New rules

When flipping burgers a person's hours are of no concern to the DOT - unless the drive a truck regulated by FMCSR within 7 days . Then the days flipping burgers in the last 7 days need to be shown on duty . It's like drivers given a FEMA exemption . They can run 100 hours in 6 days but if they try to run something other than FEMA the 7th day those 100 hours count as On Duty hours .

 

HOS Rules are Great...Truckers need to stop ''living'' in there trucks and go home..There is so much more to this short life than working 70 hours a week and living in a truck...Life is short,enjoy it while your young.....Family,Friends,Personal Life,Health,Love Life are just a few to mention..

 

I'm doing similar work in Michigan right now, and it is very nice, other than the occasional days when the farmers who work right in their own backyards want to work us until dark and start again just as the sun starts to peak over the horizon the next morning. It sucks a little for those of us with a half hour commute each way to work. Those hours were easier to deal with when I could just set the parking break, do a post-trip and go to bed. It's a nice change of scenery for sure though. I used to spend my time at dollar stores in bad neighborhoods. Now I'm driving mostly on dirt roads surrounded by farm fields. Manure isn't very glamorous cargo, but it's only part of the year. We also haul milk, water and eventually I'll be driving the gravel train too. Michigan doesn't seem to care what you weigh as long as you have enough axles and pay your bills. Our milk and water tankers have 8 axles. I weighed in at the milk plant a couple weeks ago at 150k. I don't know if this is a long term thing, but I'm getting some valuable experience and I'm really enjoying not worrying about log books or if I got a whole 10 hour break the night before.

 

RickG, I have gone over this many times in the past and even posted up links to the FMCSA sites on this exact subject. Ag exempt is not the same as flipping burgers. I do not have to go back and show on duty hours when I was running ag exempt.

 

Home?? What home? I don't have a home and don't want one... The truck is my home sweet home. I like living in the truck.
Family?? What family? I don't have any family.... and don't want one.
Friends?? Social life?? I don't have friends... I am anti-social.... love solitude and that's why I enjoy soooo much to live on the road on my own.... I love this way of living!! Except for elog and HOS....

 

Well our safety director was at a meeting the other day and came back with some nice info. Now as long as we are not out of our 150 mile radius, we can cross into Minnesota, South Dakota etc and still stay ag exempt. The is per FMCSA. No log needed for any of this work and we do not ever have to show the time since we are not paid by the hour. We can do ag exempt one day and go over the road the next day and not have to go back and redo any pages to show the time. According to FMCSA , our ag exempt time is none of their business.

 

LOL.You just described the ''new'' world order drivers of today...

 

I lived in a truck for 20 years . Saved a bunch of money. It is up to the individual to choose .

 

I think his point was that; if you run someone over, the lawyers would have a field day with this

 

Got a level 2 on Friday. Was out of state and beyond the radius for exemption. I got a pass on my log book, got a pass on the walk around and he ran me across the scales and got a pass on that also. Lawyers can whine and cry all they want but according to FMCSA running ag exempt under 150 miles and not having to show my time driving etc is within the laws. When you learn that there are different rules for running AG then you will understand. I like the Ag rules actually. Get in the truck, draw a line through off duty, write Ag exempt in the remarks section and I am off and running. Totally legal under the FMCSA rules.