Life After Roehl

Wait a minute. Are you saying they went into your logs and changed them after you already approved them? Isn't that illegal?

 

No, it is not illegal,
I don't know Bayles situation, and his may indeed be a legitimate complaint, but here are some examples..
Only logging 1 minute on duty for pretrip inspection.
Only logging 1 minute on duty for drop/hook.
Only logging 15 min to strap/tarp full flatbed load.
Only logging 1 minute for fuel stop.
Believe it or not, there are drivers that have tried those exact things.

Safety has the ability to change your logs when there are violations such as those above.

 

The act of changing hours without the drivers consent is questionable at best. If the driver does not consent it makes more sense to note the corrective action, and discipline the driver.
[h=3]§ 395.8: Driver's record of duty status.[/h](f) The driver's activities shall be recorded in accordance with the following provisions:
(1) Entries to be current. Drivers shall keep their records of duty status current to the time shown for the last change of duty status.
(2) Entries made by driver only. All entries relating to driver's duty status must be legible and in the driver's own handwriting.

 

Just for the sake of argument, the law you are quoting is no longer applicable, since we are now logging electronically, there is no way for a DOT inspection to prove the driver did not make the changes to the log.

However, I agree that Safety should not be changing a drivers log entries. If there is a HOS infraction by the driver, let the chips fall where they may. Some people (not necessarily Bayle) need to learn the hard way!

 

[h=3]§ 395.15: Automatic on-board recording devices.[/h]
(e) Entries made by driver only. If a driver is required to make written entries relating to the driver's duty status, such entries must be legible and in the driver's own handwriting

 

I agree. I would not think it would be legal to change an e-log without speaking to the driver, as there may be an explanation. Such as logging 15 minutes for a 2hr tarp job because 4 other drivers helped you with it and it really did only take 15 minutes.
Even on flagrant things such as not logging a 1hour safety meeting as "on duty" and logging it as "off duty" onstead.. Safety should speak to the driver and atleast tell them that they will be changing their log for the time period they were in the safety meeting.
I also agree with the discipline process of the driver if it is a repeat offense that he has been spoken to before about.
But I do agree that ROEHL has to monitor their driver's logs and correct them if needed, as ROEHL gets audited by DOT and their logs are inspected. To many violations and ROEHL could get in serious trouble.

 

they have to audit the drivers logs, but changing logs without consent is going to be an issue. If the company believes the driver is wrong they should document the violation request the driver make the change (my company had a log change request macro drivers could send in), if the driver refuses to make the change then a disciplinary process should be started.

 

Everytime I see a "Melton" truck it makes me think of Meltom!

I love your (Meltom) perspective and hope you'll always offer it. We get a rare insight into the office side of trucking through you.

I know you once dispatched or worked in the office at Roehl. As I got to know office personnel there I was shocked by the iron fisted "culture of fear" that infected the office staff. Some were afraid to speak frankly in the office and would insist on meeting in the parking lot. I'm curious if that was your experience when you worked there and if you are at all optimistic with the direction Roehl has taken with regards treatment of drivers?

 

I was beginning to become disillusioned with Roehl towards the end of my time there. Several people in control of drivers fates (termination) rushed to judgement sometimes right and sometimes wrong. I'll be honest and let you know that I had several parking lot meetings myself. Usually that would be before an official meeting with me and my managers. I'd give my drivers a heads up, assuming I liked them and they did a good job, on what the direction of the meeting was going to be and what to say to get through it with a job still.

Two of the incidents that stood out to me the most were a driver that had a load shift and the product ended up damaged. My manager and the division manager were ready to cut him loose. So I met with my guy in the parking and let him know what was going to happen. What my managers didn't know is that I had already arranged Bob from OS&D to stop in during the meeting and state the in his opinion it was loaded incorrectly and that the driver couldn't have done anything to prevent the shift. I feel I ended up saving him from being fired that day.

The other one that stands out was one of my drivers had an accident and got put on leave (determination period) until we got the police report so we could determine preventability in the accident. The report came back from the safety director, stating the driver was eligible to resume driving. I had an issue with this because the facts were he ran a red light and someone crashed into him. It got worse for me when I read his statement to the police which said "I couldn't tell if the light was red or not because the sun was in my eyes so I just went". I took that back the safety director with my manager and had him review it again. I let him know that if he chose to keep him on, they'd have to move him to another board because I wouldn't work with him any more. He ended up getting fired, and I think that was the right call.

There certainly did appear to be a level of fear in the office so most people walked the company line. I wasn't too worried about it because when we lived up there my wife made more in call back for surgery than I did in a week. So once I was established and comfortable with the decisions I was making the fear of losing my job wasn't a real big factor for me. There were several times I looked in a change of pace to do something I was more passionate about and nearly every time the biggest thing I heard was, you won't like that because it pays less. Once I was told that I couldn't "afford" to take a different job within the company. There were several things I liked, and several things I did not like at Roehl. Overall I'd say they're an above average company and I would certainly recommend them to anyone starting out, or someone that needs guidance.

PS, I think safety Sara is crazy, but I also like her a lot and she's surprised me with how much she actually knows.

 

My last dispatcher was named Sara K. I know she got a promotion or lateral move and is no longer dispatching. Could "Safety Sara" be my old dispatcher?