Bobtailing to orientation

Yes log it. Your doing something required by the company so it's a form of dispatch.

 

And how many miles are you driving to? You will most likely have to have a log for while you are in orientation also for the seven days before.

 

Any time spent in orientation is on duty not driving too.

 

This has been addressed in numerous threads with links to FMCSA guidelines on using CMV and when you can drive OFF DUTY and not log. Surprises me this keeps cropping up. That being said, no, you do not have to log driving going to orientation. First off, there is no contract in place at that point, and you are not under the control of the carrier. Second, you are not under a load, not under dispatch, nor are you doing anything related to interstate commerce yet. Even when I bought a new truck to replace the one I already had at my carrier, I did not log any time driving it to the carrier to have it stenciled with their goodies and permits and numbers put on. Likewise, with the old truck, after the stuff got taken off, and I was taking it home, I didn't log a single minute. And both trips were 195 miles in length.

The interpretation of OFF DUTY DRIVING is quite clear. Unless you are specifically going to the carrier to pick up a load, all time between home and the terminal can be logged OFF DUTY.

Question 26: If a driver is permitted to use a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) for personal reasons, how must the driving time be recorded?
Guidance:
a driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work, time spent traveling from a driver’s home to his/her terminal (normal work reporting location), or from a driver’s terminal to his/her home, may be considered off-duty time. Similarly, time spent traveling short distances from a driver’s en route lodgings (such as en route terminals or motels) to restaurants in the vicinity of such lodgings may be considered off-duty time. The type of conveyance used from the terminal to the driver’s home, from the driver’s home to the terminal, or to restaurants in the vicinity of en route lodgings would not alter the situation unless the vehicle is laden. A driver may not operate a laden CMV as a personal conveyance. The driver who uses a motor carrier’s Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) for transportation home, and is subsequently called by the employing carrier and is then dispatched from home, would be on-duty from the time the driver leaves home.
A driver placed out of service for exceeding the requirements of the hours of service regulations may not drive a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) to any location to obtain rest.

The link to this, for those that think I dreamed up this stuff, is here.......

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/395.8?guidance

Now, let's all place bets on how long it takes before another thread asking this same thing gets started.

 

I really wish this issue was as cut & dry as Canada's HOS.

In Canada, you have 75km (45miles) of "personal use" in each 24hr period that can be logged as "off duty" if you are bobtail. If you have a trailer, loaded or not, you cannot log personal mileage, period. So if you take your wagon home after you empty out, you are working. You also must record the beginning and end odometer of said bobtailing.

We were taught in school and at my first company that we could not log personal use in the USA under any circumstances. I didn't question it, especially once I had to sign a paper saying I would be docked $100 per incidence of bobtailing in the USA but it may have been a bunch of bologna.