BREAKING NEWS: Senators introduce bill to require EOBRs

I’m from the guvment and I’m here to help you.”
“For the safety of our children”
“A seat belt violation can only be a secondary charge.
It will never be used as the reason to initiate a stop.”
“After sixty years, we know more about human sleep patterns, we are now changing the hours of service rules.”
“A Change to Save Lives”
“We have a point system in place for vehicle inspections but we are only targeting drivers who violate our qualification regulations" "Electronic on-board recorders will ensure the entire industry is putting safety and "driver quality" of life before
profit.”

 

CSA2010 is here. You can quote others or whine if you wish but, you change nothing. Get legal or get out. Soon the decision will be made for you.

 

Not doing it for years huh?


http://www.jsonline.com/business/64651302.html

Date of that article 10/17/09

 

I've noticed you mention that in a couple threads now and I'm just wondering ...

Why on earth should it take you 18 hours to make enough to support and raise your family comfortably?

It just seems like your hauling for cheap ... sorry, but plenty, if not the majority of O/O's make a fine living without working 18 hr days - why can't you?

 

Far from it. But I see why you thought that. Actually, here's my deal...

I run 1200mi one way every week. Then drop 7 cars, pick up 7 more, and 1200mi back. I've been driving over 5 years and have never worked a full weekend yet. I want to be off weekends. I leave on Mon home on Fri afternoon. If I ran legal, which I've never attempted, it would probably take me an extra couple of days to do the same run. Which would eliminate my hometime. Not an option.

My wife was pregnant with my fist child this year, and towards the end of the pregnancy I started staying closer to the house, running to DC and Balt, etc. My pays were cut close to half, I was still out mon-fri. It was still good money compared to whats out there, but twice as much is twice as much no matter what the numbers are.

I am not braggin here, and I don't plan on posting numbers to prove myself, I have nothing to prove. But as far as most o/o making plenty of money, my truck makes more then an average o/o. I see the numbers people post on here, and I wouldn't run for anywhere near that.

You could say im greedy, but at the end of the day, if i gotta be gone mon-fri either way, why not make as much as i can in the time im gone? i just dont see the point of sitting 10 hours a day out on the road in some crappy truckstop somewhere.
if im awake and theres running to do, i'll run.

 

You have 14 hours a day for that 5 days.
That is 70 hours in 5 days. If you cannot get the cars on and off, and get 2400 miles driving in within legal hours. Are you sure you are not doing something wrong?

That is 48 hours of driving averaging 50 mph, and 22 hours of load and unload time.

 

i'm sure. i know what im doin. 7 drops and 7 pickups throughout the state i go to, an average of 800-1200 miles total to do all the drops and pickups. usually close to 3500 mi a week on the clock. plus dealing with reciever hours at businesses, and when going to people houses you gotta deal with people who speak little english, or have goofy hours you need to accomodate, or who show up an hour after you are supposed to meet them. its different customers every week usually, so you gotta figure on getting lost a few times when your in big cities trying to find new addresses. im also about 10 feet longer then a regular 18 wheeler, so getting that around residential streets when required, while avoiding low clearances, etc. when you gotta deal with that 14 customers a week, you lose time.

 

If man invented it, man can defeat it

 

Yep. They tested it out on some company trucks and weren't impressed with the programs. So they removed them and now everybody is on loose leaf paper. Very similar to what Prime had, with two days on each sheet and no carbon copy since everything is scanned.

The difference is in the training and in the standards. And don't even go there because I've seen both from the inside.

If you are a trainer for Prime and a person gets off your truck knowing how to run a truck solo with all the paperwork that goes with it, you are an exception. Because a good many Prime trainers haven't been anywhere else and wouldn't know what a trolley brake or air dump is, much less what it's for. Because Prime trucks are not equipped with them

I specifically asked Mr. Lacy about this. I was told it's because drivers don't know how to use that equipment right and Prime got tired of all the trailer repairs. In other words, they would rather you break your back cranking down a trailer left too high than train drivers how to properly drop with the aid of air dump. The long and short of it is Prime does not trust its drivers. Swift does.

But this thread is not a discussion of the benefits of one company over another. It's about mandated e-logs, which I have already demonstrated why they are a bad idea. It has nothing to do with driver fatigue or safety. It has everything to do with control. Both by the companies pushing for this and by the government agencies overseeing it. So, Driver, when is enough, enough?

 

Because not everyone was dealt the same hand you got.

For eight years I worked at GM, making steering columns for Chevy trucks. I made a pretty good living and, for the first time in my life, was able to support my family without having to worry about the utilities being shut off or having enough food.

Then along came high gas prices and a crappy economy. The bottom dropped out of the market for SUV's and pickup trucks--my bread and butter. The forecast for the automotive industry looked pretty grim, so when they offered me a pile of cash to walk away, I took it.

Fast forward to today... I'm back driving a truck for a living, and yes, some days are 18 hours. Sometimes we gotta eat macaroni and cheese. Sometimes the electric bill is past due. Sometimes I bend the rules to make sure my family survives.

Don't become complacent just because the grass is greener on your side of the fence. I can assure you someone is watching from the other side, figuring out a way to take what you have.