Hours of service questions and answers

Like he said.....

 

First, let me explain that I haven't had to do a logbook since I went to school 10 years ago. My local jobs kept me within 100 miles, but the new job I'm getting ready to start will require me to keep a book. So, I've been logging my driving for the past week and a half, just for the practice, and will log next week so I have my 8 days on the first day of my new job.

These things are a PITA. I am good with paperwork and I understand how the book is supposed to look, but I have made at least one error on every day of the 9 that I have done. Mostly I just make the mistake of switching lines after my pre-trip keeping me on duty when I really am driving, and/or when I draw my line after I am done driving I extend it too far to meet up with the switch from off duty because my ruler covers up where I came off of line four after my pre-trip. All simple mistakes, and I'll have it perfect in a couple weeks once I get some practice, but I have to wonder how those people who struggle with paperwork and math could ever get one correct.


What I am left with now is three questions about how you manage to keep things straight on a daily basis.

Being off on weekends, I currently get a 34 every week. On my recaps it is asking for for the total hours on duty for the past 7 and 8 days. That number comes easy, but really has nothing to do with my hours available to drive when my 34 comes into play. I get that the recap inside the front cover is just for my information, so I can pretty much do whatever I want with that, but the one on the side of my log page is the "legal" one. Do I still put my actual on duty hours for that 7 and 8 days, which is what it says to do, or just what I've done since my 34, which is what I imagine is what they really want to see?

Any tips on using the carbon page? My second copy is not nearly as clear as I would like.

Any tips on flagging a lot of things on one day? Between pre and post trips, fuel, and the number of stops I have in a short period of time, I am running out of room for all my flagged items. I draw a lot of lines and try to start as far left as I can, then not waste any room, but it gets really crowded and many of the lines have to be real close together. I have been able to make it work so far, but I could see a day in my future with just a couple more flags where it won't fit.

 

Get the cheapest ball point pen you can find. I found that the easier the ink flows (I used to like Pilot G2 gel pens) the less hard I press on the paper. With a 69 cent Bic Stic, I had to press harder to be legible on the original, and thus put more umph into the carbon paper.

I also made a habit of turning the carbon sheet upside down (obviously with the appropriate side still facing down) after a week or two...it uses all of that nice, unused carbon that you never touch because it's not near where you're drawing lines and flagging stops.

 

This is why I run loose leaf logs. If you make a mistake you just grab another sheet and redo it no big deal. If you rip a page out of the book it tends to draw extra unnecessary attention from the DOT if you get inspected.

If your company gives you pre-printed log books simply pull the staples out and now you have the loose leaf version. Get yourself a 3 ring binder or a clipboard for doing your logs on and holding them. I have done it this way for the last 10 years and it is much easier than trying to use them stupid books.

As far as maximizing the room you have in the comments section here is how I do it. I draw my line straight down just barely into the comments area and then come off of it in a diagonal line to the left. This will give you more room to write your information on the lines versus drawing the line straight down to the bottom. You will get good at writing really small after a while though. Good luck at your new job.

 

You can draw really short flag lines and put a number at the end,i.e. 1 for the first flag, 2 for the next, etc.

Then start your remarks underneath going horizontally like this:

1) Pre-Trip & Fuel, Hobbs, NM ...4) and so on and so forth
2) Rest Stop, El Paso, TX .............5) and so on and so forth
3) Drop Trailer, Laredo, TX .........6) and so on and so forth

I have used this method and never received flak for it. Does anyone know if it is OK to use?
(ps ignore the periods, I had to use them to get space between the events)

 

Looks fine to me. As long as it is flagged and noted in a way that is easily readable, that's what they care about.

 

That's exactly what I am doing now.

Really don't want to write any smaller than I already am. It's already getting hard to read on the carbon copy.

Of course, when I get away from this local thing in another week it should be much better. Can't imagine that it would still be a daily event to do 4-6 flags in a 3 hour span, with another simular 3 hours later in the day and a possible another few hours requiring a few flags there.

Thanks. I might try doing that for a little while. It's got to be neater and easier to understand than what I have going on.

 

First off it is not illegal to tear out pages from a log book. I used to remove the staples from the company supplied log books and use them like a loose leaf, no one, company or DOT ever had a problem with it.

I have seen drivers put more information than the required in log books frequently. Location City, State maybe Highway number and Milemaker instead of city. And reason for change of duty. Load info load nomber, BOL, or Shipper name and commodity. No reason to list anything not required your just setting yourself up if you list non-required info. Also match your required times Like fuel or time stamos on BOL and in the case of Ore, WA, ID scale times.

If you have a computer get a copy of drivers daily logs, web site is the same as the software title. Very good software.

Logging rest stops as off duty can help you save your hours also, you can push 7 minute to 30 minutes easily since you have to round your time anyway. Also combining fuel and VI (Vehicle Inspection) time is a great one, you have to flag a pretrip but you can wait and add your VI time to or with your fuel, helps with your 70 and 14.

 

PJ has some good information. I will add one thing: When DOT looks at fifteen minutes for VI or pretrip or post trip and that's all you ever log, they may ask you to demonstrate a 15 minute complete inspection. If you can't do it, they can write you for falsification.

In my case, I always log a fifteen-minute pretrip. But when I fuel, I log an engine check at the same time. I actually had an officer ask about that once. I told him it doesn't make a lot of sense to pull the dipstick if I'm not where I can buy oil, and while that hood is up as I'm fueling, I can check everything under there, including front brakes, linkages, etc. It worked well with my old Prime truck because I had to fuel about every day. This truck has bigger tanks, so I throw in an occasional thirty-minute pretrip. Just what I do. Keeps me out of hot water with the company and with DOT.

Just wanted to add: If you ask a DOT officer how to log it, he or she will tell you, "It takes what it takes and that's what you log."

 

Why? You can use a combination of off duty and sleeper. Off duty is as good as sleeper, if you can prove you were sleeping, i.e. at a girlfriends or relatives or home or motel. However, it my be helpful to have a motel receipt.
Right? Or am I missing something?