Can I be on Line 1 in the truck?

I was editing while you were posting - too fast for me. I hope I didn't sound snippy!

 

Nope I was just messin with ya anyway.

 

Sometimes, when I had a long wait, I'd throw an old comforter across the hood and catch some rays. Does that qualify for line 1?

In all seriousness -- if I was in the truck and not working (e.g. on the laptop, reading a book, eating lunch, whatever) I'd log it as sleeper berth time, even if I wasn't technically in the sleeper berth. I'm sure someone here will jump down my throat for that, but common sense tells me that if I'm engaged in a leisure activity, whether I do it in the front of the truck or the back of the truck does not make a practical difference.

Sadly, it DOES make a legal difference, because of the legal fiction that if you're sitting in the driver seat, you must be on-duty. But I never had an officer come knock on my door while I was parked. That could, of course, be pure luck.

 

Actually, I believe if your in the passenger seat you may log line 1. Now I'm not going to tell you what to do. But I will tell you what I'm doing & what maybe 90% of the drivers reading this are doing....

We are sitting in the drivers seat logging line 1 or line 2....

You log it how you want....

 

An easy example of logging on line 1 while in the truck.....

Last March or was it April...can't remember...no matter.....

I was headed to OK running the 40 E/B W/O Santa Rosa, NM.
Where I was at was cold but not snowing yet..... NM DOT closed the E/B 40 in Santa Rosa and the closure continued on the TX side to Amarillo....

I basically had to reset in the the truck.....but I logged on line 1 for part of the time and then down to line 2 for 10.......

On more than one occasion I have heard DOT remark that going more than 10 in the bunk is questionable.....

So playing by their rules......I logged both 1 and 2 in the truck.....

 

By law, if your in the drivers seat you are on duty. If you are in the sleeper it's sleeper berth. If you are out side of the truck, not performing a company function or duty required my DOT then you are on your own time and it's Off Duty. It doesn't matter what you are doing in the sleeper (reading, watching tv, sleeping, personal entertainment what ever) it is sleeper berth time.

 

And the biggie, sitting in the drivers seat while intoxicated can be cited as drinking on duty or driving while intoxicated. Big caution on that one.

 

I log line 1 or 2 if I'm on personal time regardless of what I'm doing or where I'm sitting. Sometimes I polish my wheels or wax my truck and sometimes I sit in the drivers seat and mess around online like today. It's my off duty time and I can use it as I see fit.

It's just common sense...Do what you want to.

 

that argument should hold up in court. "but your honor, REDD said... the law said..."

If you were sitting behind the wheel, engine turned off, keys in the ignition and a cop walked up to you and said, "i want to see your logbook"....i'm willing to bet if you are on line 1....you get a ticket.

kinda like if you had been drinking, knew you shouldn't drive, but you get into your car in the bar parking lot, put the keys in the ignition and then pass out without ever starting the car or moving it, you get a ticket for DUI....dontcha???

like mentors who actually are in the right seat teaching, they SHOULD be on line 4...but sometimes they arent. I know during the last week on my mentors truck and i couldnt sleep, and i sat in the right seat, i was still on L2.....technically illegal....but still...i wasnt in the sleeper....or off duty. What is 'off duty'? means you have been absolved of all responsibility of the truck and/or load, and can leave it out of sight.

 

Common sense is far from common.