whats the latest on the EOBRS

I've been around this thing called trucking for awhile now. I've got a few miles on me. Every time something new comes along everybody gets their panties all bunched up.

When the move came to 48 foot trailers from the 45's there was the I ain't pullin' longer trailers for the same money. I'll hang it up before I do that crowd.

When the CDL's came in, I'll hang it up before I do that crowd.

When they started the "pee in the bottle" thing. Ditto to the aforementioned response.

HOS change, OK you see my point ?

ANYTIME there has been a change there are ALWAYS those who say they won't change, or can't change. There are those who do leave rather than change, most however work within the change and keep on working. It will be the same with this.

IF, like me you have bills to pay, and well, ya just HAVE to have that feeling inside you when you're driving. Guess what? You'll adjust and learn to survive with-in the limits of what you have to work with to stay driving.

Like most "old" hands I've ran the heck out of paper logs. Got away with WAY more than I ever got caught with. Went through the first wave of tac-o- graphs learning how to make the needle do what I wanted it to do.

When the company I just left went to E-Logs the first thing I asked was "where do I put the bobby pin"? I figured I could NEVER make any money and felt stupid shutting down at 4 in the afternoon just because I had used up all my hours for the day. 10 hours off ? For real 10 hours off ? NO way, what the heck am I going to do with that time ? Counter-productive to the task at hand. I adjusted, I had to if I still wanted to keep on feeling that feeling I get inside from driving.

After the first small amount of time with the E-Logs I got the hang of it. I still made my pay check and with a new feeling . The one of seeing that scale sign when it says open and not hopeful that I'd get away one more time. Knowing that I was "right" and wouldn't have to try and convince anyone from the scale that what I said I had been doing I had indeed been doing.

It will take some time for everyone, ( drivers, companies, shippers, receivers, the government ) to iron out all the details and bugs out of the system. Perhaps in the end there will be no more 100 mph dispatches with a 65mph truck and those that cause the REAL delays in the system, ( shippers , receivers) will be held accountable ( detention pay) and we can all get on with the task at hand. Doing our jobs and getting home to our families.

Be Safe, and enjoy yourself.

 

So is line 5 for personal conveyance or emergency driving (ie kicked out of receiver)? You guys seem to advocate both, but you can't have both without a large conflict of interest. And, what good does it do if you're kicked out of a shipper?

I just find it odd to chastise drivers for not logging certain events on paper that somehow become acceptable on line 5.

 

Don't get me wrong. Once we start getting paid appropriately for our time(I've seen what companies charge for detention; 12/hr to the driver is unacceptable), I'll be all for elogs. Maybe elogs will even help push that, but it seems more likely this will be another shaft the driver can go ahead and insert.

 

Line 5 is an extra line used for logging driving when you don't want to log driving.

I should rephrase my previous statement. I only advocate elogs insomuch that I advocate hos rules in general. legal and safe don't always coincide.

 

If you read through this whole thread I think they explain it. My response is cynical at best,I just think it's funny how some people justify its use while condemning paper log falsifications.

 

"Line 5" is for logging off-duty driving - which is legal per the FMCSRs. You don't get it. If you are unladen (nothing in the trailer) then you can use your CMV for personal use without logging driving on line 3. So if you're "kicked out of a receiver" there's no conflict if you're now empty. If you still have freight in the trailer - you have to log that on line 3 - same with being "kicked out of a shipper." It's the same with "emergency driving" - it has to be on line 3.

Well others might "chastise" drivers I don't. The reality of the HOS is a lawyer sitting in a nice office in Washington DC wrote that c.r.a.p. without any knowledge of how the industry works. We're left to deal with the mess - which is pencil-whipping the logbook to cover the mess. As a consequence of drivers taking far too much advantage of the paper-log system and no-nothing industry pressure groups, we're now saddled with a piece of tattle-tale electronics that GPS-tags our every move.

My carrier is really pushing us to document arrive and depart times on our bills at EVERY receiver. With the GPS-tracking, its really easy for them to determine when you're owed detention. I'm starting to see a lot more of it in my settlements.

And yeah... work for a serious bottom feeder, and they'll use elogs to shaft you.

Not proposing... in use. Think about it - elogs/eobrs only "know" that the vehicle is in motion, and are programmed to automatically place you on line 3 when that motion is detected. "Line 5" is a result of this so that the electronic record can distinguish between on-duty driving, and off-duty driving. Nothing new, just a consequence of the computer-nanny dogging your every move.

Well... maybe YOU don't want to log driving. I want to keep my "line 5" privileges - it can be turned off by your logs department. My carrier has turned that feature off on drivers found to be abusing it by driving a laden CMV while on line 5 "off duty driving." And that kind of driving IS illegal.

Nope. You've seen what's legal - whether you're using paper logs or an electronic logging system. What you're hearing about is how some drivers misuse the system, and how other drivers confuse the issue. If you look back in this thread, you'll see a quote about driving off-duty from the FMCSRs. Line 5 is a way for the computer to distinguish how the CMV is being operated.

You're confusing the issue. The FMCSA has revised its interpretation of the term CMV in the off-duty driving rule to specifically include driving with an unladen trailer attached to the tractor.

This is in response to the industry complaints about a certain very large corporation that requires you to immediately leave their property after unloading whether you have the hours to move the vehicle or not. In at least one not-so-well-known case, that certain large corporation called local law enforcement to charge a driver with trespassing after he ran out of hours on elogs and refused to move the vehicle from their dock - and the driver called the state police because of the conflict with the HOS. The DOT bear told him to move, and he didn't write the driver a ticket (being a former driver himself.)

I don't know how many times this has ocurred in the last year or two - but...

The industry (read the mega-carriers) and the ATA approached the FMCSA (as I've been told the story goes - because I've no firsthand knowledge of this myself) and got them to change the off-duty driving interpretation to prevent the law from ticketing you for having an empty trailer attached while on "Line 5" to deal with this sort of situation. Yup, it can be abused. And yup, if a shady carrier uses it to get you to drive illegally, they'll get caught in a compliance review because of the GPS tags in the electronic record - bet you, the driver, gets the shaft for it. And yup again... if you abuse the system yourself, you may get fired or your line 5 priveleges turned off in systems that have that capability.

 

IP, i appreciate your response to my earlier post. i think j3411 has it nailed... the industry is in a state of flux and uncertainty right now as the change with EOBR's is not universal yet, and we're still uncertain about the 11/14/70 rule changing as well, which could make all this arguing a moot point if we can get the flexibility we need to run, make a fair living, not have our wages and time eaten by slow shippers and receivers (INCLUDING WALLY WORLD). The data can be used FOR or AGAINST the driver as an individual, depending on unique situation involved. Personally, I DO like the idea of GPS data being tied to detention pay, because there is NO DENIABILITY about the location of that truck. is it on the shipper/receiver's property or not? the likelyhood that global giants will allow this to affect their bottom lines is not going to be allowed without a BIG fight in the courts and congress. like money in our pockets, they will fight for theirs too. that's what the whole fuss is about, and it's going to take some time to change attitudes or change laws to re-regulate the industry to some degree to create effective rules that everyone can follow easily and live with.

 

I swear I've posted two separate times and they disappear. #### this phone.

Some people expect shelf costs to go up because of this. What do you guys think?