Elogs Violation by just a minute

And so long as the rules are not clearly defined, they are open to many different interpretations.
If in doubt, talk to your company. If they don't allow a line 5 provision, then that ends it right there, as you're obligated to follow their policy (so long as it's not illegal). If they do allow it, through their interpretation, have then explain it clearly to you and understand it that way in the event you get questioned by DOT, you sound like you have some clue as to what you're talking about. Simply saying "my safety dept said I could" probably isn't going to fly.

 

Devils advocate:
How is it different if you run out of hours at the home terminal then proceed to drive the tractor home or if you empty at a receiver who does not allow you to stay and you drive to the nearest truck stop? Let's say it's an owner operator who always drags his own trailer and takes the whole unit home. I don't see a difference.

 

Home terminal to home is for home time.

Receiver to Truck Stop - positioning yourself for next load, not home time..

If you are at the receiver and are under "load" paperwise then you are considered on duty, if not under load then you might be able to get away if the truck stop is a short distance for PC... but what defines a "short distance"..

We could go on all year with PC, but it will be taken and misunderstood wrong like Safe Haven and Adverse Conditions... I am sure it is misused now due to misunderstanding...

 

Receiver then empty out then I'm going to a restaurant with my empty trailer. The restaurant has legal truck parking. Not legit for line 5? I do not know where or when my next load picks up.

I arrived with 12 hours used on 14. Receiver won't let me stay. They always take 3 hours at least. In the future, am I required to tell them I will stay at the truck stop 3 miles away for 10 hours before making delivery because they take too long and it will likely result in a violation for me? I won't have to worry about having that account for too long if I do that.

A few places I deliver to allow parking before they open. They want you to arrive then they wake you up at 5am when they start. Go in door leave at 8 or 9. I arrived at 2 am. Doing this avoids rush hour which is a huge jam up, it makes sense to do it this way.

Hopefully this will be addressed when they release the new guidelines. These are the issues with elog that concern me. I feel like I will be darned if I do and darned if I don't.

 

I would log it as it is... if I run out of hours, then drive to a Truck Stop, tell safety, make note on ELD and let the company handle the issue... I would make sure that I took my full 10 hr break. The driver has to jump through hoops as it is to make sure they stay legal even if not their fault. Call it as it is... Out of Hours...fine,,, run over to get to a place to stop/park for my 10 hour break, note it and let safety handle the issues of the shipper/consignee...

If everyone runs around trying to accommodate receivers and shippers and putting the brunt of the issue of hours back on the driver, then the driver will always take the violation.

Maybe ELD's will have it come to light more now that the driver spends many hours waiting to be loaded/loaded.. My thought would be have huge warehouses for freight, run the load to the warehouse, drop the trailer and then get an MT and out on load...

 

If you have a line 5 option, starting line 5, doing your business, then returning to where you started line 5, before resuming normal operations, is a good way to keep you out of trouble when using line 5. It's really just that simple.

Any other way of using line 5 would probably be rejected by a log compliance person. Too many people abused line 5, too often, causing many carriers to abandon that option for audit compliance concerns.

 

There is the problem ... I am the dispatcher ...the safety committee...the load planner... the driver ... the money manager...the ifta filer... all the taxes filer... and the driver.. if I act like they are going to accommodate my schedule how will that work out for me? Or should I just give up and go back to collecting my coins per mile and hoping my work/life balance is half decent while earning a meagre income while working for yet another pimp (dispatcher)?

 

There is no happy medium as it is now.... too fuzzy.. too open for violations...

 

You're basically going to prison.

Seriously though, nothing will happen. Been over on like 5 occasions for various reasons beyond my control, and one that was in my control but #### a service failure.

Nothing will happen and even if DOT look at your logs, they probably won't say anything. They certainly can though.