EOBR Electronic Logs - Good or Bad

Do these E-logs software companies pay you to speak here how wonderful these technology is?

and also you were telling me in another post that i should find another job. yes i did and its trucking job. i dont drive truck for living, i drive because its my passion and freedom.
if people like you are looking here 9-5 routine. then go to college and become engineer or whoever fits you but driving is not for you!!

 

You are right. this technology is created by those people who cant count, not enough smart and they think they are in wrong career.

 

Lol, if they were payin me, I'd probly be makin more money than drivin' a truck.

But in all seriousness, its funny how so many people, when they hate, dislike or just flat out disagree with something and get into a disagreeing conversation with someone who has opposite views on the subject thats being disliked or liked, the disliker is usually the one who has to refer to the other as cheerleading, or someone else in disguise, or in this case, being paid by someone to say things that aren't true. I like my elog. If you don't like yours, then ok.

Yes, I did. I merely said it because I if the company you were working for was makin you run elogs and you didn't like them, then either go find a company that still does pen and paper logs, or quit the beeotching.

From that last part, you tryin to say drivin' ain't for me? Your lack of punctuation and word choice has me a bit confused as to what yer tryin to tell me.

Proper response for someone like you....... You can't get along with this certain type of technology and learn to make the best of it so you resort to sayin a bunch of pucky that makes no sense. Yer just as bad as everyone else that expects people to be sympathetic that you feel like a prison inmate and no longer have any freedom, or acts like your employer is makin you drive down the road with vice-grips firmly clamped on your nipples. Gimmie a "f" 'in break.

 

All valid arguements in this situation.... the key here is NOT really about freedom, government going out of bounds, or an electronic 'nanny' that cannot allow drivers to run the way they want to run. That all dodges the core issue for the what and why over log violations and 'bending' the rules. MONEY. The hypercompetitive nature of the business and cut throat nature of rates and what drivers are compensated for their time away from their friends, families, and communties are what drove me away from the business in the United States. Deregulation has an ugly side, and the shippers and brokers have distorted the marketplace so badly that it's very difficult to make a decent living driving as a profession. Unionizing the business would help with some issues, and re-regulation with others. The big issue is that the clock cannot be turned back, and the oversupply of companies in a shrinking freight marketplace (as the consumer madness driven by the baby boomers dies away as they retire) will require a LOT of companies to go away before the marketplace can rebalance itself. All of this elog this and freedom that means NOTHING when a company or owner/op cannot SURVIVE with rates the way they have become. FOLLOW THE MONEY. A hard and fast rule we have here in Canada is if the company you run with has nicer newer trucks, the money goes into the equipment, not to the drivers. An old truck isn't a bad thing as long as it's a SAFE truck and properly maintained. I bumped this thread because I think it's important that we understand the bottom line has an effect on everything else in this industry, and should NEVER be ignored.

 

Although you make some great points, one really shouldn't have to feel like they need to cheaton their log to make money. If you are not making the money you desire, you're either wanting too much in general for what the job pays, not with the right company, have more bills and expenses than you make, or not making the best out of the time you have. I still make decent money on elogs, even with a company that doesn't have the best pay. It's all about managing your time. Get your required amount of sleep when on your 10. Get yourself on a schedule that makes you be awake when your sposed to be awake and sleep when yer sposed to be sleepin.

 

Your comments are genuine and I respectly disagree with your assertion that my rebuttal was directed as an insult. If I used stupid as an adjective rather than myopic, that would be an insult. I find many Drivers at the local wateringhole/feed troughs reluctant to adapt to new technology. My impression is how can you claim you don't like an EOBR until you have actually used an EOBR.

I did not want to go in depth about the editing feature as to save time and space. but you are correct in stating there are rules outlined as it pertains to editing. Specifically, you can not edit while the truck is in on-duty status due to a lock out feature on the unit. Also locked out is the ability to change any part of line three, that is not even an option except by documentation by the company. The editing feature allowed by the company driver on a MCP200 is when correctingduty status on line 1,2 and line 4 only. No edits on line three are allowed, as per FMCSA rules.

Example 1. After driving 4 hours, I stop and go into the sleeper for 2 hours. A common error is to forget to change duty status to line 2 and the EOBR automatically puts you on line 4 On-Duty not driving. A provision is incorporated to change/edit the status only, not the time. Drivers are allowed to edit the status from line 4 to line 2 and leave a remark/log correction in the edit box provided.

approved Edits include but not limited to: Fuel, Check in, Check out, Load, Unload, DOT inspections, Scale, Log Correction and a Blank field for user comments.

I still firmly believe that paper logs invite temptation to back log with miles as opposed to actual drive time.

The control you speak of is a result of years of audit that have statiscally proven that many drivers are operating outside of DOT guidelines, be it becasue of shippers and recievers or just plain greed. It is what it is, falsifying a legal document and punishable with citations and or penalties.

How many accidents could be avoided by drivers who cheated on logs and driving while fatiqued/fell asleep and caused an accident resulting in death or critical injury? I don't know, but i would say " that would be Stupid!"

Honesty is the best policy.

 

Excellent post.

As always the highlighted portion is what is really at the root of issues and most of us are merely pawns in a much bigger game... same as it ever was.

 

Good post.

As I mentioned, I didn't know the specifics of how your company is implementing EOBRs, but that is an area where I expect to see a tightening of the regulations as the use of them gets more widespread.

Regarding the highlighted portion; although I would love to be proved wrong, I don't think there will be as significant an improvement as many people are expecting. The reason is that I have very little faith in the implementation of EOBRs producing a significant shift in the behaviour of the group which represents the risks you have mentioned. Their logs will look better and be legal more often, but the behaviours that create the risks will not change. This has happened for time immemorial where people (typically regulators and enforcement) think that by implementing some new technology they are going to solve the underlying problems. It never really works out.

 

Just because the EOBR says you should be on break, does not mean that you can sleep.

In the same point, the EOBR can say you can drive, does not mean you are rested to do it.

 

I think EOBRs will actually have a negative effect because the people who are more capable and able and willing to self-regulate (per the applicable HOS rules) will balk at being so closely regulated and monitored and will turn away from the trucking industry.

It is a "dumbing down" of the entire industry to meet the limited capabilities of the lowest common denominator. And while it may be the case that most serious incidents involve HOS violations, not all HOS violators are involved in serious incidents (correlation does not equal causation).

The application of technnology is not the answer to industry problems. Raising hiring standards, providing better training, increasing pay and getting better cooperation from other industry-stakeholders such as shippers/receivers will solve far more problems that EOBRs ever will. But that requires real effort and while the long-term return would be far more significant, it doesn't suit the short-sighted people like managers of the mega-carriers who are looking to pad thier own personal bank accounts rather than build real long-term, value in their corporations, and politicians who, for the most part, will do whatever it takes to get re-elected.