Do you drive sleepy more frequently on elogs than you did when using paper logs

Elogs will make you drive at hours that you don't want to drive. It has nothing to do with trip planning, unless you plan to run less than 1000 mile a week. Sometimes, you just feel sleepy due to external factors, such as weather, or overeating your lunch. The current HOS with 14 hours rule are dumb, and having no flexibility to override them will mean that more people will run while tired.
You can not have an excuse "I was late because I felt sleepy and needed a nap." If you say so, they'll tell you "You in the wrong business" Period.

 

Also, I have a feeling that there is just as many of those who never drive while sleepy at least somewhat, as those who never urinate to a bottle at least somewhat.

 

I'll just give an example of how the person driving should control their own hours, but before hand, I run elogs and run as legal as possible( minus the off duty time I occasionally do while at a shipper or receiver, don't really wanna hear bout it either). I usually like to get up about 4 am and start my day, and usually run out on my 11 by 4 pm, I keep the left door shut, but i just can't hop in the bunk for my 10, if I get up at 2 the next morning then it seems I can not keep my eyes open around daybreak, so I don't get up then. Many times I know I can easily accomplish another 2- 3 hours driving without any fatigue problems, some days not, but if I can safely drive, I'd rather be driving, instead of sitting at the truck stop twiddling my thumbs for another 4 or 5 hours before I'm ready to go to sleep. Now previously working for a mega, I got a service failure because the load was 30 minutes late ( accident had the road locked down for a couple hours, still got accepted at the rec anyway with no issue with them about the 30 minutes) but it was one of those micromanaged JIT loads and they gave me the service failure anyway because of my arrival time that was documented, when I started asking questions it was told to me that I should have been there because my 10 was up at 1 or 2 am, after I explained to them that if I would have gotten up at that time and forced myself to continue driving, they would have more than likely send a hearse to pick my body up and the load would have been in the ditch. Now I know it's more of a company problem than the elog thing, but this is just a response to the OP's original post.

 

Companies will have to start coming around on this. Some have. If I need to stop and take a nap, I do. If load is not going to arrive when folks want it, I communicate that as soon as I know it, not after I arrive. Sometimes that is even before I have left the shipper. I have learned a long time ago not to stress over stuff, especially when it is out of my control.

 

Yeah, but with a mega, doesn't matter how many times you tell them, Qualcomm or phone calls, it's always the driver's fault, I even had them tell me an appointment was on a Friday at 7 pm when it was actually scheduled for Sunday, that's the day I learned to call before every arrival, got a service failure for a planner's screw up. But that's the past, got setup now to where I don't have to worry about it (yet anyway). When I do, it'll be the last company job I get, next go around I'll be buying an older truck, fix it up, and find a company to lease it on to.

 

I have a question for you guys using elogs, what do you guys do if your 11hours or 70 hours are up and you are just an hour away from your home?

 

Drop the trailer and bobtail home off duty. Same as on paper. All legal. I have several locations I can drop a trailer, securely, and head on home. Then bobtail off duty back to the trailer later and then go back to the hours game. One can solve any problem if they actually use their brain and some ingenuity instead of crying in their beer and doing a remake of Hee Haw's "Gloom, Despair, and Agony on me". Truck dealerships, trailer dealerships, etc are great places to leave a trailer if one needs to. I am sure if one took the time to seek out some safe places to leave a trailer in a 60 - 80 mile radius of the house, they could. That is an American tradition.... learning when life hands you lemons, learning how to make lemonade.

This type of situation rarely happens to me. Maybe a couple times a year. Many times, I just go on home with the trailer. But there are quite a few times where I will leave the trailer in town and then bobtail off duty to the house out in the country when I go home. Same principle if one was out of hours.

 

Curious as to how one bobtails in off duty mode.

I'm pretty sure we're all with the understanding that all tire movement automatically constitutes driving.

 

I'm confused how can you drive bobtail off duty?

 

Off duty driving. It is legal per the FMCSA. If you are unladen (bobtail) and not doing anything related to moving freight, like bobtailing to get a load or trailer, you can log off duty while driving. Going to the store, to a restaurant, to a hotel, or bobtailing home. I even drive off duty occasionally during the week when I am waiting on a trailer or something and I want to bobtail to a store or get a bite to eat. Doesn't interrupt a 10 hr break if I am taking one.

See question 26 here....

Regulations Section