Forced to go off-duty

Okay, I skipped ahead so I maybe just repeating something someone has said but let me say it anyway. If a company tells you to do something that is both illegal and unsafe they have just handed you the golden ticket. All you have to do is punch it.

First thing. When you come to work at a certain time that is when your 14 hour clock starts. Unless you are under local rules. So if you do anything like sweep the trailer out, your time has started. You may not drive after 14 hours on duty without taking a 10 hour break. So if they tell you to log off duty then you have to be off duty for 10 hours to reset the clock.

Make sure that is what is being done. If it is then you contact the Department of Transportation. You tell the Department that you want to be protected under the Whistle-blowers statute. You also call the office of Congressmen Sam Graves R-MO and tell him what is going on and that you feel that the safety of the public is being put in danger. Give him your name but make sure he knows that you are in danger of losing your job over the matter and are only doing this because of the threat to the public. If we can save one child.......

This is of course if you want to make a Federal Case of it. But if you really feel like you could hurt someone do it. The Hours of Service rules are to protect you from being over worked.

Court case after court case has ruled that the public safety trumps any economic concern of the company. If they fire you, they pay. Do what is right always.

 

OP, I just want to clarify - are you employed in Canada, or the US? I just realized that you may be in Canada. If so, the information that we are giving you for the US agencies would not apply.

 

Yes, but once you punch that ticket, it cannot be un-punched. Prepare to collect your back pay with interest and whatever portion of that $250K punitive damages may be offered or rewarded. Yes you may be entitled to get your old job back, but how long do you think that will last? And what other company would touch you after you exercised your rights under the law?

 

Well, then most of the information we've provided here is based on US rules and agencies. Have you posed your question in the Canadian truckers' forum? You'll probably get better information there. Sorry for the confusion.

Some of us yanks seem to forget that the US is only a part of North America...

 

54 40 or fight is what I always say.

 

Wow, some of you must not drive more than 1500 miles a week.

When I hit the shipper, I change to on duty while I dock and get paperwork done. Then, I'm in the sleeper, and logged as such, and most likely.. sleeping. Why would you want to log that as on duty? It's not going to effect my 14 hr clock, that's still running. When they knock on my door or call, then it's back to on duty while I do more paperwork, pull away from dock, etc. If I'm actually required to oversee the loading / unloading process, then of course I'm logged as on duty.

This is an absolute and legal way to log. By logging either on duty or driving only, from the time you do your pretrip to post trip, is just shooting yourself in the foot, then whining cause it hurts when your paycheck blows.
You haven't really said what you are doing when they are telling you to log off duty and you don't like it. If you aren't actually working, I'm not sure what the issue is unless you just don't like 20 hr days. Can they make you work 20 hr days? Absolutely not, you can always find another job...
To the OP.

 

I used to log that way when I started to keep as many hours available to me as possible, now a 14 hour day is all I want to do/ or less.

 

Find a new job.
There are morons who will put up with this kind of bs, and they are the ones who allow it to continue, along with the company.
You won't win any battle with the company. They'll keep doing this until they are shut down.