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

I'll agree to this as well, it makes no sense to force everyone into the same system. It makes sense for my company because of the outrageous high CSA scores. If you can control yourself and do a good job you shouldn't be required to run eLogs.

 

Meltom what made your company go to elogs? Was it a corporate decision or safety issue just curious

 

The problem is that you can't enforce regs on just a few as people will scream discrimination. If you make elogs mandatory on trucks, they need to be mandatory on all trucks. Payment for the devices is a huge problem. It isn't fair to make a good O/O pay for a computer that they don't need, but it also isn't fair to only make megacarriers pay for it. It's a catch-22. In the long run, EOBR's are tax deductable being that they are a business expense -- so the government and ultimately the taxpayer forks the bill.

 

You can also add c.r.a.s..h and p.a.t.t.I and a ton of ambulance chasing lawyers who put billboards up along the highways for helping the goverment. Maybe us truckers should form a group called truckers against the idiot driving 4 Wheelers. They would cry foul if they had eobr's or had to log miles or pay road taxes

 

It is the mega carriers who have been pushing these on the entire industry. It was Maverick, USA Trucking, JB Hunt, Covenant and US Xpress who initially drafted a bill and got Senator Pryor in Arkansas and Senator Alexander in Tennessee to sponsor the bill in the Senate. Smaller carriers don't really want them, although some have gotten them since they feel they will eventually be mandatory. I know of one carrier that has about 250 trucks that has them and another with 100 trucks that has also gotten them. If they want them in their trucks, then more power to them. Attempting to force an entire industry to purchase something that the rest of the industry doesn't want is what is not fair. Whether something is deductable is not the issue. It is still a cost that I and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of owners don't want to spend. These large carriers have economies of scale working for them. I may pay $1,000 for something that they can purchase for $500 due to their buying power. If you want fair, then perhaps we need legislation that will force these carriers to pay the same price for tires, fuel and equipment that a single truck operation pays. After all, they say that they want a level playing field. That is one reason they gave as a reason for them putting forth this bill. Or in the name of fairness these carriers who are pushing the legislation should be willing to pay for the EOBR's to be installed in every truck in the nation along with paying the monthly fees for everyone. That sounds fair to me.

 

I didn't want steer axle brakes on my 3 axle 1982 tractor, I wasn't required to have them on my 1979 three axle. But, I had to pay for them. I also did not want ABS on my latest trailer, but I had to pay for them, too.
There are lots of things that I have to pay for, to run, that I don't think I need to run safely. I'm sure I would be no less safe if I didn't have to shell out $1900 per year for a baseplate. I drove safely for six years, in the Army, with no plate on any of my assigned trucks.

Get my drift?

 

I get your drift. There is a difference in ABS brakes and elog's. One big difference is that elog's are being pushed by major carriers in an effort to limit competition and to control an industry. They have shown that ABS can help drivers be safer. That has not been proven with elogs. Elogs are not about safety. I can use paper logs and do the same thing that elogs can do and for a fraction of the price. Having steer brakes on a truck is a good idea, but if the truck came from the factory without them, I don't see why the government should get involved. Most things are grandfathered in when it comes to older vehicles. Your baseplate is a tax. It has nothing to do with safety.

 

Thank you for pointing this out, because this is true. If a driver wants to run illegal, a elog isn't going to stop them.

 

However an elog's records will be far easier to examine for compliance which is what this boils down to. They are an advancement to help ensure compliance. The only way they control any market is if they cause a driver to run compliant something they should have been doing anyway's.

 

It was a corporate decision. CSA scores were getting out of hand. Our former method of "compliance" wasn't working so we looked at other options. First we used eLogs as a punishment for those that couldn't manage their logs, then we saw a downward trend in the CSA scores and switched the hole fleet.