As EOBR mandate, CSA 2010 loom, on-board technology takes center stage

What about personell conveyance? we also use our truck to pull our fifth wheel camper in the summer to races etc. where does the data from an EOBR go when you are an owner operator with your own authority?

 

its not about safety, if it were about safety they would let us stop the clock and rest as we need, not tell us we have 14 hours to drive 11 and do everything else we may have to do or if we are feeling tired or just out of it we cant stop with out being penalized by losing our driving time for the day.. I have many times ran out of hours 30 or 40 miles from home due to weather or other uncontrollable circumstances.. do you think I am going to park on the side of the road that close to home for 10 hours because I have an e-log or EOBR telling me I am out of time? the whole HOS thing is crazy as well but I work with it.. EOBRS I will not.

 

Most drivers that like EOBRS that i have talked to are brand new to the Industry and drive for the large carriers, that drilled into there heads while they were in there driving school that EOBRS are the thing.. That is all they know because that is what they were taught!!! I for one have driven two million miles with out an accident or any kind of moving violation.. What is an eobr going to help me with? Besides costing me and my family money!! While some company that makes the EOBRS gets rich because some large carriers are mad because we smaller guys pass them some where along the way

 

There are a lot of holes in the technology with these EOBR's. If you use your truck to pull an RV or for personal use, you could still have your hours driving count against you. I hope all who drive will file a comment about these electronic leashes. I think we would all be better off if the hos were no longer used and we were left to do our jobs as we see fit without government intervention. There are other jobs that are much more hazardous to public safety, yet don't have to deal with the hos or EOBR's.

 

I drive for Conway Truckload and we will totally on the EOBR bandwagon by the end of this month.I personally have had the "E-LOGS" in the truck going on a week now,and here are a few observations to ponder
PROS:
1.Logging is simply easier,yes i hate to say it,but the actual logging is idiot proof,clik clik ur done
2.Instant recap and hours notification
3.DOT ask for your logs,,a simple fax# and walla they have it
4.IT's INEVITABLE! better get used to the idea its coming weather you like it or not.Its only a computer version of the current log book

Cons: oh yes there are many at first
1.Can you run like you did/have?=NOPE,prepare to run less during the day
2.you cannot hide your actual hrs,the host company knows exactly yourHOS and when you pick up hrs and where your at
3.You have to plan your day a lot better,if your planning on stopping at your usual/favorite truck stop better have a plan B,and C

And for those of you that have posted or will post negatively about this and especially the O/O's out there get the facts of the actual cost to you and dont go on what some person told you

Look at your truck? does it need all the bells and whistles to go down the road(Chrome,chicken lights,etc...)??? well it WILL need this system sooner or later make the financial adjustment now to offset the cost

And for the rest of you that will post negativley,remember this,this is a culmination of years( mind you) of drivers(literally millions of them) that didnt care for the law,got in accidents and oh yeah the past 2 years they took all the info from roadside inspections and the score they "gleened" from your company to come up with this ruling

Ever look at a P.O.S. driver and shook your head in disgust and just moved on and said nothing?

Ever see a driver knowingly break the law(excessive speeding,etc...) and said nothing!

Well we as an industry earned this then,Me and you,YES DRIVER YOU!

So the next time you hear a trucker story where they "claim" that they run"OutLaw" or 80+ mph or "i run till i get's tired",or run over 4000 miles a week(solo) look then straight in the eye and just say,,

THANKS FRIEND!

 

This has been coming much longer than the last 2 years. We would not have this were it not for the ATA and a handful of the major carriers who wrote the bill that makes this mandatory for ALL carriers. It is not about safety. It is about limiting competition. It is about 10% of the industry wanting to exercise control over the other 90%. If you read the bill that has been proposed, part of it involves having a "level playing field." It plans to limit competition by mandating this for ALL of their competitors. These same carriers also want everyone to be forced to have speed limiters on their equipment. That is also designed to limit competition. I rarely drive over 65 mph, but my trucks will bury their speedometer. The speed is there if I needed or wanted it, but I don't use it. That doesn't mean that I want the government to step in and force me to buy a speed limiter for my truck.

I see nothing wrong with anyone who wants to spend their money on this technology. I do have a problem with the government, the ATA and these major carriers, writing a bill which limits competition and forces me to spend money that I should not have to spend. We are required to account for our time behind the wheel. It should be up to the owner of the truck how that will be done.

The EOBR debate initially stated that these would only be used for a small percentage of carriers who had numerous log violations. That would only involve less than 10% of all carriers. Apparently, that was not good enough for this handful of carriers and the ATA who pushed this legislation.

I think that it would be a great idea to know who owns stock in the companies who are producing these EOBR's. I would wager that you will find the owners and/or executives of some of these carriers who own stock in them. Those who own stock stand to make millions of dollars. Not only will they make money on the initial sales, but there is a monthly fee attached. We will be forced to purchase a product in order to earn a living. That has been ruled unconstitutional with the health insurance bill. I see no reason that this should be treated differently.

In reality, if it were about safety, only those who continue to have log violations should be targeted. If they wanted to prove that this would make roads safer, then they would have performed a study to prove their point. To my knowledge, no study has ever been performed. My guess is the reason is that it would not prove their point. EOBR's will not stop people from violating the rules. It will only make it easier for the DOT to catch them, until they find out how to thwart the EOBR.

 

Actually, Im looking forward to a level playing field. I think they have made it far too easy for any moron to buy a truck or get authority. There are way too many half-assed companies out here that need to go under. I want them to make it harder to hire people. Maybe they will start paying the good drivers a real wage...

 

And yet a lot of the larger companies have issues as well, and there are plenty of those that should be out of business. The smaller companies have an incentive to treat their drivers better than the big 'training' companies.

Level playing field? Really? Life isn't fair. Don't like the crappy companies, don't work for them.

Making every company or O/O have EOBR's is BS. It's an unnecessary expense because the 'big companies' want to control the industry.

I think it should be harder to get a driver's license for a car. That's not gonna happen any time soon, even though it should since most of the accidents between cars and big trucks are the fault of the car driver.

 

You guys are always complaining about socialism, yet the big companies are trying to do the Free Enterprise, Capitalism method of competition and you do not like it.

 

where the hell did she mention socialism in the post you quoted NOWHERE.......and what does free market capitalism have to do with EOBR's not a #### thing medic......they are a product of the safety groups that know squat about trucking and skew the information at hand......leave politics in the politics section