Prime shifting to Paperless Logs

Yeah, this has happened to me before in places like KY. To make things worse, when I finally get the preplan, not only is the load in the wrong direction, but it says I'm already 2 hours late on it, which usually means they had the load in the computer somewhere a long time ago but they were outside smoking or on break somewhere playing cards and not paying attention.

 

It happens. When we get a load assigned at Prime, they expect you to decide if you can do it safely, legally and on-time. That has to be done up front before you commit to the load - which is different than the master (DM) - slave (driver) relationship that many other companies employ.

We are supposed to get a washout after every load - so a safe bet is heading to the nearest one. I'd say I'm 2-1 in going the wrong direction after empty; so what? As long as I can get to the load on time, or let my FM know that there might be a problem, its all good.

 

A washout after every load? Reminds me of an ex-girlfriend. Anyway can you get away with just sweeping it out if you don't have time? What a drag.

With Swift (at least with my DM & FM) there was a specific formula he expected me to follow, which was a good formula just for estimating stuff but NOT good to rely on to always work. Part of this was assuming it takes 2 hours to unload, which it did a lot, but not always. If you refuse a load or wanted the times adjusted, it had to be OBVIOUSLY impossible. If you thought there was a decent chance you could do it, you had to try. With paperless logs I'd think this would be the opposite - you better make darn sure you can do the load, not just that there is a good chance you can do it. Especially if you're somewhere where parking sucks.

See, I'd get loads all the time that were like this - I'd get a load Tuesday 3am, 1200 mile load that empties in Philly at 4 pm Wed. So you're driving all day Tues & Wed, and those SOBs better get you unloaded in about 45 minutes otherwise you are going to be driving all friggin night past your hours looking for places to park, which there aren't any unless you happen across a spot 10 seconds after someone just left it.

Or ... Say you have 3 days to do the load, so you get to King of Prussia, PA on the second day, wait around all day on the last day and start your workday at 3pm so that you have plenty of hours left when you realize you won't be parking until morning. You unload, and if your FM or DM are on the ball they get you another load out. In any case, you have already lost a day because they gave you three days to deliver the load (giving you that extra time so you would have hours to park), and now you're on the friggin night shift ... and lots of places don't load/unload at night so when it comes time to deliver the load you're on now, you either have to worry about being late or you have to waste another day getting back on friggin day shift!!

Anyway I hope that makes sense ... this all has happened to me several times and the point is with paper logs I was able to shift things around so that I didn't lose a day whenever I had to switch back and forth between day and night.

 

pbr, that is trucking. Yep, been there, done that. Parking in Philly? Right! Cross into NJ and find a spot at one of the five truck stops in the entire state! Bordentown is a joy! NOT! It is the parking thing and all that which has me apprehensive about paperless. Two hours to unload? Yeah... maybe once they finally actually get you in a door and start! There's the rub! Wal-Mart's trick is to put you in a door on time so they can say they were "on time", then have you sit in the door for 3-4 hours before they start, while your reefer goes crazy trying to keep the product cool in the hot dock... Yep, it's all part of the business. Paper, partucularly loose leaf, gives you flexibility when their lack of concern leads to your hours being wacky

 

They should make the DMs/FMs spend four weeks out on the road as observers. They act like there's 24-hour parking everywhere. I wish there was some law that if you tried hard to find a place to park but couldn't you could just pull the #### over and sleep.

 

Duh! Of course... except that WalMart demands you leave the unit running. Several places do... then take forever unloading you.

 

Lessee...

1. Washout after every load. Well, yeah. Broom comes in handy - personally I'd never bring a dirty trailer to a shipper. This is all about SERVICE. Our primary loads are food, so you really want to eat something that was hauled in a filthy trailer? We had 4 trailers brought into shippers in Cali the same day by morons who hadn't had a washout after hauling bloody meat loads this last spring. Three of these idiots actually allowed produce to be loaded into their trailers (doesn't say much for the shippers either,) and the fourth trailer was rejected by a pharmeceutical manufacturer incurring a service failure. The three produce loads were complete losses, to the tune of 2.5 million dollars - and I'd imagine that brought us a little driver churn as well. From the head of reefer dispatch (aka Stan the Man): Thou Shalt Washout After Every Load. You betcha boss!

