ELD IS GOING AWAY !!!!!

all I want is to work with out placing every little action under a microscope slicing and dicing it apart.

 

I too got inspected in California, also have ELD

 

The point was made earlier in this thread about trucking companies striving for the fast food model and that's probably closest to the truth of the driving force behind this. Everyone opposed to the regulation acts like it was legislated specifically to spite them personally when really its just big companies trying to create a more efficient system. The more parts of the process that are automated and idiot proof and the less training and skills will be needed from job candidates. Just plug and play. Switch out as needed with no significant delay. Nothing personal, just the cost of doing business in the free market.

 

micro management has it's plus side

 

I was also hoping lots of drivers would quit rather than go to e-logs and there would be a lot of used trucks on the market so I could pick one up cheap and go owner operator. Now my hopes have been dashed. I used to run paper logs. If I was solo I'd probably be jumping for joy with the elog Mandate going away so I could cheat to my heart's content. It still isn't 100% certain that it will though.

 

I got pulled over on US67 down in Arkansas a few weeks ago for a random roadside. Officer asked for my log book, etc...and I handed it over. About a half hour later, he walked back up and handed me my stuff back and a piece of paper to sign indicating the level 3 inspection with no violations.

Just because you're on paper doesn't mean your log book is something to fear handing over. Keep it current and neat with all of the required info and no problem. If you're unwilling or unable to keep a log book that you don't have to worry about handing over, perhaps you don't belong behind the wheel of a CMV...and that right there is the issue. The megas, for whatever reason, aren't recruiting "drivers" intelligent enough to keep a log book so they wind up with a bunch of idiots who require elogs to keep out of trouble.

The less thinking you have to do as a driver, the less they have to pay you. Whether it is logging, trip planning, fuel routing, knowing how/when/where to shift gears. They want to idiot-proof trucking so that idiots can successfully drive a truck. If you're doing a job an idiot can do, you'll be paid like an idiot. Want to make good money? Do something an idiot CAN'T do...until they idiot-proof that, too.

 

perhaps that's the goal

 

No, the real reason that the megas and others have pushed the Elog thing is because too many drivers screw up the logs. It is mostly a defensive move. The CSA score thing is what really put the cherry on the parfait. And insurance carriers take CSA scores into account for rates and even coverage. And throw in that some of the better corporations are even looking at CSA scores in choosing carriers to haul their goodies. And we all read far too often of a driver who killed a family or crashed into a school bus that had filled out a log book for 3 days. We bring this kind of nonsense on ourselves. And it isn't all bad. An ELD can actually protect a driver from an over zealous LEO that is trying to make a name for himself or a aggressive lawyer if there is a vehicle accident and the other party decides to go after you.

 

After a fatality wreck, the law and the victim's lawyers will go over the logs a lot closer than an officer doing a random inspection.

 

None of this explains a mandate. Nothing prevents them from running ELDs voluntarily.