"FORCED to break-the-law!---"Elogs and the Catch 22???"

I don't think that will be stood for. Being able to "move to dock" or "move to parking area across street" is going to HAVE to be allowed. No two ways about it. Otherwise food transportation efficiency will literally be set back 15-25% if all the food haulers have to waste valuable hours every week waiting on proper break to complete because they broke a break to move to another nearby spot.

I know if that happens, that will be the straw that broke the camel's back of many of the refrigerated guys who depend on being able to move short distances without interruption a break. I won't be able to continue to work like that given certain realities.

 

They are conducting a pilot program experimenting with flexible split sleeper hrs.
Flexible Sleeper Berth Pilot Program

This would help a lot. From what I was reading you could do an 8-2, 7-3, 6-4 or 5-5 splits...

They are studying the fatigue factors but it would help with the shipper and reciever problem also

 

Ahh. You all are panicking over nothing. I dont forsee any major issues.

 

For this to work, they'll have to do away with the 14 and if they're going to do that, they may as well rework the entire HOS rules back to something more workable, top to bottom. But they're not going to do that, just like they won't repeal obamacare. Bureaucrats don't operate that way.

 

Not how it works ... it reverts to logging you on the drive line to when you first went in gear. But it doesn't revert until you go into 5th, exceed a 1/4 mile while continuously in gear exceeding 17 mph and as long you stop before 5 minutes, you can log back to of duty without logging any drive time.

This is not a "new" rule ... it's the same as it's always been. It's just that now you can't cheat your logs.

And frankly people who cheat their log are by definition running cheap freight. Shippers aren't paying what they should be paying, because then know for small premium they can get someone to run it illegal.

 

So, the independent be darned? I wish they'd just come out and say it.

Those drop and hooks it all the way across the country and all these drops and hooks sure do sound great in theory. It still doesn't change the amount of time a customer takes to load or unload. In the reefer world it is normal for 2,3,4+ hours.

I fired a direct customer about 3 years ago because he wanted me to run so far out of legal I was at serious risk of a crash. He didn't want to hear it. I can't wait for it to hit the fan; maybe he will want to listen to me again. If not it's all good, doing just fine as it is.

 

Doing the 8-2 split, the 8 in sleeper suspends the 14 now. So it could be worked out....

 

That is not the way I understand the new regulation. I believe it to record any and all movement, and if it is on a customer property from staging area to dock it goes to line 4 - yard move. If it is disconnected it will register as so and will note a driving event occurred and was not assigned to a driver. This is where they will hang you and is also where I don't see any harm in a small side note saying something like "A driver may use up to 30 minutes of lines 3 and 4 combined while on customer property and it shall be added to the break time that was interrupted." As in, you arrive and sleep 5 hours, use 15 minutes moving to door/paperwork, you resume waiting for 3 or 4 or whatever more hours and the split is all good.

I just don't want to find myself on a giant roulette wheel when I am doing my best to follow the law.

 

I agree with you, but for a different reason. I think the industry will adapt and develop work-a-rounds. I also believe the FMCSA will allow some 14 hour busts during an audit. I have had a safety man tell me back last fall an FMCSA agent told him these busts are expected. It's not a serious problem unless of course somebody makes it one.