The new mandatory 30 minute break...

Do you like kicking a dead horse? Its like you get bored as you sit babysitting your E-logs so you jump on here and act like just because you are having no problems in your routine means NOBODY else is. Just walk(yea I know) around the truckstop and talk to other drivers sitting and ask them what they think.

Ran up to the local pilot yesterday around 2pm to fill up two of my trucks and guys were ######## and moaning like nobody's business. Granted they were company and lease drivers but still. Me and the boy got our fuel and took our paper logs back to the house.

What you have no problem with hundreds of others do.

 

Ya know what, Scooter? You're right...it ISN'T that hard. The question is why the hell do we even have to deal with it? Difficulty is a moot point, IMHO. This asinine rule basically assumes that drivers start their day at a given time and work straight through. It does not allow for the ebb and flow that many drivers experience.

Case in point: I had to stop a full 40 miles earlier the other night then I otherwise would have had to. Why? Because this effed-up rule dictated that I had to take a 30-minute nappy-bye break 7 minutes before my 14 would have expired. Yes, that 7 minutes made the difference of 40 miles because of the parking situation. (I had 1:00 hour of driving, and 1:07 on my 14. After 14 years of this crap, I can pretty much pin things down to within a minute or two as far as how long it will take me to get somewhere, barring incidents.)

It's asinine....idiotic....unnecessary....and utterly moronic.

 

I try to keep in mind it's not just the trucking industry. It's everywhere. My father has been in private medical practice for 45 years. He told me 20-plus years ago things were changing, largely due to government interference. He didn't recommend a medical career. It's just become a joke any more....

 

The 30 minute break burned me. I ran out monday night to unload/reload at the same place and go back home. On my return home I had to take a 30 minute break at 4:15AM. Just sitting in the darkness twiddling my thumbs I got bored and thus got drowsey. My break ended and for the first 10 minutes of driving I was tired and exhausted. How is this safety? This regulation should not be for everybody.

 

So 8 hours after your 10 hour break you stopped 30 minutes and 10 minutes later you were exhausted. You can't handle 10 straight hours. What if you had spent another 30 minutes idled waiting to load or stuck in traffic?
Maybe you're in the wrong business.

 

I can see the problem if you cannot.

Sitting still in a dark truck with no lights or sun. The body begins to slow down and lead to drowsy feelings where driving is no problem or effect. Happens many times as a paramedic and can be well rested and then put in that situation and guess what happens.

 

I see the problem but the circumstances can also happen while waiting to load. Why just sit in the truck? Getting out and walking around will not cause drowsiness.