Paper vs. Plastic....... The Log Wars

Once you start your clock you can't stop it so think of it as a 10, 13 and 69 hour system and leave that final hour for emergency use only and you should be OK. I've run for 7 1/2 weeks with no reset. It's all about time management.
If you get burned out you can take a reset.

On paper logs you can fudge the numbers but at what cost, your down time and rest/sleep?

Who needs it, I'll take the paperless (plastic) logs any day.

 

paper, because you can make those small adjustments to make your life easier and sometimes get yourself in a better position to take your rest.

 

If you read evertrucker's posts in this thread: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...ompany-here/34475-crete-a-year-in-review.html he gives an excellent description of how he manages his time and yet remain legal. He regularly ran 3200+ miles per week as a solo.

 

Personally I try to run between 8 1/2 to 9 hours per day. 8.75 hours is the optimal number but almost impossible to attain. You will of course have the 10 1/2 run to make you delivery and as soon as that happens you try to go back to the 8 1/2 to 9 hours, some days it's 7 hours etc. but you get the idea.

 

Personally I prefer paper. Allows more flexibility. Good time management is required for paper or e-logs. Unless your doing a lot of drop & hook or delivering to the same places it becomes very difficult to plan around slow shippers and consignees. Personally, I've dealt with a lot of reefer freight (T/L & LTL) so I've had the pleasure of dealing with customers who like to keep you sitting around just long enough for your clock to run out then tell you can't park on their lot. Running perfectly legal isn't as cut and dry like most people think it is. Even the best of us can't control everything. As a small-fleet driver, sometimes you have to work harder to get thing's done. No relays or rescheduled appointments to come to the rescue. It's either get it done or risk losing that account.

 

Averaging 8.75 a day I think the only thing you would need a break from is truck stops.

 

They both have their pros and cons, but EOBR's stand out as they are a fail-safe. EOBR's are perfect for students, as they are less prone to log violations.