E log vs paper

Oh I see.....the "all knowing gov." huh...............like I said..........it ain't about safety. Which allegedly is what the FMCSA is about............lol.....Matt.........truck on ....enjoy your elogs.

 

"So tell me what's the difference? Are you saying as a 1 truck operation you should be allowed to do whatever you want?"

If you can't figure out the operational differences between a mega-carrier and a 1 truck operation, you're probably a prime candidate for head of the some Federal Bureaucracy or other. If I were you, I'd submit my application right away!

And, since you bring it up, I do think single truck operators with impeccable safety records should be exempted from some of the BS that has been foisted upon us. The reason the big carriers want it is to remove any advantage the little guy might enjoy. The reason the Government wants it is simple: As soon as every truck on the road has e-logs, your information will be electronically broadcast or downloaded to receivers located ahead of every scale on the road (which will spring up everywhere because of the $$$ they can rip off from the working man --- the State needs the $$$ more than you do) and anything short of full compliance will have you pulled in and gone through without them having to do any work at all. This will happen regardless of common sense safety issues like driving a few minutes over the limit to make sure you're on the far side of that metropolitan area BEFORE the blizzard hits, rather than attempting it at rush hour the following morning. Same thing in WY for example. I for one am not gonna be on the wrong side of Elk or Sherman waiting for the blizzard to hit and the roads to close so I can sit there for 3 or 4 days. I'll leave that to the rookies and the idiots that don't know any better or can't figure out what's coming next. The same thing goes for lots of other places like Flag or Cabbage or any large city. I think dry & dusty on an empty highway while wide awake is safer than ice covered and blowing while surrounded by a bunch of people too ignorant or unskilled to handle their equipment when everything is great. I think my 40+ years and multi-millions of miles of safe driving should count for something, among which is the right to determine the safest way to go about doing my job. I'm the guy that's not only been there and done that but that is there in the moment. Yes, I believe my judgement in the moment is better than that of some bozo in DC that couldn't do my job on his or her best day. Which Bozo that someday a few months or years removed from the here and now made up rigid rules resulting from political pressure rather than real world experience with no latitude for common sense, and now to be enforced by lesser Bozo's without a clue. It's illogical. It's un-American. It's ignorant. It's just plain wrong and I don't wish to be party to it.

 

Where is my tinfoil hat when I need it? Wow! I'm surprised no one has brought up the Rothschilds or the Annunaki, as long as we are talking about control of the masses. Regardless of your poison, this thread is certainly entertaining. All I need now is some Big Ag popcorn made by ADM or Monsanto.

 

I love when people say that those that wish to stay paper are afraid of change not knowing how many are already changed and just pointing all the flaws with the system change I am good with if it changes for the good of those using it or are around it the lack of flexibility caused by these changes since I started has for sure caused a change for the worse.
We used to be able to avoid high traffic areas during peak hrs which allowed for better flow and less accidents. We used to be able to take our sleep when we was tired and not be punished because we did what was the safest.
Lets just look at today for example I sat/slept getting loaded for 5hrs used to stop my clock now just that took away my 3 whatever hours and 2 of my driving. I would have beeen where I need to be in 2hrs (12am)take my other 5hrs (which is all I normally sleep anyways) sleep(5am) and grab empty and be home relaxing in 3hrs(8am) instead I had to stop take my 8hrs (6am) get to drop at 8am and oh yeah since I only drove 2 hrs before the 5 at shippers have to take another 2 (10am) and then can drive home 3hrs (1pm). So I get home 5 hrs later and spend 3 of it being bored and on this forum.
I have ran when a real split sleeper was allowed and as now not ran paper and elogs. And I tell you this being able to make the logs work for you is the best and safest so guve me my split and paper anyday of the week elogs are for the trained chimps that know no better.
Oh plus I will disagree with the eligs ment just as a form of personal control its also insurance control. Less company and insurance payouts and more driver blame.

