Transition to EOBR

some guys like being an obedient robot

others reject it, outright

whether its a money maker or money breaker, you will hear all different opinions here

 

Something else to adjust to. Will cause most disruption to OTR fresh fruit/vegetable segment of industry I think.

 

Well after almost 30 years doing paper, I switched over to e-logs a couple of years ago. No regrets. It has not hurt me in the least. Sure, it takes some getting used to, and you have to be a little creative in how you use it, just like we were all creative in doing paper logs. They are not that stringent. You can edit everything but actual driving time. And unlike the conspiracy theorists here who like to believe it, no one is watching the e-log. Only when you do something goofy like over the 11 or 14 and it flags someone back in an office. And then, say going over the 11 in bad weather which is allowable under FMCSA guidelines as long as you don't go over the 14, just make a note on the e-log and let someone know what happened. No big deal. I have done it a couple of times with no problem. The key thing to remember is when you stop, first thing to do is change your duty status!!!! Get over to off duty or on duty or sleeper as soon as you stop. You will be surprised how you can actually save driving time to your advantage. If you pull up to a fuel island, go immediately to OFF DUTY. DO NOT switch over to ON DUTY till you have run your fuel card and the pump is ready to go. As soon as your shut off the pump, go back to OFF DUTY. Every once in a while, the best of us will forget to switch to off duty or sleeper after being on duty. No problem. just go in and edit the entry and split the on duty time up and change the length of time on duty. Easy as pie once you get the hang of it.

You will find the e-log is a friend in helping with sleeper splits. And there is never the chance that you forgot to carry a number when you do a recap. It is all done for you. So Mr. DOT is not going to be able to ding you for not signing a log, adding wrong on the recap and going over hours, forgetting the date,etc. All those little things that an LEO can make your life difficult over. It can be a nice tool to have at times. It is not the greatest thing in the world, and it does have it's problems, but overall, once you get a real handle on how to use it, you may actually like it. a lot of folks, including me, that said we would never use the darn thing, actually kinda like it now. When the carrier made the switch, I figured I would at least try it and see how it works. if it didn't, I could pull my truck and go elsewhere. Well, I am still here.

Most of the screaming about how bad e-logs are and that folks will go broke using them is done by those that do not have one mile experience running them. Some have had legitimate problems using them in their operation, but an operation can be modified to make it all come together. It is a challenge, no doubt. But it can be overcome.

 

I was OTR when the company went to Elogs. After a fatal accident, the company had 90 days to install Elogs or shut down. My pay actually went up; forced time management is the crucial factor at play. Also, the dispatchers had to stop holding loads for their babies, because their babies could no longer run 2 log books; so now those loads were more evenly distributed. The only problem I had, was my own fault; sometimes when I pulled in somewhere for a nap, I forgot to change Elog to sleeper berth, and it automatically switches to on-duty not driving which gets into your 70 hrs for the week.

 

The only thing that elogs really does is the math, and keeping track of your line 3 time. It's utter nonsense that it "tells you when to eat, sleep and pee." I feel to really use elogs, you need to understand the HOS regulations even more thoroughly than you did on paper.

There are some differences, the largest is that you have to get it right the first time. There's no more tearing a page out of your loose-leaf binder, and working the story until it fits. That means you have to put a little thought into what you're going to do before you do it - that's why you have to know the HOS regs. You're still in the driver's seat as far as getting the load down the road, and how it's going to happen. It also means when you're approaching the end of your 11 or 14, you can't start thinking about where to park then... you need to have a plan up front so you don't run over. Passing up a spot at the rest area because you'd rather be at a truckstop isn't always a good plan with "just enough left" to get to the truckstop. It also means you have to do some creative planning when you're going to be at a receiver you know won't allow you to remain on site if you run out of hours because you were detained.

As far as your paycheck is concerned, if you were running legally on paper you shouldn't see a difference. In fact it's my opinion that I'm doing better on elogs because the efficiency it introduces into load planning means that my available hours are more closely matched to the available freight. There is a learning curve on this, and the operations people at your carrier are going to have to get up to speed on it. At my carrier, we put one dispatch board on elogs to iron out as many wrinkles as possible, before it was introduced company-wide. I think that was important in getting it implemented as smoothly as it was.

In terms of roadside compliance, I've only been asked to show my hours to DOT twice in 2-1/2 years. Before that, I was getting level-3'd every couple of months. The bears don't totally understand the system, and they'd rather not deal with it - since it's assumed that elogs cannot be cheated. It is pretty air-tight. The two times I was asked about my hours since going on elogs, once I needed to show a PA state cop when I arrived at a rest area - he just looked lost when I showed him the graph page and nodded his head up 'n down. The other time was at a level-2 inspection in KY, when I was pulling a placarded hazmat load. He wanted to see if I was ok on my hours... I just showed him the summary page that indicated I had available 11 and 14 hours, and that satisfied him. It does eliminate all of those BS form and manner violations - and the fines.

If I were an independent owner-operator, the cost of the system would concern me. As a leased operator, the cost is borne by my carrier - and they pay for it through increase operating efficiency - and lowered operating (fines) costs. Besides, it helps lower their CSA (BS program!!!) scores.

 

43 yrs paper 1 year E-logs. E-logs are easy push button your are done. paper your can be more creative with your time if you get hung up at a shipper or rec. for me if i was on my way home on E-logs and run out of hours am going home anyway. if they didnt like it fire me. but had been with the company for years and they let me get away with it. E-logs are not the end of the world but they do make things more difficult. truckers are a hardy lot, they can and will adapt to any dumb rules the government can think up. if i had to start over could live with E-logs but would not like them

 

Go in with an open mind. I was the guy that had the pleasure to training a company of 500, one driver at a time, how to use Elogs. Several drivers threatened to quit, I could appreciate that and asked them to give it two weeks if they're bottom line was hurt than they had to make a business decision. We lost 10 drivers directly related to Elogs, a handful came back. Others quit at a later time, for others that was just the final straw.

Ultimately you are going to adapt to eLogs quicker than the company is. So after two weeks if you hate it, then start looking for another gig, if you find it doesn't really change things than give it time. Companies usually take about 6 months to get their act together and realize that they are inefficient, so you'll probably loose about 75 miles per week to start, then after the 6 month mark miles should go up to a higher number than you were running before the switch.

 

Just wondering... Had we started with e-logs and were now having to switch to paper logs, people would still be complaining. We run the Qualcomm mcp50 in our trucks. It is very user friendly and because we run smart and make money, we never run out of hours. People get so set in their ways that they are afraid to change. Welcome to the world of technology! Use it to your advantage. When we get level 3 inspections we tell the officer we have e-logs and they have yet to even look at them. They just fill out the paper saying no violations. Embrace this world we live in and figure out how to make the changes work to your advantage. If you do this you will be successful in everything you do.

 

meltom you are right about the companies being slow to adapt to them. when we first got them or trans mgr. thought now we got the drivers where we want them, and we are going to show them who is the boss around here. two months later guess who was doing all the crying. i think it was more difficult for mgt. than the drivers.