2nd Job HOS

Wow. I am not going to argue the legality of this one way or the other, but:

It's fine according to HOS, because you are not being compensated for it, to get off work Friday night, hop in the RV, drive for three hours, spend half the night partying with friends, get up early and fish all day, party Saturday night, get up not quite so early on Sunday, fish most of the day, pack up and drive home, get eight hours of sleep and go to work without ever documenting any of this activity.

It is a violation however to get a full night's rest, work 6 hours on Saturday flipping burgers, go to church on Sunday and then relax the rest of the day, then go to work on Monday and fail to log the 6 hours of work on Saturday.

What have we become.

 

It only matters what an attorney can prove so neither scenario is going to save you if they come after punitive damages.

 

That's just par for the course. The driver has to be drug into it but that's not where the settlement money comes from. Lawyers know this.

 

You put it better than I could have and I agree 100 percent. Common sense and self respect has disappeared.

 

You're getting the memo now, driver! It's not about safety.

 

You guys are terrified lol.

 

They don't have to prove you were fatigued in court, just that you were in violation of the hours of service and shouldn't have been there in the first place. The Plaintiff Bar has become very effective at proving this fact. I am not worried as much about the FMCSA or DOT action as I am the results of litigation.

The OP is trying to do the right thing, and if his company is open to him having a second job then they must be open to him recording it on their log book, otherwise they too are in violation of FMCSA regulations. I work with a lot of part-time drivers doing driveaway transportation, where they may do work for several companies weekly with some DOT regulated and some not, and we all share log book info between the different companies so each employing motor carrier is fully aware of the driver's compliance with HOS regulations.

 

Drivers are named in lawsuits daily. Even if you don't own property they will attach your retirement, life insurance polices and even social security income and these court judgments often are structured in a way that they are not vacated by bankruptcy, at least not fully. I have seen drivers lose everything they have worked for, leaving them and their family broke because they had that same attitude that the company is the one with the money and will be paying for the settlement. Just look at the Werner lawsuit still being appealed, that driver is on the line for $14 Million in damages, so every cent he ever earns for the rest of his life will go to the Plaintiff.

 

I agree this has become ridiculous and the rules are broken, but for now, they are the rules of the game and the system is stacked against the driver.

Another hypocritical thought, the OP could be out all night as a volunteer firefighter and then be legal, provided he doesn't show signs of fatigue, and that would be legal but don't work a side job. On the converse, he could be fully within the hours of service and still be illegal if he was fatigued, such as the Walmart crash with Tracy Morgan a few years back. Driver was compliant with the letter, but not the spirit, of the regulations and paid a dear price for it, criminally and civilly.