After that little incident, the only way I'm not getting a washout is on something I know isn't going to be et... like periodicals from QuadGraphics. And then, it's because I've already told my FM that I can't make the load appointment based on where I'm at now, been approved to go in late at the pickup, and there isn't a washout available between them and me.

2. Turn off the reefer. Well yeah! DUH!! Only way I'm not turning it off in the dock is if a customer demands that it's on. Had a few come out and turn the stupid thing on, even with a pre-cooled trailer - its not just WalMart. Well.. OK! Some of our trailers have door switches on them that turn the thing off as soon as the doors are open. Air intake for the reefer is at the bottom of the trailer nose, so warm air rising through the gap between the trailer floor and the dock is sucked into the reefer unit. Whatever is being loaded or unloaded gets the benefit of that warm air flow... whatever you have in the trailer stays colder with the reefer turned off while in the dock.

University of California - Davis, did a study on the subject that confirms that.

3. Parking. Mostly it just requires a little planning - paperless logs enforces the fact that you can't just roll up to the shipper/receiver with 10 minutes left on your 11 or 14 hour clocks, and el-fudge-o the log. At Prime, you don't just get slammed onto a load - you have enough interaction with management to be able to tell them that you "can't legally deliver a load." So work it backwards.

This is a good place to learn how to split break, use an 8-hour break to extend your 14-hour clock, etc. Honestly, there's enough play in the rules to be able to make 95% of most situations work without resorting to pencil-whipping your logbook.

4. Latest on EOBR required... OOIDA reported on "Landline NOW!" - a couple of hour spot on Sirius 147, that the transportation bill that will be introduced in the US House of Representatives has language mandating EOBR use for all CMVs. OOIDA is working at getting the language changed to not require everyone to have some form of EOBR... probably an exemption for small fleets - the one to a few truck companies, and getting some form of definition as to what an "Electronic On-Board Recorder" is in legal terms. My guess is that most lawmakers have some kind of airliner "Black Box" (they're actually international orange) in mind. Paperless logs at Prime is what our management is thinking of when the term "EOBR" is thrown at them... it's a software upgrade to the QualComm that is already available on our newer QC terminals. Just needs to be turned on.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended for a few years now that EOBRs be required... thanks to some bus drivers who killed a lot of people. I'm sure the truck accident in Oklahoma a few weeks ago isn't helping at all either. Its probably a sure bet that they're coming to a truck cab near you within the next couple of years, so get used to the idea. OTOH, it may actually be a good thing... first, it will end being dispatched on loads that can't legally be run under the HOS rules. Second, it will be increasingly difficult for companies to screw us on mileage - an EOBR pretty much requires GPS position logging. Third, it pretty much makes a mockery of the argument that a trucking company has to pay us by the mile rather than an hourly wage because they don't know what we're doing. This issue may bring some much needed reform to the industry.

Time to git-r-going... WalMart awaits the dead cowz in my trailer!

 

Reefer on at Wal-Mart? Do you guys read the sheet they make you sign when you go to Wal-Mart or the posted rules. They specifically say that the reefer must remain OFF during unloading unless specifically told to keep it running.

And as far as reefer off or on with the doors open, when the doors to the truck are open, the unit should be off. If the unit is on it is pulling outside air across the product and warming it faster than if the doors were open and the unit was off. Prime is installing switches on all of their trailers that shut the reefer off when the doors open.

 

I have in fact been in WalMarts that require you to keep your reefer running, as well as several other receivers. I actually mentioned this in orientation today (I am in Springfield and will sign my lease tomorrow) with the claims people, and they agreed it was a challenge. So no need to belittle people... it does happen.
We also had our logs presentation today, and asked about elogs. There are several challenges which are being addressed and overcome by our intrepid explorers like U2.
Looking forward to hitting the road again with Prime tomorrow or Friday.