whats the latest on the EOBRS

Running two logs is starting to look more leagal than this electronc log with 5 lines

 

Easier to deal with too!

Elogs/EOBR is really going to force the FMCSA to deal with the reality of our situation because the carriers are having to deal with it, and the carriers are now up against the wall just as we drivers are. IMO it will force changes to the HOS that will attempt to take into account the reality of the situations that lead to the need for "line 5" and a couple of logbooks.

But yeah... running solo with Elogs puts you up against the clock on a regular basis. I think we were really safer with the comic books - and the liberties taken with them.

 

isn't that the truth!
I was much safer when i could pull over and take a 90 minute nap if i was tired. But now with the 14 hour rule no more afternoon naps.
How many times have you taken a short nap to avoid running through chicago during rush hour specially on friday evening? Can't do that anymore!

 

Lemmie try this approach.......

Its not that our logbooks all the sudden have this "new" line added to it. A lot of people just refer to it as line 5 but technically, there is no new line. Its still the same format as with paper logs just with the added duty status option for EOBR's that makes them allow you to drive without it recording your driving on line 3. For those of you who have paper logs, you can do the same thing because even with paperless, we get logged on line 1 for the whole time we off-duty drive. Well, in a sense, y'all paper loggers don't really have to because if only you know you are doing it, then who's gonna know unless they find out? Its just like that bull poop about havin yourself logged on line 4 anytime your sittin in that driver seat. If no one knows you did it, then how are they gonna know that you were sposed to log X amount of time at that particular time as on duty not driving?........

 

Oh yeah, one more thing. Before you "disbelievers" start formulating your next post, keep one thing in mind before you hit the "Reply" button. These EOBR's, regardless of the type of device used or what truck with whatever company sticker that's plastered
all other it, the HOS program that's installed on it has to comply with the current HOS policy before it can be put to use.

 

The company Im with lets us use line 5 for to up to 25 miles. Supposed to be used to get to a safe haven. Some of the drivers are abusing it, so i wouldn't be surprised if they cut it down to 2 or 3 miles. The only thing that continues to burn me is the 14 hr rule.

 

Apparently electronically logging drive time as "off duty"is more acceptable than falsifying paper logs. Go figure.

 

No its not. FMCSA has a issued a new interpretation concerning off-duty driving while using electronic logging/EOBRs because of the limitations the technology forces: Specifically the term "CMV" in the off-duty driving regulation doesn't mean you have to be bobtail to drive off-duty. Just unladened, and for personal reasons only - going to the truckstop to deal with your personal needs. It in no way allows a driver to move the vehicle off-duty with a loaded trailer - you must be on line 3 for that. The change was brought about simply because of the number of receivers who demand that we leave their property after unloading - with or without hours - and the threat of using law enforcement to evict us for trespassing if we try to comply with HOS and not move the vehicle.

They'd rather have us drive "line 5" to a safe haven in that very narrow situation than deal with CMVs parked in a dangerous setting because of how the rules are forcing us to deal with HOS. The rest of it is the same... if you're beyond your 11 or 14, and you need to move the vehicle, going to "line 5" is a violation.

Face it. If you're using a comic book in that situation, you just move the vehicle and ignore the violation. With electronic logging there's a GPS location tag that rat's you out - which forces us to confront the receiver about moving the vehicle.

 

IP, I agree with you to a point about the line 5 deal, but as you know in our company (Prime) line 5 is no help in a state like Arkansas where you cannot park on the off and on ramps when out of time, and the truckstops are usually full when you're making that 2 or 3 am drop. Some drivers on i-40 have got crafty and just parked it on shoulder with the trianges out and the hood up, and nothing was wrong with their truck at all. That was strictly window dressing for the state troopers so they'd go chase after the drunks and leave the truckers alone.

I recently got inspected in Maine, and I had to show the guy how to move through the elog menus, but I didn't show him how to read the gps tags that corresponded to the graph. They can learn that on their own. He was more concerned with the mechanicals on the truck, which were fine.

I will share with you two things. First, the system that harrasses you when on line 5 and under load is automated, not from your dispatcher, most of the time. I've come out of the shops (another reason line 5 exists, so that a mechanic taking your truck for a test drive doesn't start your 14) and accidently left that status on, and know will pester you regularly until you stop to change it. Will it flag you for a violation like the 11/14/70 and put your DOT clock in the negative? No.

Second, and I hate to say this, but there are a few ways to abuse line 5 and have the GPS tags come up blank. There are several known weaknesses to the Qualcomm system, and it is far from foolproof if one has a bit of experience working with computers and satellite systems, (which is not what most truckers have) and is what the FMCSA and NTSB are counting on. I'm sure in the near future these weak spots in the system will be documented online somewhere, and the troopers and scale cops will learn of them too in short order after that.

In regards to privacy, safety, etc. etc. etc. I personally could care less because it skirts the core issues. What's a driver's labor worth? Are we running too hard for too little? Is the industry in need of a large scale shakeout so that capacity and demand are more in line and re-regulation to some extent needed to keep the bad apples numbers controlled? Do we have a way to truly level the playing field between the large companies and the small business truckers so that each of those segments of the industry can compete fairly?

Those are the sticking points that cause truckers to thumb their noses at logs and other regulations, and until they are tackled head on with a 'no bull' attitude, there will always be attempts to try and fix it with the easiest to implement solution that will pass muster in the political process, NOT what will actually work out there in the field.

 

And???

It doesn't matter that it doesn't come from dispatch. The fact that the system flagged the time you spent on line 5 is enough that logs can go back and review your use (or abuse) of line 5. I've heard of at least one driver who had line 5 privileges suspended because of repeated abuse after warnings to stop.

It doesn't do that automatically... no. However any review of your hours by management or DOT would show that up easily.

And your point is what? That this system is not perfectly foolproof? Are paper logs in any way more locked up than the elogs system? No. Can you run multiple elog systems the way drivers have been abusing paper logs for years? Sure there are ways to "game the system" using Elogs/EOBRs, but its going to be difficult to impossible to continue to do some of the really flagrant abuses inherent in the paper log system.

I am neither defending nor applauding the current state of HOS logging - I merely stated that the FMCSA had adjusted their view of how the off-duty driving rule is interpreted.

I think YOU'RE missing the point. Elogs/EOBRs are the darling of the uber-safety-groups (Public Citizen for example) who seem to think that we're all running outlaw paper logs - but the paper log system is so weak that you can run three log books.

The FMCSA is under pressure from both Congress and the NTSB to implement a tighter version of the HOS because of the abuses of the existing system - so they turn to Elogs/EOBRs as a panacea for the ills of the system.

The industry is turning to Elogs/EOBRs as a response to CSA scores on logbook violations because the paper log system is subject to error by the driver. Elogs/EOBRs take most of the error out of the system in terms of technical errors (rather than egregious violations of the HOS rules themselves.)

You may not like where the industry is going - I don't particularily appreciate the fact that I am racing the 11/14 hour clocks to my receiver appointments upon occasion. It doesn't matter whether we like it - that's where the industry is going. Bottom line - in the not too distant future, all interstate CMVs will be on one version or another.