I’m about to start hotshotting with a truck and trailer under 26,000 lbs. Can anyone tell me if I have to use the electronic logging or can I use paper logs?
It depends, are you going to operate in interstate commerce, meaning under a US DOT and MC number or are you only going to run in one state? If you are running interstate then the Federal hours of service regulations including electronic logging devices fully apply to all commercial vehicles over 10,001 pounds gross weight rating. That said, there are some commodity specific exemptions as well as age of equipment. If you are running only in one state you need to check with them. Some have exceptions for under CDL trucks, and some may not have adopted the ELD rules yet.
Ok thanks, I am running with a dot number and mc number. Do you know of any iPhone app logging devices that are dot compliant?
Its not just the app that you need, you also need a device that will connect to the trucks ECM to be ELD compliant.
Being a hotshot truck under 26k I assume you are using a pickup truck. Be very careful selecting an ELD, most do not work well, if at all, with light duty engines. Also, as someone who sells ELDs (please don't shoot the messenger) many do not work well with iPhone interfaces, so you might want to get a stand alone device. Personally, I am not comfortable handing my personal phone over to a roadside enforcement officer, too many things can go wrong even accidentally.
Good to know. Apple is a tough platform to develop interfaces for, they keep everything so secret. many of the ELD makers have had trouble with the interface, glad someone has it figured out. Does the Deleted support light duty engines using the automotive OBD-II communication protocol or only heavy duty diesels using J-Bus and heavy duty OBD-II?
