An honest driver never wins

You will always have pirates or cheaters.

If I had a laptop and some sort of Elog system image in virtual environment and could connect to the actual ELD, I could do things with it. Totally rape it to use a crude word...

 

Word

 

I have to respectfully disagree here. First, if you have to cheat your logs just to get by financially, you're either working for peanuts (i.e., working for a bad company), or living beyond your means. The whole idea of e-logs is to keep the dispatchers from pushing you to run illegally. That's about keeping the dispatcher honest, not us. I've had my CDL for three years, and I've been on e-logs from day one. Yes, I've had to use paper when QC or PN failed, but I use a smartphone app even then.

 

They do, and are rapidly tightening things up to restrict this. Basically, they can't change drive time anymore, only OD/ND, OFF-DUTY, and SB statuses. Drive time is set in stone now. At least that's what safety at my last job said.

 

You have to understand, as do the rest of you.
Its not just DOT, its not the government alone that is forcing the E-log issue.
Its a combination of the DOT, the government, insurance companies, health care organizations and so on.
Do any modest research, and you will find that more than 80% of accidents involving big trucks are directly related to speed, fatigue, HOS, or maintenance.
With so many new drivers on the road today and the lack of quality training in the driving schools, simple things like those mentioned above are being just grazed in teaching. Most schools today are only barely teaching enough for a driver to pass the test.
You hear a lot of drivers complaining about the E-logs. If they ever make it mandatory I'll quit and so on.
I say to you then quit.
Check with any DOT officer, and you will find that the number one reason for being placed OOS is due to log book violations.
If you hadn't violated your log, you wouldn't have been here, the accident may not have happened.
If you hadn't driven more hours than you were able to, you wouldn't have fallen asleep at the wheel.
You want to improve safety on the road, then quit trying to be a super trucker. Stop trying to drive 1,000 mile days. Stop trying to rush to that delivery just so you can sit and wait.
There is no load that is worth your life or the life of the person you hit by being fatigued.
You can tout that you've done it before, that you do it all the time.
You need to understand, that fatigue effects the mind and the body in totally different ways.
You want to give yourself a break then go on E-Logs. You want to reduce your insurance, then go on E-logs. You want to be in a better position to charge detention for those shippers and receivers that deliberately delay you, then go on E-logs.
I ran paper for over 10 years. Fudged every once in a while because I had to to make a stop or a load. Went on E-logs about 5 years ago. Thought I was going to hate it. Life has become more relaxed. I let shippers and receivers know right up front that the clock is ticking. I've had less trouble with DOT since being on E-logs.

 

I've had guys tell me the same thing. They LOVE elogs. Dispatch tells them they have to make a deadline? Sorry, my elog tells me I won't make it, if there's a problem with that call safety manager. End of story.

 

Then I suppose it's Teams or Ottos. Ottos is buried in a Patent fight for 300 millions plus so thats out. Teams.

How do you like your Trucker Brothers and Sisters now eh?

 

I hear your concern dude, ever heard the saying "its not whats said that offends its how you say it", if i had of just let rip with a tirade of abuse guess what would of happened? so i just used sound reasoning in other words i appealed to his emotional side.

 

Elogs are a longtime coming. Company "said" it will take 3 days to run 2000 mi. I just smiled, better find another driver.

 

What I learned in 56 years. An honest (anything) never wins. And it's sad