for them and henceforth gave lawmakers permission to go ahead. It followed the same path as the speed limiter law up here. And now Canada is following suit with Elogs.

I can’t wait to hear all the whining from you guys when the next step in Govt overreach comes to American trucking......mandatory speed limiters. Because the Govt is always right. Do I need a speed limiter if I’ve never had a speeding ticket? Of course I do! I am a danger to soccer moms

 

I was a general contractor and small time developer for years here in Oregon before the great recession hit. I can assure you that the inspectors don't just do "spot checks" or not show up on the various inspection phases of a project. Building inspectors in my experience were much more anal than any DOT inspector I've encountered in the last 9 years