ELD Compliance, 30 Days in the Hole

I've dropped a few comments here in the ELD forum since the mandate, but thought I would give this new reg a solid month before creating a post. Well, it's been 30 days and here are my thoughts.

Just to give a little background. About 95% of every dollar I have ever made has come with a steering wheel in my hand, or sitting next to someone with a steering wheel in their hand. I drove a taxi for a couple years after I got married, moved on to Greyhound from there, then tour busses. Obtained my Class A somewhere around 1993. I started off flatbedding regional, then vans OTR, these days I haul mostly produce. I've pulled around just about every kind of trailer, not to mention straight trucks and a hydrovac. I've hauled pretty much everything you can fit on a truck without a specialized permit (hats off to you guys). I've pulled radioactive waste, bulk goods, flammable gas, crude oil, tires, household goods, gravel, sand, glass, and even gas station groceries up and down a ramp all darn day. I've been a driving instructor and a driver trainer. I'm not bragging, just pointing out for all those self righteous contrarians who will inevitably troll this post, that I might just have a little standing in this industry to back up my comments. You can, and will I'm certain, drop by to call me an outlaw or a rebel etc. But I am also fairly certain that most of you nitwits would never make any of those comments to my face.

When I began in this industry I made several promises. I promised my family that I would always provide the best I could for them and always come home safe. I promised every other person I share the road with, that I would do my best to see that they made it home safe to their families too. And I promised myself, that no government beaurocrat, lackey, or jack booted enforcer of corruption, and none of their little books, would ever keep me from fulfilling either of those first two promises.

That being said. I understand the need to enforce certain general guidelines to insure the safe transportation of goods. There is no place on the highway for improperly maintained equipment, dangerous driving practices, alcohol, narcotics, etc. But I also understand, that legislation is almost exclusively written and enforced by those who have an entirely different agenda from that which is stated to garner support for the regulations which they propose. And that these regulations are typically written by individuals and entities who are completely ignorant of the real workings of the industry they are seeking to control, and completely disconnected and unconcerned with what affect their meddling has upon the real world people who will be tasked with carrying out their dictates.

The complaints I have heard in this forum and elsewhere, are real. Loss of sleep, loss of productivity and income, pushing oneself beyond well established personal limitations, pushing the limits of safe driving to arrive at a preplanned destination when unforseen events occur, and basically just feeling like you're being completely monitored and controlled for no justifiable purpose, it's all real.

In defense of those who are so in favor of this unnecessary encroachment upon our liberty and freedom, those who like to call names and make broad accusations against those of us who have safely performed our duties, in some cases for many decades, though albeit, not always within strict compliance to the law, I will say this. I understand that they have probably never been expected to spend a solid 24 hours making multiple pickups on a Wednesday, for a receiver some 2000 miles away who stops unloading Saturday by noon. I understand that they have likely never arrived at a dock at 3AM with 2 hours left on their book only to wait 9 hours to unload with another pickup already dispatched at a location some 200 miles away. I understand that sitting half the day waiting to repower another driver who's out of hours, only to deliver his load 100 miles down the road doesn't create in them a sense of urgency. I understand that 300, 400, or 500 mile average lengths of haul leaves them feeling confident in working within a system that tracks their every move.

But what I would say to these drivers who wouldn't have a clue what it's like to ever drive more than 2500 miles a week, to ever be forced to think outside the box, that have never been required to bend the rules even a little. First off, I would say you're a liar and a hypocrite. Every last one of you has bent the rules in your favor one time or another. Secondly, I would say that you need to mind your own freaking business, not mine, or the business of my brothers and sisters out here who have probably forgotten more about trucking than you will ever bother to learn.

This was a long post, forgive me. As with anything else, those of us who have been forced to deal with this latest encroachment upon our liberties, not to mention our health and wealth, we will surely adjust as always. Some of us, like myself, are already planning our exit strategies. We will be replaced by a Somali steering wheel holder, or another license mill loser looking for a paid vacation. Others will tough it out. The highways will become even more treacherous, and the earnings will continue to stagnate and eventually decline, though perhaps not right away.

The bottom line for me I guess, is that I've had enough. I'll tough it out another six months or so, pay off whatever bills I owe and settle in to a nice little local job, maybe driving, maybe not. I've sacrificed a lot in the 25 years I've given to this industry, I think maybe it's time to sit back and enjoy some of the fruits of my labor.

One final thought. If you are really stupid enough to actually believe that HOS has ever had anything at all to do with safety, take a note. The guy who will run you off the road because he hasn't had enough sleep, is the exact same guy who will run you off the road when he's wide awake, the same freaking guy. And 7 times out of 10 he will be driving for a company that pushed this mandate in the first place. The stats are out there for anyone to investigate.

Be safe everyone, and yes that goes for you sanctomonious, boot licking contrarians as well.

God Bless and Godspeed.

 

I haven't done the math yet (don't want to know really), but just looking at my recap I'm probaly averaging 600-800 miles less per week since the mandate.

I told my boss last week, that for the rest of the winter I will be taking a restart every week once I empty out in Phoenix. We are cutting our LOH to 1900 or less. This allows me to run 11 hours for 6 straight days with a little wiggle on day 7. I'm still taking a loss but maximizing efficiency. Guess we'll see how it goes.

 

Yeah, me too. I'm almost over being pissed though. Starting to look forward to being home every night, fishing, working on some custom furniture projects I've been planning for years. I might even start going to church again. God's been good to me, time to return the favor.

 

That's a rather limited reading of the text neighbor. But it's all good. When you get a chance, Google "The Road to Serfdom", or not, it's a free country right?