Why CSA 2010 and E-Logs are a good thing.

You are talking about apples and oranges. Only the owner of the fuel card has access to the time fuel was purchased without a court order. Having a fuel card will not encourage a driver to push when they are tired.

 

All the records of those devices are available to the DOT during an audit, without a court order. Fines and penalties can and are issued, during an audit, not just at a roadside inspection. They are used constantly to compare to a driver's logs, to insure compliance, in effect telling a driver when he/she can and cannot drive.

 

An audit doesn't happen all the time. I have never heard of Qualcomm being used during an audit. When doing an audit requires the DOT to come to your office. They will usually only check receipts and compare those to logs. As long as they match it is a non issue. Qualcomm records might come into play if there was a major accident. In any case, we are still talking about different issues. ELOGS are different. It still forces me to spend money on something that I don't want or need. Qualcomm will not push drivers to drive while tired. ELOGS can.

 

Yes, the owner of the fuel card (generally the carrier, not the truck owner involved in a lease using the fuel card) has access to the data of the card and per regs DOT can require that data be presented, during an audit, without a court order.

 

We are still talking about different things.

 

DOT will use all available records, to do an audit, not only reciepts. Ask any large or mid-size carrier that uses QualComm, Peoplenet and Skybitz.
QualComm is used to push drivers. Personal experience with a company I drove for, years ao.

 

Different things, same results.

 

I would hazard a guess you do not want or need a log book in your opinion, or a consortium for testing compliance. However just like those inside of a couple years it will be required for compliance.

No elog, or eobr can force you to drive tired. No more than schedules, dispatchers, ego, lack of common sense, monetary issues, pure ignorance can.

 

I don't need a logbook or hos to drive safely. I have common sense. When I am tired I stop and rest. I use log books and comply with hos and drug testing because it is the law and I don't need the hassle. I have over 4 million safe, accident free miles under my belt. I could have done those miles just as safely without logbooks, hos or drug consortium's.

Monetary issues will push drivers to drive when tired. They know that once the clock starts they need to run as hard as possible in order to earn a decent living. I have a friend who runs ELOG's and he is stressed all the time. He will push harder in order to keep himself compliant. It has impacted his income. He is a hard worker, yet finds it difficult to work as efficiently with ELOG's. There are some who may need ELOG's in order to stay out of trouble. Some may use them to keep from running as hard as they could. There may actually be a handful who really believe that ELOG's are going to make them run more safely than something they put on a paper log page. The truth of the matter is that those who always push the envelope will do so whether there are hos, ELOG's or any other rules. As usual, the government's answer is more control, more useless regulations and laws. It would have more impact if they would use education rather than more of the same old same old.

 

I don't believe eLogs make you run any safer than running a paper log. I've state before and I'll state it again that compliance and safety aren't mutually inclusive. What you should consider is that eLogs will force you to be compliant. Being compliant will help you if you are in a bad situation. Running illegal and making a log book look good may put you in a bad position if you are in court. Will you survive an audit? Probably, but that depends on how much time the person doing your audit has or how deep they want to dig.

So while I don't fully agree with G/MAN I don't disagree with him either.