How log to log pre/post trip?

Yeah - the paper logs were 15 minute blocks. We were told to block 15 min Pre, and flag post with zero time.

elogs now, it’s whatever I leave it on duty pre or post driving.

I find a post trip more beneficial - I’ll log a pre trip but likely it’s just a walk around to check lights and thump tires. All my securement, hub oil checks etc come after it’s been rolling.

Gives me 10-12 hours to fix something rather than finding it in the morning.

 

To me it’s more important what is done during that time than how much time is clocked.

I always crouched under the trailer with a flashlight day or night, thumped and visually looked at the tires, brake lining, lights, etc. Fluids at least twice a week. If there was an issue, I was aware of it. Thump tires and walk around at least once more per day. Always checked 5th wheel and air line every time I came back to the truck.

It never ceased to amaze they guys that crawl out of bed and drive without so much as pissing on a tire.

 

I do the same as you but technically it’s log falsification. They always want you to log what you do and do what you log. Most DOTs won’t pester you for it but if you bump into the right egghead he will use it against you.

 

The 15 minute pretrip is an artifact of paper logs, where 15 minutes was the shortest period of time you could document. As I understand and remember, the regq do not mention a specific amount of time for pre or post trip. Just that you did an inspection and 'certify' that the rig is road worthy.
I usually take about 10 minutes for a pretrip and 3 or 4 minutes for post trip. Also, the post trip is not required to be shown.

 

A proper inspection takes a good 30-45 minutes. So much equipment to check. Honestly I just thump tires, check lug nuts, lights, oils, wiggle the steering parts, tug test followed by a brake check. Takes a good 10-15 minutes. I’ve been avoiding checking the actual tires pressures too often cause my valve stems have been on for awhile sometimes when I air them up it takes a couple tries to make sure it seals up completely if I’m changing the stems or cores I’m going to want to change them all. I always spray some soapy water to make sure there ain’t any slow leaks tho.

 

Thanks for acknowledging the truth. That many here have denied. A real inspection takes time.

 

The OP asked about the Regs. Anyone's company policy IS NOT the regs. What you do when you pre-trip IS NOT the regs.

 

A company Safety department can require time above an beyond what the fmcsa does as long as their policies aren't in direct violation of the fmcsa regulations. For example my company requires a 7 minute inspection and a 15 minute inspection. An it don't matter which time frame is logged as pre or post trip, from my understanding of it. As far as doing everything completely legit , well i am willing to be honest an say i was trained to run outside the lines a long time ago an i'm pretty sure i am not the only driver out here that learned the profession that way. I've never had a dot cop question my pre and post trip logged time in almost 30 yrs.

 

Well for one thing, whether you agree or don't want to use the time for this, you are required to and the reason for the 15 on the pre trip is the following:

§ 392.7 Equipment, inspection and use.
(a) No commercial motor vehicle shall be driven unless the driver is satisfied that the following parts and accessories are in good working order, nor shall any driver fail to use or make use of such parts and accessories when and as needed:

Service brakes, including trailer brake connections.
Parking (hand) brake.
Steering mechanism.
Lighting devices and reflectors.
Tires.
Horn.
Windshield wiper or wipers.
Rear-vision mirror or mirrors.
Coupling devices.
Wheels and rims.
Emergency equipment.​

Which is required by this section..AS a pretrip required test of a Road test:

(1) The pretrip inspection required by § 392.7 of this subchapter;​

Of all the inspections, whether you did a post trip or not, regardless of the length of time or thoroughness you did it then, this is required:

No commercial motor vehicle shall be driven​

as metioned above. In other words, before you drive it, not after you drive it, the inspection procedure as laid out in the road test, that you are tested on, is to be done before driving. That's why the 15 min in the pretrip, is more important to note, than the post trip. I usually went off duty with the notation post trip inspection, because it could be as simple as walking around the trailer at the end of the day...the more important one, is the pretrip. I've never had any DOT give me crap for that 15 min pretrip and off duty post trip inspection.

You don't have to agree, but be aware that's how they think if they want to tag you, and you have NO defense against that logic, period. It's in writing in the regulation and can rightfully be interpreted that way. Which is why us old time log book users never had a problem, but I have seen people who had violations get hit with a lack of pretrip inspection on top of the violations, because these were items that couldn't have possibly been missed in a proper pretrip inspection.
Think something as simple as an expired extinguisher. If you had done the pretrip, post trip or enroute inspections, there is no way you could miss it, and hence they got that as an added violation. YMMV, but you have been advised.