7 Points for not switching to SB after Off Duty

It was mostly due to your "I typically need less then 7 hours of continuous sleep at this point of my biological life" comment.

 

I think I read somewhere that with aging the sleep duration for males changes. Certainly, it does in my case. Nowadays, I always wake up with birds. Mind you, that the sleep quality at truck stops is rather poor too.

 

I really enjoy where topics go by the end. LOL. Always informative but usually ends not exactly on topic.

 

Ive never been inspected (driving about 3 years mosty local)

If they start asking me where I slept, wouldn't I be covered under the 5th amendement?

Couldn't I say "sorry sir I don't have to answer that. its right there in my logs."?

 

We do have rights, just remember that your freedom does not exempt you from consequences.

 

Nothing in the regulations stipulates the solo driver may log their off duty time however they please regardless of location. In fact the regulation do stipulate that if your body is in the Sleeper the driver will truthfully, currently and correctly document their time as such as long as their body is located inside the Sleeper.

The regs do stipulate more in depth rules for team drivers, however I think a lot of drivers 'read between the lines' and interpret things that simply are not there, like this concept that only teams must log Sleeper and only 8/2 splitters must log Sleeper and thence therefore ergo, must mean the solo driver may just do whatever status they want to.

Still waiting (almost 6 months.....) for @Moose1958 to present his findings from his friend at the FMCSA on this subject that @Moose1958 asked specifically in this case whether the driver was legally obligated to log back to Off Duty after leaving the Sleeper for a pee break of 15 minutes more or less.

 

5th Amendment rights only apply in a court of law under oath.

But you do have the right to remain silent. I wouldn't even say the words, 'sorry I don't have to ....' Just give them your logs and say nothing.

 

The regulation cited by the op only says “here are your four options, and do not falsify your logs”. It does not specify that sleeper berth must be selected when you’re in the sleeper. When I was in trucking school, my instructors were very clear on this subject. Sleeper and off duty are usually the same thing. I almost never select sleeper, because I don’t want my company to attempt to force me to do a split.... which would cause a fight because I don’t put up with that kind of nonsense. Lol.

 

Tangentially, the best advice I can give any driver, is to never drive tired. Go to bed as quickly as you can, and don’t set an alarm. The split runs counter to this. Which is why I never do it. I’ve never had a log inspection, and my driving record is perfect. I’m curious to know if I really am setting myself up for a ticket by not logging sleeper. I’m inclined to say no. If I get a ticket for something as ridiculous as this, it should never hold up in court.

...right?

 

So I spent two hours this week in the sleeper repairing my dome light wiring.
Do I log it on duty or sleeper because my body was in the sleeper?