Logging Loading/Unloading Time

People. It’s not complicated! Do what you need to do based on whether you’re paid by the mile, hour, or stop or any combination to keep your safety department off your back. No more no less.

And keep in mind - what safety department tells you when asked and what they will overlook during random audits is usually two different things as long as you log “sensibly” and don’t log flagrant omissions. Push the limits to find their limits. Log your fuel and dock bumps and some PTI time and the popo will leave you alone.

Flame Suit On

 

Think about all the corners that are cut by your carrier’s payroll system when calculating your pay. They cut corners, you cut corners. Simple.

But this discussion is only important at places that will or can occasionally run you hard for extended periods and you’re looking to maximize your earnings. Otherwise there’s little point in worrying about time management when you go home every week with many hours to spare.

 

You will get no flame from me. I agree. Just one minor point though. Safety can't overlook a violation. You the driver might not get anything but the standard line, however somewhere in that carriers records is a comment about corrective actions taken. They have to do this because of what the FMCSA does when they audit. And lets further be honest, the FMCSA is going to find things. If they come back later or not depends on what they find and how much of it they see.

Today with elogs this is more controlled. However back in the paper days, I used to tell drivers all the time log clock busts and put why in the comments. The DOT is not standing behind trees with binoculars and handcuffs. The FMCSA knows from time to time that "redacted" happens. They don't get their panties in a wad over a few violations from time to time. What they don't like is when the problems are systemic and affect the whole operation. This is when they shut a carrier down.

 

Is anybody going to be able to prove it took 15 minutes to check in and bump a dock instead of the 8 minutes I logged? ... five days later? Either an in-house or outside auditor?

 

In normal everyday situations that should be a no. However, one thing most all drivers are going to do from time to time is a sit down with safety. I am sorry but I have forgotten the name of that company most carriers now use to aggregate data. Anyway, during these sit downs, the safety person will take any of the "outliers" and go over them. Forget to log a fuel stop, this is when you see it. When I was active my last company you could not get logbooks or transflo scan sheets from anywhere but safety. My comment was in regard to these sitdowns. later the safety person will notate the session. That was all.

 

I have places that require the driver to sit in waiting room while loading or unloading or on the dock. Drivers get used to logging Off-Duty and think it's no big deal nobody will know. That true until you in a bad accident. They will try and look for anything that you forgot to log. They will look for a pattern of not logging all your time. If they find anything like a paper sign in and out sheet that you signed. They keep those today for the food safety stuff. They will look for video or computers from shipper that show how long someone is at shipper.

 

Drivers have logged that 15 minutes for getting loaded and unloaded for OVER 50 years now. Today the FMCSA and before the FMCSA was created the agency before them has done compliance audits for years. If they had deemed it a serious problem they would have shut it down years ago! I am aware of what it says in 395.2. However, these are technical violations and any attorney that tries to use something that is widespread in this industry to try to show a driver is dangerous will get laughed out of court. A plaintiff's attorney is going to look for anything that could justify a driver being unsafe AT the time of the accident. Not if said driver failed to log 2 hours on duty 2 months before. They also look for things like drug screens and any enforcement actions taken against the driver. They will get prepass and easypass records to match against logs. One more point, logging line 4 does NOT count against the total driving time for that day. It only counts against the 70. It's not a way that allows a driver to drive past 11 hours tired.

However if a driver is violating the HOS rules, back in the days of paper logs using 2 log books etc, well if something tragic were to happen and this off-duty logging was discovered, well it's just going to be added.

 

I just got popped by St Louis metro for logging sleeper while being loaded at the brewery. I had check in/out time logged, but the metro cop said I needed every minute sitting in that dock logged on duty even though I was taking a dang nap while being loaded. I guess they're starting to enforce this. It's ridiculous. What if it takes 10 hours to get loaded?

 

Personally I would argue that one in court, if I can take a nap in the sleeper... I am off duty. Normally anytime I do live load or unloads, I always just tell them I'm going to drop the trailer at the dock and go down the road for a bite to eat. And that's exactly what I do, drop trailer person prevents five minutes down the road to Sonny's BBQ to eat lunch lol

 

Get a lawyer, go to court and get it tossed, then dataq the citation.

What did you do to make a metro cop pull you over?