What the ELD mandate has taught me so far

well since the goal is to make money, why burn it off since you probable only get 3-4 mpg as it is right now. Question for you is,,, when you make these runs, getting home is for how long?

 

Then figure the math at a higher speed and see what your fuel costs will increase to.

I cannot answer for you to either shut down legally and do the 10 hr break or run at a higher speed. That is your choice and your choice only. Your determining factor will be how much more will your fuel costs be at the higher speed and it is worth it to get home 10 hours earlier?

 

Their are several answer and solutions. You can drive slower and get even better MPG and just plan on going home the next day because you already can see you can't run that speed and get home before hour run out.

You can drive faster burn more fuel make less money but you will be home.

I would probably drive slower make more money. Go home the next day and stay home extra day or 12 hours to makeup for getting home later

 

Our company started installing JJ Keller mobile ELD's in Jan. Like you, the nature of our business - power only- is nothing but logistical uncertainty. As a result, I find it necessary to alter day to day operations.
The first thing I had to do was literally make every minute count. I now have to file a flight plan of sorts as soon as I receive any load or series of loads. Planning ahead using more time efficient routes, stopping for breaks when the legal requirements suggest it(30 minute after 8 hours) and of course driving at speeds faster than I have been doing for the last 40 years etc.
I don't need the money. I just don't want to wind up laying over behind some shopping center or spending a weekend at a truck stop because I missed a pickup or a delivery. I have turned down several time sensitive high paying loads because the customers who book them are still woefully ignorant of how the new ELD world is going to impact them. It is going to be a steep learning curve for shippers, consignees, drivers and trucking companies.
I will not sacrifice the over 4 million safe miles I have driven for this artificial "safety" requirement.
Of course the ELD is not the real culprit, the underlying inflexibility one size fits all HOS regulations are. When conceived, largely in the 1930's, the idea of enforcing them with unforgiving technology in an unpredictable world would have been pure science fiction. Trucking now bears absolutely no resemblance to when these regulations were written.
Welcome to the Twilight Zone.

 

With the exception to those who have issue with cost of eld device and monthly subscription, I never understood the issue with the mandate. Obviously, it's not a problem with eld's but the HOS regs.I've run both and get that there is huge advantage running paper. I just wish that drivers would complain about what they're really upset about, the fact that they will have to operate within the HOS rules.

 

So the problem is you are doing something that even if on paper logs and logged as you drive you still would not make it home. It's not an ELD problem it's and HOS problem. If your going to run out of the 70 hours. Then it seems like you need to find a way to run less miles or hours or something so you can get home. That the real problem, people don't want to look at. They are just use to doing what they want and making it look good on paper logs.

If the money is good and worth it don't go home. I think driver still have options to choose how they run their trucks. Driver just have to do it within the law. Just like I do, unless people want to work on changing the laws

 

If the problem is your 70, do 65-66. It won't affect your mpg much, but it will buy you a minute or 2 per hour, over the course of 60 hours drive time, that's your 2 hours you needed

 

I'm all for safety but its sad that the government thinks they have to control the drivers and their hours to keep our roads safe.