10 Hour Break Interruptions By Company

i took my qualcomm apart, think i needed a special screw driver, been a while, but i cut the speaker wire to keep it from beeping.

If i am awake I will see the red light.


K

 

I can remember one night mine kept going off every 30 mins, got kinda fed up hung it out the truck window half asleep, guess what it rained.

 

i drove for TransAm a few years ago and they used to have this automated notification that they wanted the logs updated that started after12 midnight until you sent the stupid thing in.

I got fed up with that real early and just started hanging the keyboard out the window until I woke up and had my first cup of coffee and woke up enough to catch the logbook up and then sent the crap in!

One of our "narc" type drivers saw my keyboard hanging out the window one night and called in on me and disp told him to wake me up and put the keyboard in the truck. When this whiny arsed crybaby snitch knocked on my door and actually told me he had called the company on me I unassed the truck in my fruit of the looms and chased his arse back to his truck! I don't think fat boy ever narced on anyone again and when I got up the next day there were a few interesting mesages waiting for me. After all that went thrugh the wash TA stopped sending those "need updates" messages untill after 9am! They no more needed those things by so early in the AM as nobody was even in the logs department untill 0900 anyway!

Sometmes it pays to get pissed with managment when you have the wiskers to back yourself up with!

As for that volume control, your company can change that setting for incoming messages so that it will beep when an incomming comes in and you have the volume down. They had it so loud you could pile all your clothes on top of the stupid thing and you could still hear it!

 

Here's is something that works even better...

1. Go to the hardware store and get 200 feet of 00 Service Entrance Cable, a one inch spade drill bit and four tubes of JB Weld.

2. Locate the power feed for the Qualcom inside the fuse panel, and connect one cable (with the stripe) to the fuse. You may need crimpers and a five pound hammer to do this.

3. Climb up the back of the truck and drill a one inch hole into the side of the satellite antenna. Strip back four inches of insulation on the other cable (without the stripe) and insert the bare end into the hole.

4. Mix up all four tubes of JB weld and pour them into the hole on the satellite dish to secure the cable.

5. Strip back 2 inches of insulation on the other end of both cables. Position the truck next to the trash compactor at the truck stop--high voltage is required and these are an easy source of 480 volts. Use your hammer to smash the cover off the compactor's switch box, then connect both cables to any wires you see inside. The order and colors do not matter.

You should soon begin to see smoke coming out of the satellite box. This indicates that the Qualcom unit is sending in a final message to dispatch and disables any computer idling controls on the engine.

Voila! You can now idle as much as you want without those annoying messages from the home office.

 

I think I would just pull the fuse. Much easer than trying to electrocute myself.
But to each his own. The fuse is however easy to find, and if you wait till the unit powers down it will not know you pulled it. Then restart truck and idle away.
My last company that had an idle policy I was never over on it, so it did not really matter. Got close a few times in summer, but they had an underbunk heater so I was good in winter.

 

I didn't see where the question was really answered, however I didn't read everything in detail. Sorry if someone already answered I would like to make sure it was answered though.

If a dispatcher sends you a msg here and there it wouldn't be a big deal, however if they repeatedly send you msgs its considered on-duty. Below is the Question & Answer from the DOT website.
NOTICE REPEATEDLY: If you get a msg I wouldn't hurt yourself & log it on line 4..
I would say every 2 hrs is ridicolous. (SP?)
Question 31: If a driver is required repeatedly to respond to satellite or similar communications received during a 10-hour (8-hour for passenger transportation) off-duty period, does this activity affect a driver's duty status?

Guidance: Yes. The driver cannot be required to do any work for the motor carrier during the 10-hour or the 8-hour off-duty period. A driver who is required to access a communications system for the purpose of reading messages from the carrier, responding to certain messages (either verbally or by typing a message), or otherwise acknowledging them, is performing work. For the purpose of this guidance, "repeatedly" means a pattern or series of interruptions that prevent a driver from obtaining restorative sleep during the off-duty period.

 

OK drivers... lets strike we gotta start our break all over again the quall comm just beeped...

 

I don't care if you do or don't... I just answered the driver...
That's for the drivers protection... Some do actually like to get some rest

 

Here is a suggestion...

When you go for your 10 hour break, send them a message saying that your going for your break & that you do not want to be disturbed for that 10 hour time period.

Companies don't know your break schedule... So be courteous & allow them to know. And then if they disturb you via your break then you can send them another message saying that now they had disturbed your 10 hour break, you will have to start over again. At least there will be an electronic log of the messages....