Flaw in the Split Sleeper Berth Rule

you want to keep falsifying your logs. You go right ahead. One day it will bite you.

 

I think you need to screw that tin foil hat of yours on a little tighter.

Been doing this job for just shy of 40 years. Never seen DOT guys crawling around a truckstop checking peoples logs that were parked.

Been alive nearly 70 years with a father that had been a trucker all his life as well, never even heard stories of DOT guys crawling around truckstops checking peoples logs.

Have you? And the voices in your head doesnt count.

If you can honestly say that you would get out of the bunk and switch your ELD over to "off duty" from sleeper berth because you walked in to take a ####, then you need to check yourself into a mental health facility and sell any and all guns you own...

Seriously.


I mean that...


Really.

Honestly....

 

It's not a flaw, it's actually how the law is written.

 

Ok, well if a driver with 40 years of experience says what I'm doing is no big deal, as it's certainly not HELPING me gain any hours or anything as I can't even do a split SB option doing it my way, I'll just assume your tin foil hat needs it's antenna adjusted a bit.

 

We use Bigroad on our tablets, what I've started doing when I have a split like that, when I get back to the yard, I'll go to sleeper, then I'll log off the tablet and go home, then when my split time is up, I'll log in from my phone and switch to off-duty, then log off from my phone, I just make sure to adjust the location so it matches where the tablet is.

 

It's not a case of whether or not it's a big deal, it's a case of that one inspector with a wild hair and a bad attitude. When we were still on paper, I did a split log coming back from SLC to Denver, I'd actually been on the road for 3 nights, day one I drove to my first customer delivered then drove 2 hrs and took my 10 in the sleeper, the second day I did 6 stops, then spent the night in a hotel and had a receipt, day 3 I did one stop then drove 3.5 hrs to a pickup, which took 5 hours, I logged it as two 15 minute on-duty periods, and 4.5 hrs off-duty, which I took in the sleeper, then after finishing, I drove 3 hrs and got a hotel for my 10 (in the middle of day 2 my A/C quit working), next morning I headed home. Got stopped for a level one by a Wyoming trooper doing random stops, he looked at my log and questioned me on how I spent the 4.5 hrs, I said I napped, he asked why I didn't log it as sleeper, I gave him a blank stare, he wrote it as a form/recording violation, he didn't cite me for it, but did give me a warning.

 

Had this happened to me too. And here’s the craziest part, you don’t even know you’re in violation but trust me your safety manager will have it pop up on their screen at the office. And then they’ll probably take your safety bonus. In my situation I did 38 hours off duty and it flipped back to the day before and put me in violation. Ridiculous! Makes no sense at all…

 

I just severely cracked my last rib laughing.
I thought that the mental health facilities were closed long ago.
Come-on...

 

You DO know you dont have to answer any questions about your log, right? Or any questions of any kind. If you do, its on you. Its called the 5th amendment. You have to provide them with paperwork, insurance forms, bols, ect. But you dont even have to say "hi" to them. I usually give them a polite "Im sorry, I dont answer police questions without a lawyer present". If they give me static, I start recording with my phone, I ask if their camera is on, and if they are going to deny my civil rights. That WILL stop them cold.

Edit: If they give you static about recording them, just politely say the SCOTUS says filming police interactions in public is a protected 1st amendment activity and ignore their order to stop filming and ask for a supervisor. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AND USE THEM PEOPLE!! I gave the US military 12 years so you could have those rights! Dont just kiss them off. Being a nice guy isnt going to get you out of a ticket, as you found out.

I had a job running the mail from Minneapolis to Ft Wayne. I picked up at 3:25am, I would stop for an hour when the sun came up and nap so I wouldnt be blinded (this was in the paper days) without logging the stop. Had a Wisconsin trooper look at my logs and said " it doesnt take this long to get from Minneapolis to here". My answer: "yeah, so?". That was the end of it.