 

Assuming that this is a serious question and not going into all the discounts the big companies get, here are several differences. Small companies can't afford a bunch of trailers for doing drop and hooks and loads just can't be swapped, if a driver or company mismanages time or resources. If an accident happens, and your held up, and you have late clauses in your contract, and independent could be screwed and having to pay heavy fines. Rcvr's don't care why your late. Big companies, just swap around.

 

This thread is so stupid. People whining about stupid stuff they have no control over anyway.

 

The simplest way of putting it is eLogs compels the driver to drive legal 97% of the time, whereas pLogs it is up to the driver whether to drive legal.

Note: Legal and safe, while similar, are not the same thing. To use examples of being unsafe despite being legal while using eLogs doesn't really work because you can use the exact same argument for pLogs. The only difference between the two is, you can manipulate pLogs to match your day to your convenience. With eLogs you are stuck doing it "by the letter of the law", 97% of the time.

To say one system is better than another is a foolhardy argument. All of the examples I have seen why pLogs are better than eLogs largely involve, logging it to the driver's advantage. Be it cheating, working outside the book, making it work, call it what you will, it's still log falsification. Using eLogs removes cheating considerably but not entirely.

As to whether the govt or big brother is watching you, if that is worry, I hope you keep your phone turned off with the battery removed and only log onto the internet using public libraries or the Tor network, and pay for everything with cash because the govt, if it so desired, can track you down quite easily outside the GPS and eLogs. But unless you make repeated phone calls to Arab countries, are not a member of a watched sleeper cell, or not involved with some serious crime organization, I seriously doubt that the govt is actively watching you. It doesn't mean they can't, but I don't think you are on its radar.

The big carriers prefer eLogs why? Because when their trucks and drivers would get inspected, a large portion of violations given were "stupid" stuff on logs. Not current on duty status, improperly filled out, illegible, and so on. Sometimes the driver would be shut down for 10 hrs, thus hurting ontime delivery of freight. So, the carriers got smart, if we got a system to make sure everyone was current on their logs and removed the likelihood of other "stupid" violations, it would make their ratings look better. Now we have eLogs.

The control issue cracks me up. The big carriers want to get the most revenue out of each of their trucks. Heck, even owner/ops do. By and large, you don't see owner/ops taking 12, 13 hour breaks, shutting down by choice after 8 hrs of work, driving out of route continuously. So why should a large carrier expect any different of its drivers. The sad thing is, a lot of people are lazy and if you don't poke and prod them along, they will take advantage of the system. Is it unrealistic to expect to have minimum standards for their drivers to meet? No. The company driver signed on with a company to drive its equipment, fuel at its designated fuel stops, take minimal care of its equipment, and to pull their freight using the driver's hours to the maximum legal extent possible. There is no control by anyone of anyone. Do you hear office workers complain they are being controlled because they have to report to work at a specific time, daily, log into the company's computer and do the company's work, work until a scheduled time and then go home? Granted our job is different in some aspects, but not vastly. Yes, our jobs required us to account for each minute we are at work or not, but that is it. There is no control put on us that we don't allow.

No one is forcing anyone to use eLogs, no one. There are probably more carriers that do not use eLogs than do. So if you don't want the eye in the sky or the govt watching you, or be controlled remotely, there are plenty of alternatives for you.

If you run legal (or make it look legal) on paper, great! More power to you. Drive safe, is all I say. Likewise, if you run eLogs, great! Work with what you got and drive safe.

This argument whether eLogs is better than pLogs is silly at best, especially when we should be arguing topics like, GPS vs Atlas, governed vs ungoverned, CB vs no CB, megas vs small carriers, and both vs owner/ops, idle vs no idle vs apu, and so on.

 

Your fight is the HOS rules...

any other argument against the means to ensure compliance is an argument of a cheater who wishes an unfair advantage over those that play by the rules.

 

Paper logs are used to ensure compliance. So, those who argue against paper logs are cheaters?

 

Paper logs cannot be VERIFIED to be accurate. I can draw lines anywhere in that paper, doesn't make them true. I use to run paper logs I know the game.