Aren't regulations a good thing?

That’s a weak argument. Sometimes you DO have to do the maximum for a whole bunch of different reasons. No if’s ands or buts. You get no credit or slack for the days you don’t do the max so this is not really helping you any for your potential difficult tomorrow.

 

Allow me, if I may.

The base problem here is the fact that people, in general, despise change. Drivers have been raising Caine over the HOS since they were changed back in the early 2000's. Back then, we worked under the 10/8/16 rules. This means we had a 16 hour clock that stopped every time we went into either Sleeper or Off Duty statuses. We also had a ten hour drive clock, and an eight hour off duty break that could be separated any way we (or dispatch) wanted. So if a driver sat on a dock for four hours, then drove for ten hours, that driver only needed another four hours in either Sleeper or Off Duty to complete the eight hour break in order to drive for another ten.

This set up gave the driver a great deal of freedom over his schedule. He could take a break whenever he wanted to avoid traffic, deal with shipping or receiving offices, wait for dispatch to remove their heads from their anal cavities, or whatever.

The down side was this system was also ripe for incredible levels of abuse, particularly for newer company drivers with limited options.

Since back then we were ALL on paper logs, recreating history was easy. Many carriers large and small would actually have classes to teach drivers how to cheat the logs so the truck never had to stop unless the driver was so tired he couldn't get out of bed.

Then the regulatory agencies added E-logs in an attempt to curb log rewriting so it would be harder to cheat the log.

But we have any number of old hands who have always cheated the logs and flat resent today's added difficulties in doing so. There are numerous experienced drivers who WANT to run 4-5,000 miles per week, convinced that is the only way to earn a decent living. Add in the drivers who firmly believe that if you aren't working yourself to death then you are useless and lazy (the trucking industry seems to attract more than it's fair share of addicted workaholics), and you develop an even stronger culture of resentment towards the regulatory environment.

Personally, I love my E-Log. I've been a driver since 1998, mostly in Regional or OTR positions. I've been around long enough to remember the (not so) good old days, the running and working 20 hours a day for $400-$500 paychecks, the constant screaming from dispatch to "Get that load moving you lazy (censored cause we are a family friendly website)!"

Today, thanks in part to the current regulatory environment and the growing lack of drivers at my skill and experience level as the older drivers exit the field permanently, I enjoy an OTR/Regional type job where I work 5-5.5 days per week, get enough proper rest (including sleep) to maintain both my safety and the safety of other motorists, and still clear $1,100-$1,200 per week AFTER taxes and insurance deductions.

E-logs and the current HOS regulations have increased my pay, allowed me a greater level of safety, and allow me the time to actually RELAX a bit between work shifts. And all it costs me is having to adjust my schedule by about an hour and a half. I gotta get outta bed a bit earlier, is all. Big deal.

Don't fear change until that change proves to be for the worst. The E-logs and current regulatory environment is NOT making drivers unsafe, tired, or dangerous. That blame, in my opinion, falls on the horrible training being provided to new drivers today, increased amounts of greed at ALL levels from the carrier owner all the way down to the driver, an personal choices being made by the drivers.

Schedule your day, make allowances for events beyond your control (accidents, weather, road closures, flat tires and the like), and keep proper communication channels between yourself and dispatch open. This, combined with safe driving practices, will give you an excellent start towards a long and successful career as a Truck Driver.

 

No you don't. The world won't end. The sun will still come up.

I hate the regs as much as anyone but those people who 'averaged' on paper need to accept what is.

 

LOL. You live a very sheltered life. Good for you. Yes the sun will still come up if I miss an appointment but the company will be out a late fee, I’ll look like ####, company will get a black mark, I’ll miss a preplan and $300 worth of drive opportunity, never mind what this costs the company in the short term and the long term.

Trucking is too competitive to have too many drivers who can’t get it done for whatever reason, because somebody else will and wants an opportunity that poor service history of another will eventually bring about.

I value my on-time performance record and nothing you say will change that.

 

meh, I admit I have it pretty good where I'm at.

Every situation is different but the HOS is what it is, unfortunately.

And of course much of my time is spent under Canadian HOS which offer much more flexibility.

 

since when is more government involvement in anything in the world a better thing..
the regulations are just going to snowball. they make more and more rules and never fix the old ones, let alone get involved in things they shouldn't be in the first place.

 

Whoops! ELD Mandate Actually Increases Accidents, Unsafe Driving Behavior Says Report - TruckersReport.com

 

All we need is to see the return of the 1962 version of HOS, that's the one they had up till 2003 and it was the best one.