An FMCSR question

Key word is 'minimum'.

I find that they expect me to take a strict 10 hour break then hit the road.
It seems not even a minimal pre-trip is planned for.
I don't know how often I have heard the like of... You started your 10 at 1800, so you can be rolling again at 0400.
Uh, NO! There is a pre-trip to consider as well. And I try to log a 30 minute pre-trip, as Swift policy states.

Well, I plan for a 12 hour break - not a 10 - especially if I want to shower or get a decent sit-down meal or do laundry.
Because 10 hours is barely enough time to wind down after driving, get some sleep, and get alert enough to drive again.
Barely! (for me, at least)
The time it takes to shower (an hour), do laundry (1.5 hours) or get a sit-down meal (1 hour) is added to that 10 hour break, because I will not lose my sleep time to do those things.
A little entertainment, like watching a couple shows or a DVD, is also planned in. I live in this box, after all.


Sure, I am out here to make money like all of us.
But some things are more important than the bucks and miles.
Like staying safe within my own safety margin.

I know my own limits and how I work most efficiently and - that is how I plan each trip, and decide how to respond to each pre-plan.

 

8 hours of quality sleep is plenty for me. If you're appointment will let you break for 12 hours, fine. but, if you send in an empty at 10:00 instead of 08:00 because you wanted your wheels stopped for 12 hours instead of 10, don't complain to me all the good freight was gone by then and you can't make any money. If you're pre-planned, that often gives you a lot of flexibility and breathing room allowing for a 12 or perhaps 14 hour breaks. But without a preplan(s), hours count mightily in some markets and can mean the difference between a good week and a mediocre to bad week.

 

Wow. What would you have done back when an 8 hour break was all that was required? Even then, we could split it up however we chose so long as the shorter period of time was at least 2 hours.....6/2, 5/3, 4/4....so it was much easier to drive whenever we were awake, alert, and felt up to the task, and mid-day naps wouldn't count against us. It doesn't matter WHAT the rules state, you should ALWAYS stop & rest when you are tired....although the 14 hour clock pressures some into pushing it a little harder than they should sometimes since that clock doesn't stop. If you need a 12 hour break to feel well rested enough to tackle your next 14 hour day, by all means take it. As long as you are able to make your pickups and deliveries on time, I don't see where it is any of the company's concern how long you stay stopped for the night. However, if you're constantly late because you take those long breaks, then I can't blame them for getting a little upset.

Personally, I haven't shown time for a pretrip since that 14 hour rule went into effect. We used to have 15 hours of on-duty time before we couldn't drive anymore, and only 10 hours of driving. Off duty time and sleeper berth time did not count against those 15 hours...only lines 3 & 4 did. So, you really weren't risking cutting your work day short by showing a pretrip. Now, we have the strict 14 hour clock that starts when you drop down to line 3 or 4 and does not stop for anything short of 8 hours in the sleeper. So, if you log 15 or 30 minutes at the start of the day for your pretrip, you're cutting your work day back by that amount of time....your 14 hour clock is ticking.

What makes more sense (to me, anyway) in light of the 14 hour rule is to do a quick pretrip (check the under hood fluids, thump the tires, check the lights as I walk around, look & listen for leaks, and make sure the air & electrical is still plugged in and that some knucklehead didn't pull the latch on the 5th wheel) and flag it without showing any time....and then do a thorough post trip at the end of my day and show my time there....taking the time to FIX any problems I find right then and there to make sure the truck is ready to roll out again the next day. Why? Because the 14 hour rule only affects DRIVING, not your ability to remain on duty. For now, anyway, the FMCSA doesn't care how long you remain on line 4 so long as you take a 10 hour break before you start driving again. So, what that means is that if you stop driving right at the 14th hour, you can spend the next 15-30 minutes (or however long it takes) completing your post trip inspection on line 4 without being in violation of the HOS regulations. Had you shown time for a pretrip inspection, you would not have been able to drive that last 15-30 minutes in order to make it as far as you did...would have had to find somewhere else to stop.

...and I don't care for "company policy" which dictates how much time needs to be shown for certain activities. I log the amount of time it takes me, as per the regulations. If that happens to be 15 minutes, I'm not going to log 30 just to make the company happy. If it takes me an hour, that's what I log...not the 30 minutes the company wants me to log in order to "save" my available hours towards the 70. Falsification is falsification. Log it as you do it, like the regs state you should.

 

Sometimes you're not going to have a lot of extra time over your ten. With trucking you are going to drive tired a lot. That's just the way it is with how the HOS are set up. But I will not have someone setting in an office telling me when I can stop to eat, shower, crap etc.... If you have a deliver appointment for a certain time, I'm going to be there if I don't spend all day at the shipper. I run hard and when I feel I need to stop and relax a bit, I'm going to.

Heck, I can't count the times I have been four hours away from where I need to load at and I'm suppose to be there in 2 hours. I get on dispatch, asking wtf they are thinking by getting a time like that. I run pneumatic, so I'll still need to grab a wash out , dry and probably seal up yet. So with them doing stupid stuff like that, on a regular basis, I'll be dammed if I let them dictate to me when I stop etc.... I run hard for me, to make me money. I get paid on percentage of load not miles.

It just amazes me how so many drivers let their dispatch push them around. I try to stay cool with my dispatch but it boils down to the fact that I'm the one on the road. I'm the one who pre plans my trips etc.... Not them. They might tell me where they want to me wash out, what route to take etc... But if I'm thinking something else, then it's something else.

 

Yup. When the shipper detains me to the point where the load is going to be late no matter what I do, I stop worrying about whether or not I can make the delivery on time. No load is worth placing my safety or my MVR at risk by driving in an unsafe manner trying to make up for lost time. It wasn't a priority to the shipper to get the product loaded, so if the customer has any complaints about the late delivery, they can take it up with the shipper.

 

FMCSR states, under 487.897 (B) paragraph 6, (a,b, and x)

that, "a driver is mandated to take his/her breaks at an appointed time and such breaks MUST consist of donuts, tacos, high caloric sodas, coffee and a heart pill" (and) "any employer NOT allowing such a break, will face severe charges no less than a whipping by the driver and the food service provider"

there you have it, it's "IN THE BOOK"

 

i can't find any reference in the regs concerning bike racks. if one is mounted on the front of your tractor does it contribute to over all legal length?

 

it takes me on average one hour to shower. i have such a sexy body, i want to enjoy myself as i lather up.

as for towels, i don't use them, as i "air-dry", sometimes in my front yard, sometimes the backyard, sometimes the neighbors yard.

 

Well there is your problem right there. Swift. I was going to answer you and then decided against it, since Pedigreed Bulldog does such a good job of it.

Bottom line is, you are the driver, you call the shots within reason. Reason being...it's their truck and if you have excessive attitude and deliver/pickup times, you will be gone.

It's not a judgement on you, but you may as well know the options. Seen many "vacation-minded" drivers at Swift that are no longer there. It's their truck, not your home, until you buy your own.

They, by the way, are one of the ATA companies that will harass their drivers with the Qualcomm, unless they've changed their ways.... (probably not).