Do you care about the HOS?

Ban all teams.
The ATA is spending big money to lobby congress to make Elogs, mandatory and put 60 or 65 mph speed limiters on all trucks and only trucks, saying that it is all in the name of SAFETY. I call B.S. Differential in speed kills, not speed itself.

Swift ( an ATA member) limits their trucks to 60 mph, then complains that their rear end collision rates are way higher than industry average. Swift does not do the safe thing and maintain traffic flow at the speed traffic is actually flowing, no they tell congress Elogs and speed limiters are going to make the roads safer.

I believe that if the ATA told the truth about their motives it would read something like this. Elogs will eliminate more small o/o competitors. Speed limiters will reduce the o/o numbers further. Meanwhile the ATA members will force more teams out on the highway, in-spite of the obvious safety risks( it is impossible to get proper rest in a moving vehicle), money is the real motive of the ATA.

I am an o/o and I am certainly not going to tell you that am not in it for the money, because I am, but if the ATA gets its way, and I have to compete with them when I run solo against their teams, I will lose.

My choice to run solo is far more about safety than personal preference. I can not get proper rest in a moving vehicle, and firmly believe no one can. So I am willing to install Elogs and a speed limiter, in fact I can do it tomorrow if the ATA is willing allow the FMCSA to ban all teams in the name of Safety.

Currently I can, and do make a living running truthful paper logs. I won't haul cheap freight because 60+ hours a week is more than enough.

Ban teams and make Elogs and limiters mandatory, that's compromise. Everyone is unhappy, but can live with it.

 

I think one thing the ata is overlooking may be that all those independents that call it quits are not likely to drive for any other company. If I can't make a good living running my one truck and trailer under my own authority you can bet I won't be in a truck with someone else's name on the door. I will take a job and earn less and watch the "truck driver shortage" come full circle. I hope many other independents in the same situation I am in do the same.

 

One question. Since when has a law written by a politician made you any safer than using good old common sense. I drive when I feel like it and I sleep when I feel tired. Lets see it's 2:00 a.m. and your 20 miles from the outskirts of Chicago. You going to stop or are you going to truck to the other side. I know what I'm doing. I'll be a hundred miles past when the sun comes up. Tell me It's safer to stop and play the rush hour game. Hell I don't run much over 60 - 65. Crank er up just to get away from a few packs of bottom feeders. Let all them fools jockey for that extra truck length. By the end of my day I feel good and am still further down the road than the next guy. My book has always been good for a look see.

 

So if there are some of us that rum outlaw now, when all this electronic logging comes into play, what is stopping us from playing nice? You have to be smarter, but ALL software can be edited. Some of us would save the rainforest by that point

 

I need to make friends with some software techie types.... I've had similar ideas. Ever heard of a 'jailbroke' iPhone

....Jailbreak Peoplenet!! Haha

 

I'm way ahead of you there. I'm guessing you could make a killer on the black market!

 

Only flaw in your argument. The guy with the gun and the badge can do anything he wants. How it holds up in court is another matter. They are not "allowed" to disturb the other driver, but it doesn't mean they can't. They just need reasonable cause to do so for it to stand up in court. And you don't think they would use the argument that they suspected there was no co-driver when they actually find out you don't have one, and they wanted to check to make sure you had a co-driver?

The Elog thing would complicate that further. Who is the active driver in the Elog, and is there even a co-driver set up in the Elog?

I just never bought into the "outlaw" game. I just never saw the need to risk it all over making a few bucks. If I needed to do that, I would look for another line of work. The HOS is not based on anything that could be construed as sensible, but it is the card game we are in. You can either continue to participate in the game or you can opt out. You cheat in the game and get caught, you take the consequences like a man. I am not judging anyone what they do. I have enough things that affect me directly to worry about what others do.

If a person wants to "outlaw" then do something that makes it worth it! You are an outlaw in a truck and you kill a family in a minivan, you are going to be sitting in the same jail cell as someone who is trafficking. Might as well do something that has a greater potential return for your outlaw efforts than trucking.

 

Very well said.

 

Still on paper and pretty much run legal. While I'm not a fan of the HOS laws but if your constantly running outlaw you need to reassess your business. Yea if I'm 50 mi from home where do you think I'm spending the night