Being told to violate my 70 to get the load there..

I'd definitely be looking for a new job. Like stated above, I'd only ever violate my hours if it were to benefit me and/or maybe the company as well. I won't violate logs for anybody. If you're persistently being asked to do so, seems to me like you're working for a company that considers you more as a "number" rather than a "valued employee".

When my 14 is up, I don't care if I'm going to miss the appointment, piss off the dispatchers, etc. When it's up it's up and the truck is getting parked. You're the driver. It's your license. If you violate the HOS, you could lose your CDL for good. And at least for me, if I lost my CDL, I would be lost in life.. lol

I also agree that if you have this in writing, you can definitely get them in court and get big money paid to you.. just read in the OOIDA magazine that the almost same situation happened to a driver and he took them to court and got a crap ton of money from them..

 

I tried to get my dispatcher to confirm his instructions to me by text(no elogs/qualcomm), but he refused to reply.

I tried to call him and record the conversation on my tablet, but he hung up on me.

That's very telling, don't you think?

 

Oh yeah, sounds like the place to be! LOL! I'd quit that place and tell them to shove it where the sun don't shine...

 

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/coercion

Note that in order to make a claim under the coercion rule you must be threatened with termination or other negative consequences for refusing to run illegally. Document the coercion in writing. If you make a voice recording you should get permission from the person being recorded.

 

But if they know about the recording, who really thinks that the order will be repeated?

 

If they are smart it won't be. The person coercing a driver faces a $10K fine personally IIRC. Same applies to shippers, receivers, and brokers.

This is also why I think the OP is not on e-logs. Written communication on a Qualcomm or similar system is the documentation.

Smaller outfits on paper logs need the driver to stay on top of their hours. There's really no way for a company on paper logs to know the HOS for every driver. Then the driver needs to be responsible to calculate hours BEFORE accepting a load. If the driver screws up and takes a load and THEN find out they can't legally complete it, that creates a clusterduck for everyone involved.

 

I read an hours violation is $11000 to the company and $2250 to the driver?

But in my case, I had the hours to complete the load, just mechanical issues got in the way and all I wanted was the problem correctly diagnosed and fixed. Is that unreasonable?

 

I tell my dispatcher at the end of each day what is left of my 70. When I get within 10, I look at what is left of my load to complete it and either insist on a 34 at that point, or a definite time to be unloaded that gives sufficient time to get to a safe place, if i need less than my remaining hours to complete.

 

Not unreasonable at all. Depending on the company they might be able to arrange a repower, I've had to do that on both sides of the coin with my current company. Good on you for keeping dispatch advised on your hours.

 

This company wouldn't be out of reno NV would it?
Sounds like a outfit I Was with for a short time.