Caught between a moron and a hard place

Run legal and if the loads drop off then you can find another job

I would talk with Safety and they possiblly can keep your name out of it and investigate without causing any problems with your dispatcher and you.

I am suprised the company is doing this

 

You can drive around in a truck stop parking lot and if you have to weigh and they have scales at the customer you are on-duty.

It can't take more than 7.5 minutes (most companies use this method, however dot states 15 minutes) to drive around to the scale and scaling is line 4, not driving. So you would be ok! U JUST CAN'T DRIVE PASSED THE 14TH HOUR!


AND SPLIT BREAKING IS A GREAT TOOL TO UNDERSTAND AND USE TO GET LOADS ON TIME AND YOU TO YOUR NEXT PICK UP WITHOUT LOSING A LOAD POSSIBLY!

jlkklj777 I HAD TO THROW THAT IN, YOU KNOW ME

 

Sorry LogsRus you and I will have to agree to disagree on the usefullness of the current split sleeper berth provision. In my operation it is far better to get the full 10 hour break and reset both 11 and 14 hour clocks. I know you try to explain the "usefullness" of this but it is far too easy to make a mistake and its far better to keep it simple especially when faced with an anal retentive dot officer.
I would encourage you to actually come out on the road and spend a few months actually driving AND use the split sleeper provision. I really think you will come around to my way of thinking when you actually see and feel the split in practice.

 

BOY OH BOY'

I hope they spend alot of time on this stuff with us at school, because trying to understand all the stuff you guys are talking about with split logging, and 7 min verses 15 min and everthing else is confuseing as he@#..

All this talk about haveing to run illegal to make any money at this business is also very upseting to me as a newbie just comeing into the business. It will be hard enough trying to learn all the other stuff you need to know to do this job, let alone trying to figure out how to cheat your books and get away with it.

But I guess if that is the only way to keep your dispatcher fome being an ### hole, what else can you do?

 

don't stress over it. look for a company that stresses safety and stands by their word. look for a company that demands that you run legal only. most of the bigger companies that hire students are probably your best bet when starting out. make sure you are aware of how many available hours you have everyday and how many hours you pick up at midnight each day. keep your dispatcher updated with your hours and it shouldn't be a problem . keep your logbook updated all the time so you won't get ticketed at the scales.

 

you can drive around the shippers yard. it's considered on duty not driving. just log it on line 4. you can get loaded , tarp the load and scale out right there in the yard. you can be on duty not driving for as long as you want and it's legal. you just can't drive ( as in DRIVE ) anywhere other than the shippers yard if you are out of hours. Being out of hours doesn't mean you can't work.... you just can't drive.

 

This must be considered all the time. Drivers are looking at now and not down the line in the future. I've always said that you need to set goals for your dream job and you're not going to get there if you have a bad record. If you loose money because you're running legal then it comes back to you for not selecting the right company. There are companies out there that run legal and will boot you right out the door if you don't.

The smarter companies have learned along time ago it's much more costlier to go to court or pay the fines, so they run legal. Think of it this way. What happens if you're running illegal and have an accident and there's a fatality? YOU WILL BE CHARGED. That dispatcher that told you to run over hours will change his story when the feds come in, guaranteed.

I've driven many years and I've done all those things that make your hair stand up. Years ago we got away with doing that. I've been real lucky and never have I had a mark on my record. That record landed me the best job any driver could hope for. If I had any marks I'd be driving the same job I had when I only had a couple of years in. So bottom line is protect your work record.

 

Great thread Daytona45, lots of good info. I'm curious though about a hypothetical question similar to your predicament. What if you were in the same situation as Daytona45 was in but you got loaded in an hour or so and then the shipper told you to get off their lot? You're maxed out on hours and legally you are not allowed to drive.

I can only guess that you'd have to call your safety dept or possibly DOT to have permission to get moved off the shippers lot. I know trucking companies do not want unhappy shippers so you are stuck between regulations and your own company. I don't mean to make this more complicated than it is but I'm sure if I'm thinking this then others are too....what else can you do unless you just 'alter' your logs which to me is unethical and unsafe (and not worth losing your CDL).

-Reby

 

drivers. some will let you sit there and some may not. so you may want to call them ahead of time to get the low-down on their policy. if they tell you that you're out of your mind if you think you can sit there, call your dispatcher right away and let him or her worry about what to do. you do your job the right way and if you can't make it to the shipper that day...oh well ! screw 'em all. ! but at the same time........try and set yourself up ahead of time so that you won't have this issue at the last minute and piss everybody off just when they thought you'd be there in time. tell them way ahead of time what kind of hours you WILL have when you get there. this way, they can't turn on you and blame you for all th B.S that might take place.