Would you quit if forced on eLogs?

I don't know if this has been mentioned in another post, but according to OOIDA the ruling by the 7th court of appeals makes it illegal to use elogs for recording hours even under a voluntary system. In short the only legal means of recording hos is a paper log. I'm not a lawyer, but if true there are a lot of companies violating the law.

 

if you cant change a light bulb or plug your own tire or change a simple hose if someone brings one out to you then get out of the ****ing truck jeez. i fired a guy once because he called me in the middle of the night wanting to know if i could send a service truck to bring him a bulb for one of his chicken lights he was 3 miles away from the T/A and wouldent move the truck until i said yes because he was "out of compliance" i was doumbfounded

 

I completely understand a O/O doing his own work because it saves money but on a company truck, thats free labor to the company benifiting them by saving them money and not making a cent in my pocket for the work. No pun, but I don't do any work for free. If its not a big issue I'll put it off until I get to where I can have the problem fixed. If stopped in the mean while before then. "It was burning when I checked before I pulled out."

 

I bought a $27 tool kit at Walmart. Just basics, sockets, wire cutters, pliers, etc. But its already proven itself to be invaluable.

My dad always took his tools with us when we travelled. Once he had to replace a CV joint in our Plymouth Colt Vista wagon that went out while we were at a vacation resort in Colorado!

 

I had to put a new radiator in my truck while sitting at the TA in Baytown, TX.... now that was fun LOL

 

Back when I got my drivers liscense, it was mandated by my rents and G'pa that I learn a thing or two about car repair etc before I started to drive. Since my G'pa was a master mechanic, he taught me all I needed to know and then some. Also if I did something stupid and broke something on the car then I had to fix it myself. G'pa would help me by offering advise etc but he never got his hands dirty. I rebuilt the trans on my first car, rebuilt the rear end on my first car, rebuilt the motor on my first car, replaced the brakes on my first car, did all my own tuneups on my first car.

There are just way too many drivers out there that don't know a thing about a truck other then how to hold the steering wheel. Basic working mechanical knowledge or a truck and trailer should be mandated before they even get to hold the steering wheel.

Wiring for lights is a piece of cake. All that is needed is a test light, some crimp on, shrink style solderless connectors and some 12-10 guage wire.

Brakes are not rocket science either, it only takes a few minutes to adjust slack adjusters. Don't trust them auto adjusters either. They fail and fail regularly.

The thing is that if you are not willing or able to do extremely minor work on a truck then you should not be driving a truck. You are the drivers that give the rest of the industry a bad name because you are the drivers that are running around with a black eye (burnt out headlight) at night or running around with burnt out tail lights or tail lights that are not working because of a simple broken wire. Or running around with wiperblades that are worn out because you don't feel that you should replace them yourself.

We have some drivers like that in our company. I will let them know they have a burnt out light or what ever and they will comment that they know and they are waiting to get the truck into the shop and it is not their job to replace a burnt bulb. But then they piss moan and cry when the DOT man stops them and gives them a full inspection and violations because MR DOT seen them running down the road with only 1 eye. It is these type of drivers that give companies black marks on their safety records that also puts up flags on MR DOTs computer then tells MR DOT that they must inspect that vehicle. See MR DOT knows when your companies safety rating is going down the tubes. When the companies safety rating reaches a certain number then that comes into play when MR DOT sees you running down the road. If the number is low then he can just give you a pass and not bother you. If it gets to a certain point then it is up to him if he wants to inspect you or not. If it gets even worse then inspections become mandatory.

See I have been with this particular company going on 6 years, I spent 4 years before that hauling cars around the country with my own truck and two years inbetween driving a dump and a semi hauling equipment for a construction/excavating company.

In them years I have only had 1 violation and that was for brakes being out of adjsutment on the trailer. The shop had just done a 6 wheel brake job on the trailer the day before and I screwed up and did not check their work. Silly me!

I am not saying that drivers should have to do major heavy repairs but minor stuff should beable to be completed by the driver. IT is your job and you do get paid for it no matter if you think you do or not. If you can't or won't do minor repairs then you should not cry when your check is short because you sat around waiting to get headlights replaced. See you get paid when the wheels are turning. If they are not turning because you are waiting to get a light replaced or a broken wire fixed, then you are not getting paid and it will show by less miles being covered for that pay period. Also some companies pay for passed DOT inspections. Depending on the inspection, I can get anywere from 25 to 75 dollars for each passed inspection. Also if I have to wait around for a shop to make minor repairs then that might mean my load being cancelled. I would much rather take 15-30 minutes to make that light repair and not have my load cancelled.

 

I don't understand why a driver would not want to change a light out if it could save him time that he could be making money driving. You can wait in line 2 hours or longer at many truck stops, just to get in a door. There are some carriers that don't want drivers to work on their own trucks, probably because some don't know what they are doing.

When I started, all drivers worked on their own trucks. And we did more than change lights out. It doesn't take much to change a light or fan belt on a truck. To me, I would rather do that than waste time waiting for a garage to get me in a door. Besides, if a driver can save his company money, then he increases his value to the company. That can result in higher pay for the driver.

 

I agree 100%.... some major carriers do not want their guys to work on the trucks (Walmart, Stevens, JB Hunt to name the 3 I know of) and have strict rules about it. In these cases, i totally understand not working on them, but I still feel most should have at least a general idea of how a truck works, what parts and what and honestley, just common knowladge of how an internal combustion engine works would be good.

I can also see most guys with small fleets (say 3-15 trucks) fixing things themselves and becoming a very good asset to the company. In smaller numbers, your hard work and know-how will prove your worth to an owner, and also more likely to get you remembered when raises come around and also I'm sure they will rememebr the couple hundered you possiably saved them from the truck stop shop

 

I agree. Smaller shops and owner operators are more likely to feel positive about a driver who takes some initiative in replacing a light or tightening a belt. Some things can easily be done by a driver within a few minutes and he can then be on his way to making money.

Even if a driver is not allowed to so much as change a light out, having some basic knowledge about your truck could prove valuable if a repair truck is dispatched. It helps to know basically what might be wrong so that the repair facility can bring parts. If not, the mechanic may need to make another trip after parts once he diagnoses the problem. That costs the company extra money and you both time and money. You don't make money sitting on the side of the road. When you lose time then you are losing part of your work day. The more time you lose, the less productive and the less income you will have on your paycheck.