Logbook rules

No where does that say bobtailing is not laden. A bobtail is still a CMV.

Driving a bobtail to a company terminal can be used as personal conveyance, ONLY if you're driving there to park. If you are driving there to pick up a trailer or have any kind of maintenance work performed, that needs to be logged as on-duty.

 

We were disagreeing on the definition of "laden " not "on duty " . You claim using a truck for a work related task , even bobtailing is laden . I and most likely all others disagree and consider bobtail and an empty trailer unladen whether on duty or off .
Have you ever heard of unladen liability insurance ?

http://www.reliancepartners.com/blo...-non-trucking-and-unladen-what-do-i-need.html

 

Correct me if I'm wrong because I'm not even driving yet, but from what I've read doesn't the Qualcomm automatically throw you into "driving" when the truck moves at a certain speed? How do you get around that?

 

Most Qualcomms have a line 5, Off Duty Driving. it shows up in line 1 of your graph on the qualcomm itself, but when you get a read out of your logs, its below On-Duty Not Driving.

However some companies have disabled this so you cannot drive anywhere with out being on line 3.


Here's an example of the online read out for my day yesterday

 

We aren't talking about unladen insurance, we are talking about the FMCSA's definition.

 

A laden vehicle would require a bill of lading. Last time I checked bobtails are not typically used to transport frieght.

The regs are clear. Your interpretation of them is what is at issue here.

The bottom line is if you are relieved of the responsibility for the loaded trailer (eg dropped at a customer or terminal) then you can log off duty and drive the truck to your home or restaraunt or truck stop for a shower etc.

The trip back to the terminal or customer is also logged as off duty. In the cases cited we are not "advancing" the truck or trailer or the contents of the trailer.

The only thing that supercedes this is company policies which CAN be more stringent.

 

I don't know about Qualcomm . We have Xata Turnpike . There is a remarks option for each duty status . When off duty there is a personal conveyance option . It will keep you off duty when driving when personal conveyance is selected IF you have completed post trip inspections . Once post trip inspections have been completed it will not go back to driving until the tractor has been pretripped .

 

Here's what the Feds have to say regarding interpretation:

I'm completing a 34 restart in Connecticut. I dropped my empty trailer at the Pilot, and I've driven to a shopping center to get my laundry done and my hair cut, driven to a restaurant down the street, driven to the grocery store to stock up, driven to the dollar tree to get supplies, and drove 8 miles to visit the waterfront. All was logged off-duty.

 

I never said you couldn't drive to a terminal off duty. I said you had to drive there on duty if you were picking up a trailer. Go ahead and submit 2 DVIRs. One bobtail from the previous day, and the next with a new trailer and no on duty time logged. Watch the red flags that pop up.

 

Perhaps you dont understand that we don't perform a PTI while using the truck for personal conveyance.
Typically once you drop the trailer at a terminal you would do your Post trip inspection at that location and then drive home on the "off duty line".
After your time off return to the terminal, check with dispatch, hook to the trailer they assign to you and THEN do your Pre trip inspection on both the truck AND trailer. This aint rocket science and you are making this way more complicated than it needs to be.

Of course you should follow your company procedures (sometimes they are more stringent) but dont confuse company procedures with DOT regs.