E-Logs - the good, the bad & the ugly

I understand that, and I looked everywhere, asked a bunch of people at both the FMCSA and a few states and they all said that the driver is responsible - period.

The regulations do not including facsimiles as part of the ability to reproduce a log and when I asked what latitude the officer has, they all said they have complete discretion about a faxed log. Computer generated logs are not the same as a faxed log. as much as a copy of a log is not an actual log, meaning that it was copied on a copier.

 

How many carriers have branch terminals fax logs to the corporate safety manager ? Do these terminals ever mail the original logs ?

 

The reg just says "retrievable." Faxing the data straight from the computer to the fuzz doesn't mean it will be tampered with. Your cop needs to get himself wacked in a courtroom over this one. He's an idiot.

 

Dont follow Teletrac's model,it's horrid! Just not user friendly.if I have to park somewhere at night bc there's not enough spaces,I'll park in any place all the way to the back,and try and move my truck in the am closer to the door where I'm not so isolated( female driver) and the darn thing counts you LOGGED IN!! That is so inefficient bc I'll move the truck and go back to bed,but it shows you logged in no matter what you do...i e. staying under 5mph,only going maybe 200 yards for under 1 minute.

 

The problem with that is that most of the drivers don't know when they are too tired and think they are fine until they wake up in a ditch. Unfortunately it ruins things for those of us that do know the difference.

 

Of course many trucking companies would rather have their drivers running 24/7 on a short ration of peanuts.
And many drivers wish they were free to drive as long as they want, to hopefully maximize their profits.
Neither attitude is right. If you are healthy enough to drive 18 hours a day 7 days a week SAFELY, then fine.
If you are old and can manage 8 hours a day, 5 days a week SAFELY, that is OK also.
Almost ALL drivers know when they are too sleepy to drive but many just ignore it putting short term profit ahead of safety of others and the cargo. If you nod off while driving, change your way or your job.

 

Anyone wanting to drive 18 hours a day 7 days a week is mentally ill .
I know a lot of "old" drivers than can drive 11 hours a day 6 days a week SAFELY .

 

Most cannot drive 18 hrs. 24/7 SAFELY. Very few could. But if they could drive 18 hrs 24/7 SAFELY, then fine.
I have heard a lot of truckers commiserating because they cannot drive longer hours so they can make more money, NONE saying they would like less hours.
I think ALL drivers should drive within their safety limits, even if it is less than 11 hrs for them.
SAFETY FIRST, then your company, shippers, and receivers. You should stop and rest if you feel sleepy. then drive when you wake up naturally.
Log books interfere with that routine. So does greed and peer pressure.
And I am still astounded by how many men wimp out to peer pressure when other concerns are a higher priority.

 

I have heard drivers wanting less hours . They went to court to eliminate the 34 hour restart and get driving hours put back from 11 to 10 but I won't say the "U" word .