New Mandate Is Terrible !!

True. Trucking companies, shippers, or receivers can't push a driver to run illegally. IIRC that came about a year or two ago and carries a penalty of up to $10K per incident.

 

When I first started on elogs I struggled with saying I can't do that and seeing that #### clock always counting down. Once I got past the mental aspect of those 2 things it got a lot easier. For me I was picking up bad driving habits and using the elog as an excuse to justify it.

 

I've run on e-logs in 62 mph trucks, then paper logs in an ungoverned truck, and now e-logs in my own ungoverned truck. I'm okay with e-logs AS LONG AS IT WORKS!!!

My 2006 KW has had nothing but problems with the company mandated Rand McNally unit. Constant JBus failures. Most of the time it won't automatically record drive time, or when it does it records WILDLY incorrect miles. I can drive 100 miles from point A to point B and the device might record 38 miles or 438 miles for that segment. The company compliance department can't edit the miles. This puts me at risk for an HOS violation.

Other times I finish fueling and pull into a parking spot at the truck stop after finishing post trip and it will record driving time even though I never got above 5 mph, way off the parameters my company specced.

I've called Rand McNally about these issues more than a dozen times. All I get is "we are aware of the issues and we're working on it". They've been "working on it" for over eight months.

The biggest problem with the mandate is the sheer idiocy of lack of over site to make SURE ELD's are functional and compliant. Numerous drivers in my company run older trucks and most of us are having issues. Either get me a unit that WORKS or get the ####ing thing out of my truck.

 

This is why I wouldn't lease to a carrier that requires the use of a particular system, It should be up to you, the owner of the truck which one to use, or to use one at all.

 

It’s called a necessary evil to continue do the same job as you have done for the last twenty five years servicing the same customers the same way as you always have and being fully compliant to the new eld rule.
It’s kind of like wiping your rear end.
Is it mandatory?
NO !
Could you save yourself thousands on toilet paper over a lifetime ?
For sure!
Is anyone forcing you to do it?
NO!
But it is a necessary evil that you have to do if you are any type of self respecting human.

 

First I do not support the ELD mandate, and I have paper longs.

But we have known this was coming for several years and many waited till the last minute to plug in and go, only to find it wasn't that simple.

My company thought eld's would lower their safer scores and it did not happen, drivers not doing things right and dot knowing where to look for problems and misuses of personal use and then violations written up and company scores go up.

They found leaving the ones that were exempt on paper was better than eletronic for their good.

I always though there would be problems at warehouses where you get there late then want you in a door a few hours later.

The dot need to make some changes for traffic delays and weather, there used to be a provision for 2 extra hours to finish your trip, I don't know when that went away, now when the 11 hours are up you become a criminal if you run a extra minute.

Things will get adjusted, but with all the fighting and bickering in Washington I don't expect it to happen very soon.

If you get busted on hours just tell the cop you must of got hacked by the Russians.

 

I can understand the need to have a unified system at a company. It would be a logistical nightmare to download logs from umpteen different systems. The problem is whatever system is used should have some kind of certification that it has been tested in a variety of trucks and will function as advertised.

 

Shouldn't you be logging all this "time spent planning your day" as on duty not driving. You guys do want to do it by the book and no cheating.

 

You should post this in RM ELD50 thread as their technical service guy is denying that RM is having issues and keeps saying that they're working on it.

 

If they're not having issues then what the hell are they working on?