Need advice on how to deal with my company

Experienced driver know you need to get the job done sometimes. This stuff of log it exactly how you drive it and never do anything illegal is so much BS and you know it.

We all do what we have to do to make a living. There is no difference in where you decide to lie one is not morally any better than they other.

I run loads all the time that won't fit in the book as ran. Is my log book legal, absolutely is it accurate, well maybe not. The stuff that matters, BOL, fuel receipts, repairs, etc all match if they have a time stamp on them they will be logged to the minute.

Do I expect that the customer is going to shut down a job because of a break down, traffic, or any other delay. No I don't. I will do everything in my power to work with dispatch however they need me to to deliver. I will not compromise public safety the safety of myself or the rig entrusted to me. How ever will I drive over 11, possibly, over 14, possibly. Have I had to clean up my logbook after a delivery, yup more than once.

I do everything on the front end of the load not to get into this situation, why is why learning to pre-plan a trip becomes important.

I don't get this holier than thou attitude I hear from drivers regarding logging. Keep it safe, keep it simple, it easy to read, and make sure the time stamps match. I've used this for years and never had a problem with logs a scales or safety departments.

Once my load is delivered, I tell dispatch I can not move or reload till what ever I need to catch up the book. I do not let problems from load 1 to affect load 2 it would create a situation to difficult to manage.

Be safe...

 

Yup.

But I don't get on a public message board and freely admit to breaking the law.

Do you understand what I am trying to convey?

 

I try to tell the truth as close as I can, I don't care who reads it. There are DOT, CHP people that read this all the time, and no I'm not worried about it. DOT is the one who taught me how to log, thats probably why they like the looks of it.

If they audit my logs and they have all the time stamps they check line up perfict , like little ducks in a row.

I advocate safe operation at all times by all drivers, that is the most important thing, IMHO.

But I thank you for your concern,

 

You deliver in the morning, DH 100-200 miles, then you have to wait until midnight or so to get the load. Then I sleep to about 5am and take off with a normal log. Then about half way you back it up and it all looks good for the second half.

The meat business you don't run steady. You sit and then run like hell, sit, run..... The sitting time makes room for backing up.

I don't do this because I like it. This is some of the hidden things you don't know about when you hire in. I been wanting to change companies for awhile. I hate riding busses and orientations, lol.

First they have to figure out who you are and that it is actually you posting. We have 450 drivers. Posting from from every Pilot in the country it is hard to trace your IP

Second, I wish DOT would crack down on these money hungry idiots. Maybe posting will bring awareness. It's not the drivers, it's the shippers and the trucking companies that will kiss their ### to turn a dollar. Every driver should work 8 hours a day/40 hours a week and make the same money they do now. As long as seats are filled with people willing to work 100 hours a week for pennies, it will never change. As long as drivers make pennies, they'll do what they have to do to make dollars.

Alot of companies hauling meat are pressured by Tyson fines. It boils down to the shippers calling the shots. DOT could crack down anytime with an audit of Tyson and they don't because they are too big and I'm sure money talks. This been going on for years. JBS, Farmland, Hormel and John Morrell aren't near as bad.

EOBR's will change things very soon.

My company, as a company driver, turning down loads means more sitting or a short crappy run. Eventially you are out the door. Telling them an eta beyond what the shipper already set is not an option. Most receivers are booked with a four hour delivery window. Moving an appt means the next day. Meat has about a 10-14 day shelf life. The longer it takes to get there, the less time they have to sell it.

I might run illegal at times, but I make it look good as I do it. The current laws don't dictate a tired driver. I run safe and courteous. I even start to get sleepy, I pull over and take a nap.

Just yesterday I drop/hooked my Tyson load. My pressure gauge showed I was nose heavy about 1500 lbs with my axles all the way forward. Tyson was closed and nobody was there to fix it until today. Dispatch beats around the bush as usual. I ended up putting 14000 on my steers and 34100 on my drives and took off. Tennessee pulled me over this morning. Said I was overweight on my steers. I said, no I'm not. He took me outside and thought he was going to show me my tire rating. He looks.... 7150 lbs. I have special tires, lol. He tries to find something else and can't. If he just looked at my logbook he would of got me as I didn't fill it out this morning. Whew!


Here's a thread on Tyson's BS

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...d-or-bad/82580-i-hate-tyson-i-hate-tyson.html

 

Powder Joints, I get what you are saying about "get the load there on time, no matter what". Did it for most of my driving career.

But there is NO fiddling with Elogs driving time. It is written in stone, non-editable. Same with the 14 hr rule-when the time is up, it is up. And don't you DARE start off your 10 hour break even ONE minute early-VIOLATION!!

It's a big PITA, but it's what a lot of us have to work with these days.

In truth, I really don't mind it all that much. I KNOW I am going to get a shower, a meal, AND a good night's sleep tonite. If the load is late, it's going to be dispatch's fault, not mine.

And if some production line has to shut down, well, maybe they should have ordered the product earlier, or paid more per mile so that someone would have gone for it earlier.

 

As long as it works for you thats what matters. I could not work for a company that required all the absolute control. I do everything I can to stay legal and delivery on time, but bottom line my dispatch know if I turn down a load or given them a alternate delivery time that there is no choice. If they want to penalize me then so be it I'll not die in this truck over a load of powder. The most I will tell them when they pressure us is : I'll do the best I can no guarantees. I woud be the same if it were beef or pork, or produce. I handled IWX dispatchers the same as May and Rite Aid right down to where I am now. If it's not good enough they can have there truck back any time they want it.

 

Same for me, whenever I need extra time, I tell my dispatcher to call receiver and request a later appt time. Never been given #### for this, usually get a later appt, or told to drop in a nearby yard.

That's why I just don't get all these horror stories posted on this site.

That's not to say that #### doesn't happen, but 99.9% of the time, communication will make things go alright.

Maybe I've just been lucky with dispatchers, but that lucky streak has been going on for almost 20 years. A few ######## in that time, but most are just like me and you, just trying to make a living.

 

You know we all ##### about elogs but has anyone considered that once they come into play totally the JIT( for those not in the know this means JUST IN TIME) garbage that has caused a lot of the dispatch pressure issues( not all by far but quite a few) will be history.

I mean think about it they will have to schedule pick ups and deliveries in enough time for driver to run legal because that little program won't allow otherwise and with EOBRs they won't have the choice to use anything else.The shippers will end up telling their receivers you have to order earlier
so we can ship earlier since no company can or will deliver in the old time frame.This may take awhile but it will eventually come about.

The biggest issue we all have right now is that dang 14 hour clock.It causes more problems than anything else.

 

Back in 2000 I was at IWX they already fairly much had it handled. They use Solos on the east coast,mid west and west coast to pick up and deliver, Friday I would drop my east bound in the Kingman yard and be redispatched on a load for Monday. The drivers that actually livr in Kingman area would be dispatched Sunday for Mondays just in time loads. I would take a load home that they knew would be off early Monday say in Visalia, then schedule me to pickup stone fruit in that area back to Kingman and drop it, there a Team would hook it and head for Indiana to drop it where another local solo would take it in to NY. This allows for pick up deliver difficulties and keeps it moving faster than a regular team truck.

It also enabled drivers to get to know there pickups and deliveries which helped expiated the process. An occasional box of 2 dozen donuts works wonders also. Its time for companies to work smarter, not harder.

There once you had proven yourself if there was an area you wanted to go to they would get you there. Sometimes on loads I would ask how much time was on the load, they would respond with when can you deliver, if your answer fit the time frame you'd get the message back. Call 24 hours before delivery so we can set up the next leg, and around you would go

New rules or not this is not that difficult of problem.